Dallas Cowboys’ season ends in familiar, gaffe-prone fashion

DALLAS — Stop me if you happen to’ve heard this one earlier than, the Dallas Cowboys is not going to be advancing to the NFC Championship sport. That’s a well-recognized chorus that’s been echoed on the finish of each season for the previous 27 years.

This time, it was a 19-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional spherical that did the Cowboys in, marking the second consecutive 12 months that Dallas noticed their season ended by their playoff rivals to the west.

As was the case final season and in many Januarys passed by, it didn’t need to be this manner. The Cowboys have been in the sport on Sunday, with the protection holding the vaunted 49ers’ offense in verify, and the offense in a position to transfer the ball. The Cowboys have been defending the quarterback and there was a sense that it was all there for the taking. 

Then got here the errors. Every one in every of them crushed Dallas’ possibilities at ending one of many league’s longest droughts. One after one other, the errors started, and after such a stellar outing in the wild-card spherical that produced hope, the identical previous Cowboys emerged in the spherical that has vexed them for many years.

The rating was 6-6 when issues started to spiral. Up till that time, the one points for the Cowboys have been an interception by Dak Prescott when the quarterback and vast receiver Michael Gallup weren’t on the identical web page, a blocked further level, and an damage to offensive spark plug Tony Pollard. Otherwise, the group had carried out nicely because the underdog and had an opportunity to take a lead earlier than halftime.

On the subsequent play after Pollard’s damage, nonetheless, on a 2nd & 2 from the SF 18-yard line, Prescott made an inexcusable resolution that has plagued him all season. 

Prescott threw into double protection to a receiver that wasn’t open, and the ball bounced into 49ers linebacker Fred Warner’s palms. The decide value the Cowboys factors, and finally led to a go-ahead subject aim for San Francisco earlier than halftime.

With lower than two minutes to go earlier than the half, all of the momentum had swung away from Dallas. The interception wasn’t the one massive mistake in the sport, nevertheless it was the one which felt prefer it value the Cowboys the sport.

Considering the circumstances, it was one of many worst throws of Prescott’s profession and it ought to hang-out him all offseason. There was no must drive the ball into tight protection with factors already doubtless on the desk for Dallas and with the ball to begin the third quarter. 

Instead, Prescott’s mind-boggling pattern of interceptions late in second quarters got here again to harm the Cowboys once more in the one sport they couldn’t afford it. 

After being on hearth in the wild-card spherical, Prescott in the end had a depressing sport towards the 49ers regardless of his offensive line holding up nicely towards the vaunted San Francisco entrance. Prescott simply missed too many throws in a efficiency that Dallas could not survive. And, with it, his playoff legacy took one other hit.

However, other than the quarterback, there have been different performs that might have been made to assist the Cowboys stroll out a winner. This doesn’t all fall on Dak. Every sport has a couple of performs that have an effect on the end result, and Dallas didn’t make any of them in a sport that was determined by one rating.

The blatant maintain by security Donovan Wilson when the Cowboys had in any other case gotten a sack to drive a subject aim try was a crushing blunder. Instead of three factors, the 49ers prolonged the drive and scored the definitive landing.

Meanwhile, cornerback Trevon Diggs, who has maybe the very best palms in the league on the place, dropped a certain interception that hit him proper in the palms. That was on the identical drive because the Wilson penalty that modified the trajectory of the sport.

There was additionally a puzzling mistake by kick returner KaVonate Turpin, who had damaged free for a probable game-tying landing, solely to run proper into the San Francisco kicker because the final man to beat. Instead of the TD, it was a 44-yard return by the Pro Bowl rookie returner.

The Cowboys managed to get a subject aim out of the superb subject place, nevertheless it ought to have been way more.

In a sport the place they wanted to play a few of their finest soccer, the Cowboys blew it once more. The win was there for the taking. The Cowboys held the 49ers to 19 factors and misplaced. The performers and roles could change, the poor models could swap, the coaches could also be completely different, the gamers come and go, nevertheless it’s the identical story you’ve heard instructed many occasions earlier than.

Each particular person Cowboys group shouldn’t be judged by the sins of the franchise’s previous. And but, annually’s version simply continues to inherit these sins and play them out time and again. The similar errors which have cropped up during the last 27 years sprouted once more in the divisional loss to the 49ers. 

Ultimately the Cowboys simply can not get out of their very own method. The self-inflicted wounds proceed to indicate up on the worst occasions. Dallas remains to be a giant play or two away in the most important video games from repenting for nearly three many years price of disasters on the worst potential occasions.

Do you are feeling like a 12-5 season with a wild-card sport win was a profitable 12 months for the Cowboys? Share your ideas with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.