Cowboys Country

Dak Prescott, Cowboys' Offense No Match for 49ers' No. 1 Defense: Top 10 Whitty Observations

Dallas managed only two field goals in the final 40 minutes of a 19-12, season-ending playoff loss in San Francisco.

Richie Whitt

A week after beating 45-year-old legend Tom Brady, the Dallas Cowboys couldn't force a turnover or manage a second-half touchdown in losing to 23-year-old Brock Purdy.

10. Disappointing Dak - Down seven points, 82 yards from the end zone, 2:59 remaining in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game. 

Dak Prescott it's your ... oops. 

With Cowboys fans and America on the edge of their seat waiting for a legacy-defining touchdown drive and a potential, riveting game-tying extra-point attempt by kicker Brett Maher, Prescott instead offered only a harmless three-and-out. 

On first down his quick pass toward tight end Dalton Schultz was late and almost intercepted. On second down he threw woefully short and wide of open receiver Michael Gallup at San Francisco's 40. And on third down he was sacked. Three plays. Two incompletions. Zero yards. 

When Dallas needed it most, Dak didn't deliver.

9. Not Diggin' It - In a 9-9 game late in the third quarter, Cowboys' Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs had two chances to swing the game in his team's favor. 

He failed on both. 

On George Kittle's juggling 31-yard catch, Diggs didn't hit him to force an incompletion but instead closed his eyes, turned his head and ... whiffed. Granted, Diggs isn't known - or paid - for his tackling, but more so his elite ball skills. But on the same drive inside Dallas' 5-yard line, Diggs got both hands on a pass that was tipped at the line by Anthony Barr and... dropped it. The 49ers took advantage of the gifts from Diggs to score a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to take a 16-9 lead.

8. California 2, Texas 0 - Texans like to puff their chests out and pridefully warn "Don't California my Texas!" But on a sorry Sunday they went oh for two against their nemesis state. 

49ers 19, Cowboys 12, preceded by Los Angeles Clippers 112, Dallas Mavericks 98. Ouch.

7. Exclusive Company - Mike Ditka. Billie Joe Dupree. Doug Cosbie. Jay Novacek. Jason Witten. 

With his second-quarter touchdown catch, Schultz passed all the greatest tight ends in franchise history. It was his third touchdown in two playoff games, most by any Dallas tight end in a single postseason.

6. Deja Boo - A year after excruciatingly running out of time in a six-point, season-ending loss to the 49ers, the Cowboys ran out of time in a seven-point, season-ending loss to the 49ers. 

On Dallas' final, futile possession, Schultz cost them 15 yards by nonchalantly not dragging his second foot on a catch-turned-incompletion. But it wouldn't have mattered. Needing a touchdown to prolong their 2021 season, the Cowboys were stopped at San Francisco's 24-yard line. Needing a touchdown to prolong their 2022 season, the Cowboys were stopped at their own 30. 

NFC Championship Game appearances since the 1996 season: Packers (8), Eagles (7), 49ers (7), Rams (4), Vikings (4), Falcons (4), Panthers (4), Saints (3), Seahawks (3), Giants (3), Bucs (3), Cardinals (2), Bears (2). Cowboys, Commanders and Lions: 0.

5. Advantage, Abbott? - Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has long been an outspoken critic of California. But during Sunday's game he poked fun - from his unique perspective - at Dallas' embattled kicker. Abbott was paralyzed from the waist down in a 1984 jogging accident and leads Texas from a wheelchair. So he obviously can't "kick". But ...

4. Kicked To The Curb - In the end, this loss can't be hung on Maher. Sure, he missed an ugly extra point that was blocked because it was low and left. But he regrouped to score Dallas' only second-half points on made field goals of 25 and 43 yards. 

In light of Prescott’s profane-laced, helmet-slamming reaction to the quartet of Maher's misses in Tampa last week, I guess it would've been fitting if the kicker went on a sideline tirade after both of the quarterback's two crucial interceptions. 

Maher finished the season missing six of his last seven extra points, but making 12 consecutive field goals.

3. The Pollard Problem - Producing yards and points against the NFL's No. 1 defense was never going to be easy, but the challenge became exponentially more difficult when leading rusher Tony Pollard left in the second quarter with a severe injury. ... that turns out to be a broken lower leg.

Pollard rushed six times for 22 yards and caught two passes for 11, but the Cowboys didn't really threaten the end zone after he left the game.

2. Determined Defense - We shouldn't blame Dan Quinn's unit for the fact that the Cowboys are now 0-7 in Divisional Round games since 1997 and added another year to their 27-year drought of not making the NFC Championship Game. 

Granted, the Cowboys sacked Purdy only twice and failed to intercept him. In fact, a defense that created 77 takeaways in the last two regular seasons (and two more against Brady last week) didn't force a turnover. The lone fumble recovery was caused by Kelvin Joseph on special teams. 

But that didn't mean the defense didn't dominate. The Cowboys allowed only two completions of 20+ yards and one run of 10+. DeMarcus Lawrence lived in San Francisco's backfield. Rookie cornerback DaRon Bland more than held his own. The margin for error - or for Diggs' non-plays - was squeezed too thin by an impotent offense that managed only two field goal over the game's final 40 minutes.

Cowboys fans at the team's official watch party at AT&T Stadium didn't take the lose too well, resorting to multiple fights breaking out ...

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1. It Ain't Dak - In eight quarters of playoff football against San Francisco, Prescott has engineered only three touchdowns and 29 points. Not good enough. Sorry Cowboys fans - and especially owner Jerry Jones - but it says here he ain't "the one." 

Said Jones afterward, "They beat the best of us tonight ... I feel sick."

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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