49ers move on as Cowboys fail to beat clock on final play
Garappolo managed to burn five minutes of clock on the next possession, getting the ball to the Dallas 49 for a fourth & 1 before the two-minute warning.
Shanahan elected to take a delay of game and then punt. It then took Dallas just two plays to get the ball to midfield, the exact scenario Shanahan feared so badly that he was willing to give the ball away. The defense bailed out Shanahan at that point, sacking Prescott and then forcing three straight incompletions. But he would get one more chance.
Deebo Samuel managed to come within inches of what would be a game-clinching first down, and this time, Shanahan had the presence of mind to go for it on 4th. But the Niners set tackle Trent Williams in motion behind the rest of the line, and snapped the ball before he was set. Penalty and time to punt. (Shanahan said after the game that Garoppolo called for the snap too early.)
With 30 seconds and no timeouts, Prescott quickly worked the sidelines for 30 yards, putting his team in Hail Mary territory after the discombobulated Niners called timeout with 14 seconds remaining. That’s when Dallas called the ill-fated draw. Prescott sprinted to the 24-yard line, then clocked the ball as time expired. Game over, season over.
After the loss, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he couldn’t remember the last time a loss was so disappointing. “I don’t even want to discuss anything like that at this particular time,” he said of possibly moving on from McCarthy after two years.
For the final play, the man himself said he made the right call and blamed the refs. “That was the best option,” McCarthy said. “It’s the right decision...the execution between us and the officiating spotting the ball — we shouldn’t have had any problem getting the ball spotted there.”