FRISCO, Texas — Despite earning their first road playoff victory in 30 years, Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys still haven’t made it past the Sectional Playoffs.
And they will again have plenty of time to think about it.
“They’re all unique,” the Cowboys quarterback said of the three Divisional playoff losses, nearly half of his team’s record seven straight losses at this stage of the NFL playoffs.
“You can’t compare one game to another, it doesn’t work that way. I keep thinking about this game, and how disappointed I am with my level of play,” Prescott said.
The latter had two interceptions in a 19-12 loss against the San Francisco 49ersa week after he had his best playoff showing in a win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Cowboys (13-6) haven’t reached the National Conference Championship Game in 12 straight playoff appearances since winning the last of their five Super Bowl rings 27 years ago.
Prescott struggled early on, but the defense let him down late in the game by allowing two long streaks that allowed the Niners to reach the pay zone each time – not to mention the fact that they didn’t was able to recover the ball quickly enough to allow the Cowboys to orchestrate a winning comeback.
Discussions during the next offseason are therefore likely to revolve around Prescott’s failures.
He went from his best efficiency ratio (143.3) in the playoffs against the Bucs to his worst (63.6) against the Niners. His 17 interceptions, including playoff games, is also a Goodell league high.
Cowboys general manager and owner Jerry Jones still believes in Prescott. The 2016 NFL offensive rookie par excellence has two more years to go on his four-year contract, which earns him $40 million annually.
“We’ll learn some good lessons from all of this,” Jones said. It’s positive. Tonight’s result won’t change my opinion of him (Prescott). »
Finally, a word on kicker Brett Maher.
He will become an unrestricted free agent after setting an NFL record by missing four conversions in the Cowboys’ win over the Bucs last week.
One of his punts was blocked against the 49ers, but this one appeared to be off target. He concluded the campaign with six failures in seven conversion attempts.
It must be remembered, however, that Maher had come to stabilize a difficult situation among the Cowboys’ kickers, after joining them towards the end of training camp. Including the playoffs, Maher made 31 of 34 field goal attempts (91%).
