Michael Irvin: Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott did not show up vs. San Francisco

The Dallas Cowboys’ loss in the Wild Card round brought plenty of reaction from Cowboys fans. But a Cowboys legend also weighed in — and he didn’t hold back.

Hall of Famer Michael Irvin appeared on the Stacking The Box podcast with FanSided’s Mark Carman this week and called out his former team, notably star players Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, for their performances. The Cowboys trailed the San Francisco 49ers 23-7 at one point, but battled back to make it a 23-17 game before losing on the last possession.

Irvin was understandably disappointed with the loss, and he made it known during the interview.

“Every team you look at, the stars of the team showed up and played,” Irvin said. “You can’t win in this game if your stars don’t show up and play. It’s Dak Prescott, 69 passer rating. Ezekiel Elliott, 31 rushing yards. CeeDee Lamb, 21 yards on one reception.”

Fans have been searching for reasons why the Cowboys’ season ended so soon. Was it the play-calling? Or was it the head coach? To Irvin, neither answer is right. It all came down to the players.

“They had the star players playing like role players,” Irvin said. “That’s why they’ve got their butts sitting at home.”

Former NFL general manager takes shot at Dak Prescott, Cowboys

There’s no shortage of people giving their two cents on the dramatic ending to the Cowboys-49ers game on Sunday night. Former NFL general manager and long-time front office exec Scott Pioli pointed the finger at the Cowboys’ leadership, Dak Prescott, and preparation for their loss.

“This is why coaches teach situational football!!” Pioli tweeted. “The ball carrier CANNOT set the ball after the play! It’s why you teach players to HAND ball to (the) official in hurry up. Everyone should know that rule and every team should be practicing it!!”

Prescott and the Cowboys have undoubtedly run two-minute drills hundreds of times during his six seasons in Dallas. Prescott also executed two-minute drills hundreds of times with the Mississippi State Bulldogs. However, with the game on the line and the clock ticking down, all that preparation didn’t matter.

The Cowboys were out of timeouts with 14 seconds remaining when Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore called a quarterback draw in order to set up a better pass play than a Hail Mary.

Prescott ran 17 yards to the San Francisco 24-yard line and the Cowboys hurried to the line to try and spike the football before the clock ran out. That didn’t happen as Dallas snapped the ball with one second left and Prescott spiked it with no time on the clock.