The Dallas Cowboys failed to “out bully the bully” as they were soundly beaten by the San Francisco 49ers in front of their home crowd in Arlington, Texas on Sunday afternoon. The 49ers did what many Cowboys fans feared they could do against their team right from the get-go, and that was run all over the Dallas Cowboys defense. Versatile receiver Deebo Samuel accounted for over 100 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown and the San Francisco 49ers thwarted a late Cowboys charge to hold on for a 23-17 wild-card victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The 49ers had several opportunities to bury the Cowboys in this game but could not deliver the knock out blow as the Cowboys defense held firm as the game wore on. A roughing the kicker penalty on Cowboys punter Bryan Anger, an interception by Jimmy Garoppolo, and a false start to negate a fourth down conversion gave Cowboys fans a glimmer of hope but Dak Prescott and the Cowboys could not capitalize on any of those opportunities. Despite having no business being in this game, the Cowboys had one final chance with 32 seconds remaining and no timeouts. They drove to the San Francisco 41 yard line with 14 seconds to go when Prescott took off on a QB draw up the middle. It was a curious play call with no time outs left, but the Cowboys thought they had enough time to spike the ball and set up one final, desperate play. With several precious seconds gone after the run and no official in site, Dak and the Dallas offense tried to get set and spike the ball before the official touched the ball. Just then, the umpire came sprinting from behind the play and crashed into Dak Prescott and center Tyler Biadasz. Then he grabbed the ball, moved it backwards then forward again before setting it down for the play to continue. By then, the play clock hit 0:00 with the Cowboys at the 24 yard line so they did not get the snap off in time. After a brief delay, where half the building expected the game clock to be reset after the peculiar incident, referee Alex Kemp announced the game was over. It was a bizarre ending to an ugly game and Cowboys fans hoping for a miracle were finally dealt the final blow to effectively end the season.
The officials were once again a point of emphasis in this game for the Cowboys. The same official who was involved in the game’s final play, had cost the Cowboys a delay of game penalty earlier in the game. The Cowboys had just converted a fake punt to keep their struggling offense on the field but they tried to fool the 49ers into wasting a timeout by keeping their punt team on the field. The problem was that Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers were not at all fooled and appeared completely unrattled. The gig was up, yet the Cowboys tried to create confusion by substituting the offense back in at the very last second. It was an ill advised strategy, especially with the 49ers up 23-7 at that point. They were perfectly content to let the Cowboys waste valuable time and were not at all flustered by either facing the punt team or the inept Cowboys offense. In any case, as the Cowboys offense substituted back in the game, the official stood in between Dak Prescott and center Tyler Biadasz, blocking them from snapping the football as he waited for the 49ers defense to complete their substitutions. It did appear that the 49ers defense had already completed their substitutions but the play clock hit zero before umpire finally moved and the Cowboys incurred the 5 yard penatly.
In addition to those two highly unusual events, the NFL’s most penalized team (The Dallas Cowboys) were called for a total of 14 penalties. Several Cowboys fans were outraged at the number of penalties, especially since the 49ers got away with some crucial holds, a blind side block on Trevon Diggs, and multiple false starts on LT Trent Williams. Complain though they might about the seemingly one sided calls, all but one of the penalties called against them were legitimate. The Cowboys simply showed very poor discipline throughout the game. They committed blatant defensive holding infractions and false started on back to back plays. The penalties hurt them, but the inability to move the ball on offense is what really killed them in this game. Unfortunately, the Cowboys showed a complete lack of accountability for how poorly they played and the recent disturbing trend of blaming officials continued in the post game press conference. It was truly disparaging to see the team leader and the normally very mature and well spoken quarterback Dak Prescott say “credit to them then” when he was informed that fans were throwing bottles at the officials as they exited the game. He even doubled down on that comment later in the interview, much to the dismay of his many fans and admirers who praise his character as much as they do his ability on the football field.
The 49ers overcame the loss of their star defensive player Nick Bosa and an interception by Jimmy Garoppolo when they led by 13 in the fourth quarter. Prescott ran for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper but had a costly interception late in the third quarter. The 49ers would score on the very next play after the pick to extend their lead to 23-7. The Cowboys number one offense continued to struggle against good teams as they have in recent weeks. Dak Prescott did not have the strong showing that many expected him to have and so many Cowboys fans are once again questioning if he is good enough to get this team over the hump. The many fans who were convinced that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was holding back his play calls for the post-season, learned the harsh truth that he may not be the innovative genius that he was made out to be. Head coach Mike McCarthy is one man that few wanted to give any credit for even the slightest success that the Cowboys enjoyed at certain times this season. For that reason, some even believe that his job is in jeopardy or that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn should be promoted in his place. For Cowboys fans, this team underachieved and disappointed us so the bloodlust and the desire for heads to roll is at it’s peak right now.
It is natural for fans to react in the moment, to draw conclusions, to assign blame, and to throw their hands up in despair. The team showed so much promise early and then they let us down once again. Remember Cowboys fans, we have been down this road before. The Cowboys front office moved on from Jason Garrett because after a decade, they finally realized that he could not build upon his own success. He could not string together consecutive playoff appearances or get over the divisional round playoff hump. Mike McCarthy was hired to do what Jason Garrett could not. Next season, whether the Cowboys can build on what success they had; or if they relapse once they most likely lose Dan Quinn and several key players in free agency, will be the true barometer of whether the coaching hire was the right choice. As for the quarterback. Dak Prescott was not paid $40 million dollars/season to single handedly take us to the promised land. He was paid $40 million dollars because that is what a quarterback costs and you need a quarterback to get there…with some help. They all need help.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
Dak is a so so qurterback that does not produce when the big games are on the line. he cannot read defenses so almost all of his audibles end up with little or no gain and sometimes a loss of yardage. He has great recievers who can make catches even when the ball is poorly thrown so they win games. Without a change at quarter back they will never make it past where they ended up this year, I have been a cowbow fan for 50 years and hate to see them in this rut for the next 4 or 5.