Dak Prescott explains final sequence of bizarre ending in Cowboys playoff loss

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott came close to pulling off a historic comeback against the San Francisco 49ers, overcoming a 23-7 deficit late in the third to set up a potential game-winning touchdown drive, but the Cowboys’ poor clock management forced them out of the Playoffs in the first round.

Dallas fought all the way back to a 23-16 deficit and the Cowboys received the ball for their last drive of the game on their own 20-yard line. McCarthy called for a Prescott pass to CeeDee Lamb, which was good for a nine-yard gain, followed by a 10-yard pass to Tony Pollard and nine-yard gain to Dalton Schultz. McCarthy then used the Cowboys’ final timeout with 14 seconds left, his offense setting up at the 50-yard line.

Then, the inexplicable: Prescott on second-and-1 took a quarterback draw up the middle to the 49ers’ 24-yard line, a 17-yard gain that would, in theory, bring the Cowboys out of Hail-Mary range and into reasonable touchdown range. But the offense was unable to get set up for a spike in time to stop the clock, and the Cowboys ended up having no final chance to win.

“We’ve practiced it,” Prescott said after the game, explaining the strange situation surrounding the spike. “You hand it to the center. The umpire, all he has to do is usually come in and tap the ball. Don’t necessarily know exactly … why the hit (with the official) happened, I guess. Yeah, I know he’s going to come in and touch the ball. We could say, yeah he needs to be closer to the ball or whatever, but in hindsight, it’s just tough. Just tough to accept.”

Dan Orlovsky makes eye-opening proclamation on Mike McCarthy’s future with Cowboys

In just two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, head coach Mike McCarthy has made tangible progress, parlaying a 6-10 campaign in 2020 into a 12-5 finish this season. But after winning the NFC East and making the NFL Playoffs in 2021, McCarthy and the Cowboys were upset by the visiting San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card round, bringing their once-promising campaign to a crashing halt.

The game wasn’t always out of hand for the Cowboys, despite trailing 23-7 late in the third quarter. Dallas clawed their way back into the game, and after a third-quarter field goal, fourth-quarter touchdown and several strong defensive stands, the Cowboys trailed by just six; on their last drive of the game, with the 49ers clinging to a 23-17 lead, the Cowboys could have taken over with a touchdown. But poor clock management, in part thanks to McCarthy, led to Dallas not even getting the chance. For that reason, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky thinks the Cowboys have no choice but to move on from McCarthy immediately, despite his success this year.

“I, Jerry Jones, am paying two people,” Orlovsky said on ESPN, explaining how, from Jones’ perspective, it makes sense to fire McCarthy. “I’m paying my head coach to make sure that my team is incredibly aware to perform in that situation, and I’m paying my quarterback to perform at an elite level in that situation. If we want to sit here and say it’s 100 percent blame on both (Prescott and McCarthy), I’m cool with that. But I’ve got to start with the coach because it looks like everybody — everybody — is unprepared on what to do and how to do it.”

Dallas received the ball for their last drive of the game on their own 20-yard line. McCarthy called for a Prescott pass to CeeDee Lamb, which was good for a nine-yard gain, followed by a 10-yard pass to Tony Pollard and nine-yard gain to Dalton Schultz. McCarthy then used the Cowboys’ final timeout with 14 seconds left, his offense setting up at the 50-yard line.

Then, the inexplicable: Prescott on second-and-1 took a quarterback draw up the middle to the 49ers’ 24-yard line, a 17-yard gain that would, in theory, bring the Cowboys out of Hail-Mary range and into reasonable touchdown range. But the offense was unable to get set up for a spike in time to stop the clock, and the Cowboys ended up having no final chance to win.

“I don’t know how you bring back the head coach,” Orlovsky said of McCarthy. “I just — and I know that people hate that Dan Orlovsky goes on Get Up and says that this coach shouldn’t be back. I’m not calling for his job, I’m just telling you I don’t know how you bring him back. … This should have been a 21-point beatdown. (The Cowboys) are lucky San Francisco kicked field goals.”