Time Runs Out Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys were eliminated from the NFL playoffs as the San Francisco 49ers won the wildcard game Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

 

 

Dallas had a successful season and had the upper hand as they led the NFC East with a 12-5 record, while the 49ers were at third place in the NFC West with a 10-7 record. However, the Cowboys had trouble with penalties and getting past the 49ers defense in the 23-17 loss.

The Cowboys lineman were unable to protect Dak Prescott Sunday against the 49ers defense who managed five quarterback sacks. 49ers cornerback Emmanuel Moseley led the defense with 10 tackles. He had two assists. 49ers defensive back K’Waun Williams intercepted one pass.

San Francisco got the ball first, quickly worked their way down the field and scoring on their opening drive. Garoppolo passed backwards to Elijah Mitchell, who ran for the touchdown. The Dallas defense stepped up and the 49ers made it close enough for Robbie Gould to kick a field goal (53 yards) with 4:53 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

 

 

Dallas started the second quarter behind 10-0. Their defense stayed active, but San Francisco managed another field goal (52 yards) by Gould with 9:40 left. The Cowboys fought back. Prescott threw a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper in the end zone with 5:19 remaining. Gould then kicked a third field goal (41 yards) for the 49ers with less than 3:03 minutes before the end of the quarter. Dallas trailed 16-7 at halftime.

The third quarter was scoreless until Williams intercepted Prescott’s pass with 5:58 remaining. Garoppolo then handed off to wide receiver Deebo Samuel who ran for the touchdown on the next play extending the 49er lead to 23-7. 

The Cowboys started to make a comeback in the fourth quarter. Prescott worked the ball down the field. A fake punt turned into a pass by punter Bryan Anger allowed the Cowboys to get the first down. Prescott moved the ball farther with passes, but the 49ers defense stopped them short of the goal. The Cowboys, however settled for a Zuerlein field goal (51 yards) to close the gap to 23-10. Prescott worked the ball down the field and then ran the ball in for the touchdown with 8:02 remaining in the fourth quarter bringing the score to 23-17.

 

The Cowboys had an opportunity to score in the last seven seconds of the game, but there appeared to be confusion on the field. The referee, who had to set the ball, jumped in between players before the ball was snapped as time ran out as Prescott attempted to spike the ball. The clock ran out and the game was over.

Penalties killed Dallas as they had 14 penalties (89 yards), while San Francisco had 9 penalties (58 yards).

Prescott completed 23 of 43 attempted passes for 254-yards. He threw one interception. Garoppolo completed 16 of 25 attempted passes for 172-yards. He threw one interception.

 

Sports Editor Andrew Rosario contributed to this article.