‘Ridiculous!’ Dak Prescott takes the blame, Dallas Cowboys lose playoffs to 49ers, 19-12

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Deep in the hearts of the Cowboys nation, Sunday’s second-round playoff visit to 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 weaknesses of “Team America” ​​are well documented on both counts. …and the answer is there, in the form of a 19-12 loss.

“Ridiculous!” Prescott said of his still-bloated interceptions total, which will finally stop swelling because the season is dead. “I have to be better. No other way to coat it.”

Too bad, because the Cowboys’ defense has been largely successful in containing the Niners’ range of weapons, and there have been plenty of times Dallas has made seventh-round rookie QB Brock Purdy look like…well, a seventh-round rookie round.

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 at seven with three minutes left.

Except …

Dak’s first pitch was nearly intercepted, his second through ball was incomplete, and he was sacked on third down.

And that was it.

Well, there was one more last gasp, but that didn’t show any promise either.

And then, officially, that was it, Dak’s beautiful playoff game last week at Tampa (305 yards and four passing touchdowns plus one rushing touchdown) a matter of record…

But also, in a way, the now ancient history.

“I promise the number will never be this (high) again,” Prescott predicted, and that’s right; he’s played 14 games this year and thrown 17 interceptions, so…

Yeah. For that to happen again would be rather “ridiculous”.

Prescott led the NFL with 15 regular season picks and finished the regular season with 11 steals in its last 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 bit awkward when Maher opened the game by missing another extra point – and there’s really no way to gauge whether it sucked the life out of a Dallas team that saw it. missing four PATs last week…

And it turned ugly when Dak threw a pair of ugly first-half interceptions that added to his lousy 23-of-37 for 206 yards.

Team owner Jerry Jones stands by his QB, telling us: “My (commitment to Dak) is still going strong. … I’m taking (my chances with him) again and again and again. “

And Dak also says the right things, like, “There’s no doubt we’ll be back. Without a doubt.

But of course, it’s not that simple. What about when an offense can’t make extra points and can’t avoid senseless interceptions? Well, there is definitely a “doubt”.

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