It is official. ‘Mr Irrelevant’ is just one game away from the Super Bowl.
It wasn’t spectacular but seventh-round rookie quarterback Brock Purdy made the throws he needed to, guiding the San Francisco 49ers to a 19-12 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
It now sets up an NFC championship game between the 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, where Australians Jordan Mailata and Mitch Wishnowsky will also face off.
Purdy completed 19 of 29 passes for 214 yards in the win, not forcing an unnecessary pass as running back Christian McCaffrey scored San Francisco’s only touchdown of the game.
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The same can’t go for the more experienced Dak Prescott though, who completed 20 of 31 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown but also threw two interceptions.
With it, Prescott became the first Cowboys quarterback to throw two first-half interceptions in a playoff game since Troy Aikman in the 1994 NFC championship game against the 49ers.
It continued a worrying run of turnovers for Prescott, who had 13 interceptions in his last nine games to end the season.
Speaking of which, the 49ers had the first real scoring chance of the game after Prescott was intercepted while attempting a pass for Michael Gallup in a straight shotgun dropback.
The Cowboys’ pass rush though was making life difficult for Purdy, who was able to find Brandon Aiyuk for a 17-yard completion but was being forced to move out of the pocket.
The end result for San Francisco was a Robbie Gould field goal, giving the 49ers a 3-0 lead over the Cowboys after the opening quarter.
While it would have been all too easy for Prescott to fall apart after the early interception, he instead responded in the best possible way with a big-time drive and passing touchdown.
The Cowboys marched it 74 yards down the field off 14 plays as calculated and patient Prescott first connected with receiver Noah Brown for a crucial third-down catch.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott then lunged forward for a first down to keep the drive going before a CeeDee Lamb jet sweep and designed keep for Prescott took the ball into the red zone.
Prescott iced the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Schultz, who scored twice in last week’s win over Tampa Bay, to put the Cowboys up 6-3.
Kicker Brett Maher though, having missed his first four extra point attempts against the Bucs, was blocked on his first of the day against Dallas.
It meant the 49ers were able to level the game with a 47-yard Gould field goal on their next drive.
While Prescott was doing plenty right, including scrambling nine yards on a 4th-and-4 for a first down, the costly turnovers just wouldn’t go away.
Instead of getting a shot to score a touchdown before the half poor decision-making saw Prescott throw another interception, this one to All-Pro Fred Warner.
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Compounding matters for Dallas was an ankle injury to explosive running back Tony Pollard, who was carted off the field and later ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Meanwhile, a 21-yard pass from Purdy to Juwan Jennings put San Francisco in field-goal range and Gould nailed it to give the 49ers a 9-6 lead at the halftime break.
It looked all set up for the 49ers to run away with it in the second half, like they did the week before against the Seahawks, but there was an early twist when the third quarter opened.
Kelvin Joseph came up with the big play Dallas needed, forcing a fumble on Ray-Ray McCloud’s punt return and giving the Cowboys an immediate red zone opportunity.
Prescott almost threw another interception when a pass to Elliott was tipped, with Dallas settling for a field goal, although it was hardly a guarantee given Maher’s kicking woes.
It was still a missed opportunity for the Cowboys as a spectacular 30-yard grab from 49ers tight end George Kittle sparked a scoring drive in response from San Francisco that ended with McCaffrey punching it in.
An electric 44-yard return from KaVontae Turpin gave the Cowboys solid field position for Prescott to work with and a 17-yard completion put Dallas in scoring range.
But once again, the Cowboys would have to live with a Maher field goal, closing the gap to 16-12 with 10 minutes left in the quarter.
Dallas though could not find a way to break the San Francisco defense, instead giving up another field goal and failing to come up with a late stop in a 19-12 defeat.
In the end, the turnovers and poor clock management would prove too much for the Cowboys.
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