The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 19-12, on Sunday to advance to the NFC Championship next weekend against the Eagles.
The Cowboys had a shot when they took over at their own 18 with 2:59 remaining, trailing 19-12 after Robbie Gould's fourth field goal of the game capped a nearly eight-minute drive. But Prescott threw two straight incompletions and was sacked on third down.
Coach Mike McCarthy opted to punt on fourth-and-10 with all three timeouts left. Rookie Brock Purdy started the next drive with a 16-yard completion to George Kittle and San Francisco didn't give the ball back to Dallas until there were 45 seconds left at the 6. Dallas never got close from there. Purdy, the last pick in the draft last April, improved to 7-0 as a starter since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo early in Week 13. He went 18 for 28 for 215 yards with no turnovers against the Cowboys, joining Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez as the only rookie QBs to win two playoff starts. The 49ers took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when McCaffrey capped a 91-yard drive with a 2-yard run.by Kittle and a pair of defensive holds against Dallas — including one on Donovan Wilson near the goal line that negated a third-down sack. Maher made his second field goal of the game when he converted from 43 yards out to cut San Francisco's lead to 16-12. The NFL's top two scoring teams over the past 13 weeks had trouble getting going as the defenses led by All-Pros Nick Bosa of San Francisco and Micah Parsons of Dallas controlled the play. The Niners turned two interceptions in the first half by Prescott into field goals by Robbie Gould and led 9-6 at the half. The Cowboys scored the only TD of the first half with Prescott connecting with tight end Dalton Schultz for the third time this postseason. But Maher's low extra-point attempt was blocked by Samson Ebukam. Maher got some redemption when he made a 25-yard field goal that tied the game at 9 early in the third quarter after Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled a punt return at the San Francisco 21.The Cowboys' decision to stick with Maher after his four missed extra points last week looked questionable when he missed the early extra point. There had been a dustup pregame when Maher was warming up. Trent Williams and other 49ers players tried to interfere with his attempts from San Francisco’s side of the field, leading to a brief argument.Cowboys: RB Tony Pollard left late in the first half after injuring his left ankle while getting tackled following a reception. He didn't return to the game. ... DT Calvin Watkins left in the first half.The 49ers would reach their second Super Bowl in the past four seasons with a win at Philadelphia.
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