Santa Clara, Calif. (AP) — 2 more interceptions From Dak PrescottAnother missed extra point by Brett Maher. Some weird playcalls at the end of the game.
It all led to another playoff exit for the Dallas Cowboys and more questions about what they needed to do to get over the hump.
Prescott had two turnovers and led only one touchdown drive, and the Cowboys fell short of the NFC title game in their 12th straight postseason trip. Lost 19-12 to San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round on Sunday.
Owner Jerry Jones said, “I came here and felt like I was in a good position to win this thing.” I can say I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t do it.”
The franchise, which won three Super Bowl titles in four years early in Jones’ tenure, is now primarily known for its playoff flops.
And now there’s speculation about the job security of manager Mike McCarthy, who has won one playoff game in three seasons – last week against Tampa Bay.
Jones said the loss didn’t change his opinion of McCarthy, but he was clearly also frustrated with the early ending.
“This feels very bad,” he said.
The Cowboys (13-6) haven’t even made it to the conference championship game since winning the Super Bowl following the 1995 season, losing seven times in the Divisional Round and five times in the Wild Card Round. Since then, only five other teams have not reached the conference title game.
They had a chance to get there on Sunday thanks to a strong defensive performance, but were knocked out by rival 49ers for the second season in a row.
Ann Early interception by Prescott Set a field goal in San Francisco.
The Cowboys then put together their only TD drive of the game, with Prescott connecting with Dalton Schultz on a 4-yard score.But Maher is his extra point attempt blocked After missing four records in last week’s win in Tampa Bay.
Prescott then threw another interception (13th in the last nine games) to turn a potential scoring drive into a field goal at the end of the half to give San Francisco a 9–6 lead.
The Cowboys then failed to capitalize on the play of their two big special teams, settling for a field goal following a Ray-Ray MacLeod fumble punt and a long kickoff return from Cabonte Turpin.
So they were in a desperate situation as they were substituted in their own half at 18 in the closing stages and trailed 19-12 with 2:59 remaining.
Prescott threw two consecutive incompletions and was sacked on third down. McCarthy he chose to punt on 4 and 10, with all three of his remaining timeouts remaining.
The Cowboys got the ball back at 6 with 45 seconds left, but could only move the ball to 24, but Ezekiel Elliott started with a runback that snapped the ball to Prescott when Jimmy Ward tackled it. We were unable to move the ball before a bizarre final play that ended just before the planned lateral. Turpin after a short pass.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL