With 3:05 left on Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys were trailing 30-24 to the San Francisco 49ers, and Prescott took the farm 75 yards away from possibly winning the game with a touchdown drive.
“Hell yeah, there’s faith,” Prescott mentioned. “I mean, that’s all I can ask for. All this team can ask for is a chance, ball in hand, down 6 to win the game.”
Three weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Prescott delivered. Trailing 17-13 with 4:56 remaining, he faced the Cowboys in a 15-play, 70-yard press. On the fourth upset with 20 seconds left, he hit receiver Jalen Tolbert for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
But their anticipation on Sunday ended as they always do against the 49ers: with a loss.
In the wild card round of the 2021 playoffs, the Cowboys were down 6 with 32 seconds left. Prescott took the Cowboys to the San Francisco 24-yard line with a 17-yard run, but a series of events caused the clock to run out before he could spike the ball for one final play.
In the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs, they had two opportunities in the fourth quarter to increase or accelerate the supremacy, bad 19-12, although one was much more realistic than the second. With 3:04 left, Prescott took over the Dallas 18-yard line and the Cowboys went three and out. They were then given the ball back 94 yards from the top zone with 45 seconds left, but were able to get to the Dallas 32 more easily.
Sunday seemed like a perfect way for Prescott to end his 49ers curse and tell his own story. On the Cowboys’ previous fourth-quarter drives, Prescott had finished 9 of eleven passes for 137 yards with landing throws of seven and 20 yards to CeeDee Lamb.
In this pressure, four Prescott passes fell incomplete and the Cowboys left Levi’s Stadium with yet another loss, falling to 3-4 in a season that is on the verge of unraveling.
“It’s been a couple of years, a couple of times,” Prescott said. “It’s frustrating. I have to make the plays, period.”
On the first upset, Prescott looked at Lamb, even though three defenders were close to the receiver. Linebacker Fred Warner dropped what should have been a game-clinching interception.
“I just have to put the ball higher or fight to create something with my legs since it’s the first down,” Prescott said.
In the second upset, he was forced to pitch under pressure for a foul.
“They did a good job, they took [tight end Jake Ferguson] underneath, he kind of bracketed this corner route, forced me out of the pocket,” Prescott mentioned.
On the third upset, he threw a superbly placed deep ball from the sideline to receiver KaVontae Turpin, hitting him on the fingers so that he fell to the field.
“I liked the matchup, I made a shot and didn’t make it,” Prescott said.
On the fourth upset, he was harassed and dragged to his right, throwing a shove at Jalen Brooks, who was covered by two defenders. The Cowboys were seeking a pass interference penalty. The trash flag was once thrown.
“I had to come out of my pocket and put some hope in it,” Prescott said. “I hope there was contact in the end. It wasn’t like that. Two guys against one. They made the plays when they needed to, and we didn’t.”
When the overall pressure stands proud, the expectation of outscoring the Niners plummeted for four consecutive sequences during the second, third and fourth quarters, not including a kneel down to end the first half. Then, taking a 10-3 lead, the Cowboys ran 12 plays and gained 22 yards.
The 7-point lead was a 27-10 deficit before the Cowboys suffered their first early upset of the second half with 11 minutes left in the tournament.
“There are ups and downs in the game, but we definitely stayed in that valley too long,” said school teacher Mike McCarthy. “We also didn’t give our defense any relief.”
That the Cowboys defense is on target is not a surprise, given how the season has played out and the absences of their three best running backs (Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland) due to injuries. San Francisco rushed 36 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Brock Purdy was 18 of 26 for 260 yards, interceptions and a 2-yard touchdown for tight end George Kittle, who had six receptions for 128 yards.
Prescott, meanwhile, became the first Cowboys quarterback with two interceptions in three snap games since Troy Aikman in 1992. Prescott said his second interception via cornerback Deommodore Lenoir was one of the “dumb” interceptions he ever had. .
On the season, Prescott has 8 interceptions. He had nine in 17 games last season.
In his four games against the Niners, Prescott has had the worst touchdown-to-interception ratio (5:8), the worst yards per contest (6.0) and the worst completion percentage (60%) of any opponent he has faced. . has faced some events in the last five seasons, according to ESPN Analysis.
Most significantly, he is 0-4 in those starts.
“I don’t have to be perfect, but I sure can’t have turnovers,” Prescott said, adding: “Once again, we fell behind in the turnover battle, and that’s on me. I can’t allow that”. If you’re planning on winning games, I’ve got to clean that up, period.”
