In the only upset (so far) of wildcard weekend, Kyle Shanahan's scrappy 49er's thwarted Dak Prescott and the Cowboys in a game that came down the wire.
San Francisco's Eli Mitchell scored on the opening drive and the 49ers added a field goal after Dallas opened with a 3-and-out, giving them a 10-0 first quarter lead. The lead was never relinquished, and after two second quarter field goals Deebo Samuel found the end zone in the third, essentially putting the game away 23-7. Prescott and the Cowboys came back in the fourth with a field goal of their own and even turned a Jimmy Garoppolo interception into seven more points, but with no timeouts it proved too little too late. Down by six, Prescott chose to run the ball in the field of play rather than attempt a few game-winning deep passes, and the game ended when the Cowboys could not spike the ball before the clock hit zeroes.
Jerry Jones is known for his manic desire to get the Cowboys a Super Bowl at any cost, and despite building a roster and coaching staff that accomplished top 5 team stats on both sides of the ball, Dallas came up short yet again in the postseason.
Now that the Cowboys season is over, Jones will have to face the fact that both his coordinators are two of the top head coaching candidates in a league with 8 job openings. Head coach Mike McCarthy isn’t going anywhere and he might keep his young offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, but defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is sure to be a head coach somewhere in 2022.
Cowboy fans have reason to feel optimistic for the future regardless of this loss. Micah Parsons, Demarcus Lawrence, and Trevon Diggs can hold down the defense for years to come, and Dak Prescott was one of the league's best passers even though he was missing his full arsenal of receiving weapons for part of the year. The Cowboys running game was lacking in 2021, but if they can keep their line healthy Zeke is still a top ten back in the league.
For the 49ers, it's on to Green Bay and the top-seeded Packers. San Francisco was 3-5 as we approached the halfway mark of the 2021 season, so playing meaningful football in January is impressive. Having Jimmy Garoppolo, Eli Mitchell, and George Kittle healthy for this game was huge, but they may need more than health to get them past the brick wall Packers defense. The 49ers will also need their pass rushers led by Nick Bosa to pressure Aaron Rodgers and get him out of the pocket if they hope to keep next week's game close.
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