Today we witnessed something everyone expected. The Dallas Cowboys are going home before reaching the NFL Semifinals for the 27th year in a row. The San Francisco 49ers are returning to the NFC Conference Championship for the third time in four years. The last time they did this was the 2011-13 seasons where they went back to back.
For the Cowboys, they were coming off their first road playoff win since 1993. Less than 15 players on the entire roster were alive to see that. It was a statement win and potentially sent Tom Brady away for good. However, that energy on offense, was not here today against the 49ers. Putting up only 282 total yards and less than 80 rushing yards the offense was contained. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions and Zeke was getting 2.6 YPC.
For the 49ers, they were coming off a dominating win against the Seahawks in the Wild Card. Brock Purdy completed 18 passes and they were all first downs. It was an amazing win and sent a message to other NFL Teams. Today their defense dominated holding the Cowboys to 12 points.
The game was very defensive but the Dallas Cowboys made constant mistakes in the red zone as they fell 19-12. With these mistakes, the 49ers were able to take advantage of them and drive down the field to get some points. The 49ers played a lot more efficiently and costly penalties led by the Cowboys led to even more points. In a game like this, every point mattered and Dak and the Cowboys were unable to get many of those. Pollard got hurt late in the second quarter and Zeke’s unproductivity showed why Zeke relies on the one-two combo. McCaffrey overall got contained but it was the Elijah Mitchell run on second down that pretty much sealed the game for the Niners.
The Niners are going back to the Conference Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. And for the Cowboys, well they are going to hope that it is their year next season.
Delivered by Ishan Parikh
