'Ridiculous!' Dak Prescott Takes Blame, Cowboys Lose Playoffs at 49ers, 19-12

Would Dak Prescott and Brett Maher contribute to a Cowboys "revenge'' playoff win at the 49ers? Or would they contribute ... in the opposite direction?

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - In the heart of hearts of Cowboys Nation, Sunday's second-round playoff visit at the San Francisco 49ers came with two fears. ...

Would quarterback Dak Prescott win the game ... or lose it?

Would kicker Brett Maher win the game ... or lose it?

The recent successes and foibles of "America’s Team'' are well-documented in both cases. ... and the answer is in, in the form of a 19-12 loss.

"Ridiculous!'' Prescott said of his ever-bulging interception total, which will now stop bulging, finally, because the season is dead. “I’ve got to be better. No other way to sugarcoat it.”

All too bad, because the Cowboys defense was largely successful in containing the Niners' array of weapons, and there were plenty of times when Dallas made seventh-round rookie QB Brock Purdy look like ... well, a seventh-round rookie.

And in that sense, this outing at Levi's Stadium took on some of the air of the classic Cowboys-Niners playoff rivalry. ... as the Cowboys had the ball down seven with three minutes remaining. 

Except ... 

Dak's first-down throw was almost intercepted, his second-down deep ball was incomplete, and he was sacked on third down.

And that was that.

Well, there was one more last-gasp, but it also showed no promise.

And then, officially, that was that, Dak's fine playoff game last week in Tampa (305 yards and four TDs passing plus a rushing TD) a matter of record ...

But also, in a way, now ancient history.

“I promise the number will never be this (high) again,'' Prescott predicted, and that's fair; he played 14 games this year and threw 17 interceptions, so ...

Yeah. For that to happen again would be rather "ridiculous.''

Prescott led the NFL with 15 regular-season picks, and ended the regular season with 11 interceptions in his final seven games. His plan was to play well enough to avenge a 23-17 loss to San Francisco in the Wild Card round last year, a loss that still stings.

That plan looked a little goofy when Maher opened the game by missing another extra point - and there is really no way to measure whether that sucked any of the life out of a Dallas team that watched him miss four PATs last week ...

And it went awry when Dak tossed a pair of ugly first-half interceptions that added to his crummy linescore of 23 of 37 for 206 yards.

Team owner Jerry Jones is standing by his QB, telling us, "My (commitment to Dak) is just as strong as ever. ... I take (my chances with him) again and again and again.''

And Dak is saying the right things, too, like, “There’s no doubt that we’ll be back. No doubt at all.”

But of course, it is not as easy as all that. And when an offense can't make extra points and can't avoid mindless interceptions? Well, there is definitely "doubt.''

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