49ers win over Cowboys in the Wild Card round after Dak Prescott run up the middle, time expires as ref replaces ball

The Dallas Cowboys very nearly turned things on their heads for 49ers fans after nearly executing a big-time comeback in the fourth quarter. Though San Francisco dominated most of the game, injuries to Nick Bosa and Fred Warner on defense made things uncomfortably close.

Down six points with 32 seconds on the clock, the Cowboys took possession at their own 20-yard line and began to march down the field. With 14 seconds to go, Prescott ran up the middle for a 17-yard gain which kept the clock running. He and the offense rushed back to the line of scrimmage, but just as they went to spike the ball, the referee intervened.

As Tony Romo pointed out on the broadcast, Prescott’s move should have been to get the ball in the referee’s hands. However, he placed it himself at the San Francisco 24-yard line, forcing time to expire as the refs reset the ball.

The 49ers finished with a win over the Cowboys 23-17 and will take a trip into Lambeau field to face the NFC’s No. 1 seed.