Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers are 6-2 all-time in the Wild Card round. That’s impressive. Kyle Shanahan’s teams have been so good when they’ve made the playoffs that they’ve avoided the first round of the playoffs altogether. In two Wild Card appearances with Shanahan as the head coach, the 49ers won both games. Let’s revisit those ahead of this weekend’s matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 49ers scored a touchdown on their opening drive. Deebo Samuel, in the wideback days, had the first two carries of the game. Jimmy Garoppolo’s first pass went to Travis Benjamin for 17 yards. Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo had first-down receptions on the drive, and Elijah Mitchell had a 13-yard gain before a four-yard touchdown.
On the Cowboys’ first drive, Dre Greenlaw had a tackle for loss, and Nick Bosa sacked Dak Prescott on third down. Remember those days?
The Niners had a chance to score another touchdown on the next drive, but Mitchell lost 11 yards on a screen pass. No worries, as Robbie Gould nailed a 53-yarder. Garoppolo had six completions to six different receivers through two drives.
Prescott completed a 32-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb on 3rd & 6 on the ensuing drive, but the play came back after Arden Key drew a holding penalty. The 49ers were generating pressure with four.
Re-watching this game, and jet sweeps to Deebo and Aiyuk are the kinds of easy yards the 49ers don’t have. Samuel took a slant for 19 yards on 3rd & 3. Jimmy scrambled and found Aiyuk for a 3rd & 9 completion to move the sticks. But Deebo was stuffed on third and short, leading to another Gould field goal.
Dallas finally answered after trailing 13-0. Amari Cooper beat K’Wuan Williams on a slot fade to draw the Cowboys within six.
The big-play threat of Aiyuk came through on a 37-yarder, beating Trevon Diggs. But a batted pass on third down meant the Niners would once again settle for a 52-yard field goal from Gould.
In the third quarter, Arik Armstead had a sack. Bosa was injured earlier in the game and was questionable to return. He came back and would leave again with a head injury. Bosa’s replacement, Jordan Willis, hit Dak on 3rd & 7 to force an errant pass and a punt.
The 49ers had six second-half drives. They punted on four of them, threw an interception on one, and scored on a Deebo Samuel run, one play after K’Wuan picked off Prescott.
The story of the game was the defense holding the Cowboys scoreless for two quarters. Their touchdown came after Jimmy’s interception. Dallas only needed to go 28 yards. Everybody remembers Prescott spiking the ball with no time remaining, but the 49ers had five sacks and controlled the game.
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