If playoff games are decided by the little things, the details, then neither team deserved to win Sunday’s 49ers-Cowboys game, which lived up to the wild card billing.
Still, the Niners beat the Cowboys 23-17 Sunday in Arlington, Texas in a contest that they controlled early and became chaotic late.
Some say that a “win is a win”. They’ll suggest that the 49ers clear the slate and move onto the next round, a matchup with the Packers in Green Bay, with confidence.
And while indeed, the 49ers prefer their fate to the Cowboys’, I believe the identity of a team — the quality of a squad — lies in those margins, those details, particularly in the biggest moments of the game.
If I’m right, the 49ers better savor Sunday’s win — it’ll be their last this season.
I hate to be negative after the Niners’ first road playoff win since 2014. I really do! But the truth is that Sunday’s game will be remembered for years — for all the wrong reasons.
San Francisco was simply the second-worst team on the field at AT&T Stadium Sunday. Dallas was undisciplined, uninspiring, and altogether unworthy of being in a playoff game, much less winning it. The Cowboys’ performance was comically inept; a testament to how bad the NFC East was this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if their head coach, Mike McCarthy, is fired on Monday.
And yet Dallas had the ball with a chance to not just tie, but win the game in the final seconds.
That’s a failure of the Niners.
Dallas’ late chance was only possible because the 49ers combined bad execution, bad coaching, and bad quarterback play in the second half of Sunday’s game.
It was nearly a season-ending concoction.
Teams should not get away with that in the playoffs. The Niners’ win over the Cowboys was the exception to the rule.
The Packers won’t be such gracious hosts next week. No, Aaron Rodgers and Co. will gladly accept the 49ers’ gifts — ones that the Cowboys emphatically refused Sunday — and bury the Niners.
If the Niners kick field goals instead of attacking on fourth down, the Packers will celebrate as the 49ers leave possibilities for four more points on the field.
If the Niners’ special teams continue to be anything but special (save for the kicker), the Packers will laugh with glee. It’s rare Green Bay faces a team with special teams as bad as its own.
If 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wants to overthink game management to the point of system failure, particularly late in the contest, when those decisions really matter, the Packers will strike against his indecision and passive calls.
If quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo wants to replicate his second-half performance Sunday, where he went 5-of-11 for 39 yards and one life-providing interception to the Cowboys, Green Bay will make the number worse.
I don’t even think the Packers are that good. They’re paper tigers, if you ask me.
I just know the Niners need to be better. What we saw down the stretch Sunday wasn’t winning playoff football, even though it was enough to win the game.
The Packers don’t need help to beat San Francisco and I doubt they will provide a tenth as much help as the Cowboys gave the 49ers on Sunday.
The irony is that the Niners looked every bit like a team that could go far in these playoffs in the early part of Sunday’s game.
They were disciplined and physical, controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and executing with a ruthlessness that we had not seen from them all season. Garoppolo was splendid and the defense even better.
The Niners were playing playoff-level football in all phases. Yes, they left some points on the board by choosing to try field goals instead of pressing their considerable advantage over the Cowboys. The 49ers were playing so well — the margin was so large between the two teams — it seemed as if it would not matter.
But of course it did. San Francisco won by six and needed the referee to literally run into Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott in the final seconds, preventing the Cowboys from snapping the ball to set up one last shot at the end zone from inside 49ers territory.
Now, the defense held up its end of the winning bargain in the second half Sunday. The Niners can thank DeMeco Ryans’ unit — which played without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner down the stretch — for the victory. The season continues.
The Niners’ defense will need to play that well against a Packers offense that is markedly better than the Cowboys, who built a false reputation as world-beaters on empty stats against bad teams.
If Bosa — the Niners’ best defender — is back, then San Francisco can perhaps replicate Sunday’s performance on defense against Rodgers. Man, were they good Sunday.
But this is a league defined by quarterbacks, and Garoppolo’s second-half play was deeply concerning.
It’s also a league of head coaches, and at a certain point, it’s impossible to ignore that Shanahan-led teams have a serious knack for letting seemingly overmatched opponents back into games late.
Yet, the Niners keep winning. First to make the playoffs with an improbable victory over the Rams in Week 18, then again on Sunday.
This is a good team. It might even be a great team.
That is, if the Niners can get out of their own way; if their quarterback and head coach can avoid mistakes in big moments.
Perhaps the next game is the one that changes the trend — where it all comes together for a full 60 minutes.
Heck, at this point, I’ll take 45.
But right now, the truth is in the margins and these margins have simply been too tight for the 49ers to expect a deep playoff run.
