ARLINGTON, Texas – Right here is how the 49ers (11-7) graded in Sunday’s 23-17 win over the host Dallas Cowboys (12-6) in an NFC wild-card playoff sport:
PASS OFFENSE: C
Truthfully, this was a median passing outing, contemplating it got here with a Jimmy Garoppolo interception (within the fourth quarter, doh!) but in addition some clutch third-down conversions. The opening drive noticed Garoppolo go 3-for-3 to Travis Benjamin (17 yards), Brandon Aiyuk (11 yards) and Deebo Samuel (15 yards) to arrange Elijah Mitchell’s landing run. Aiyuk (5 catches, 66 yards) and Samuel (three catches, 38 yards) had been complemented by Jauan Jennings’ third-down grabs. George Kittle wants extra motion than an 18-yard catch (fourth straight sport below 40 yards). Penalties plagued their second-half possessions. Trent Williams’s return offered a beneficial presence, and he stated his first playoff win was higher than accolades he’s acquired (see: 9 Professional Bowl berths and 2021 All-Professional honors.)
RUN OFFENSE: A
They ran 38 instances for 169 yards — a successful components — and there may be one carry to highlight: Samuel’s 26-yard cutback run for the eventual successful factors, albeit 20 minutes earlier than the sport’s finish. “He’s loopy to observe, to be sincere,” teammate D.J. Jones stated. “Anytime with the ball in his arms, he can go to the tip zone.” Samuel known as his shot, telling Kyle Shanahan to provide him the ball after Ok’Waun Williams’ interception, and Samuel was astute in anticipating the Cowboys to overpursue towards the perimeter based mostly on how they defended him earlier within the sport. Mitchell’s playoff debut featured a 4-yard landing run on the opening drive, and he virtually broke unfastened for large positive factors (27 carries, 96 yards).
PASS DEFENSE: B
No two performs meant greater than the successive ones by Jones and Williams within the third quarter to tee up Samuel’s landing. First, Jones sacked Dak Prescott for a 13-yard loss (“It was fast to me. I had a pleasant transfer on inside,” Jones stated.) Then got here an interception on the Cowboys’ 26-yard line by Williams, who missed final Sunday’s sport after simply coming off COVID reserve (“I used to be type of studying the quarterback’s eyes, noticed it, drove on it and caught it,” Williams stated.) No two absences may have been extra crushing than these of Nick Bosa (concussion, 1:15 earlier than halftime) and Fred Warner (ankle, two snaps earlier than the Cowboys’ final landing). So many defenders stepped as much as protect the win, whether or not it was Emmanuel Moseley’s team-high 12 tackles or the six gamers who mixed for 5 sacks. Charles Omenihu had 1/2 sacks in his largest workload as a 49er, however the stress from Jones, Arik Armstead, Arden Key, Kevin Givens and Samson Ebukam saved Prescott from lighting up the secondary.
RUN DEFENSE: A
Nobody has run for 100 yards towards the 49ers since Bears quarterback Justin Fields did so on Halloween (and solely two different rushers earlier than him this season). Ezekiel Elliott averaged solely 2.6 yards per carry (12 carries, 31 yards) and the extra explosive Tony Pollard clocked in at 3.5 yards per carry (4 carries, 14 yards). The Cowboys’ key runs got here from Prescott, from his fourth-quarter landing keeper to an ill-conceived 17-yard run that killed the ultimate 14 seconds. The 49ers credit score a lot of their run-defense success to Armstead on the inside, and Jones went as far as to name Armstead “a very powerful piece on this workforce.” Depth truly is perhaps the protection’s finest weapon, from that nine-man rotation on the road to the linebackers filling in for injured colleagues, to a secondary that withstood Dallas’ late-game storm.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Issues had been going so swell as Robbie Gould made all three of his field-goal makes an attempt earlier than halftime (53, 40, 52 yards) and remained good for his postseason profession (18-of-18 area targets, 31-of-31 point-after kicks). However then the particular groups took a flip for the more serious. There was the running-into-the-punter penalty to make an Armstead sack moot (and the protection rallied in response). Much more egregious was the Cowboys’ faux punt they pulled off (vs. benched cornerback Josh Norman) within the fourth quarter. A 32-yard kick return arrange the Cowboys’ first landing drive. Total: Yikes.
COACHING: B
No, Kyle Shanahan is just not snakebit in relation to holding playoff leads. Not this postseason. Not but, anyhow. Sunday’s opening act (75-yard landing drive, adopted by the protection’s three-and-out) confirmed wonderful preparation. Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who surfaced Saturday as a Minnesota Vikings teaching candidate, helped his inventory with how his unit scrambled to cowl for Bosa and Warner. In the long run, Shanahan wasn’t the one explaining away a season-ending defeat (and odd ultimate name). Subsequent cease: A Saturday evening sport (5:15 p.m. PT) at Lambeau Subject, the place Shanahan matches up with Matt LaFleur, two years after the NFC Championship Sport rout and 9 months after Shanahan reached out to see if Aaron Rodgers was obtainable through commerce.