49ers top Cowboys to advance to NFC title game with a trip to Super Bowl LVII on theline

Christian McCaffrey scored on a go-ahead, 2-yard run in the fourth quarter and San Francisco’s defense did the rest, sending the 49ers to their second straight NFC title game with a 19-12 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

The 49ers (15-4) used back-to-back scoring drives in the second half to wear down the Cowboys (13-6) and win their 12th straight game. San Francisco advanced to play the Eagles in next Sunday’s NFC title game in Philadelphia after losing in that round to the Rams a year ago.

The Cowboys lost for the seventh straight time in the divisional round and have failed to reach the NFC title game since winning their fifth Super Bowl title after the 1995 season.

Dak Prescott threw two interceptions and Brett Maher missed his fifth extra point of the postseason when his attempt was blocked. He later made two field goals.

The Cowboys had a chance when they took over at their own 18-yard line with 2:59 remaining, trailing 19-12 after Robbie Gould’s fourth field goal of the game capped a nearly eight-minute drive.

But Prescott threw two consecutive incompletions and was sacked on third down. Coach Mike McCarthy opted to punt on fourth-and-10 with three timeouts remaining.

Rookie Brock Purdy started the ensuing drive with a 16-yard completion to George Kittle and San Francisco didn’t return the ball to Dallas until there was 45 seconds left on the 6-yard line. Dallas never got close from there.

Purdy, who was selected with the last pick in the draft last April and known as ‘Mr. irrelevant,’ improved to 7-0 as a starter since taking over for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo early in Week 13. He completed 18 of 28 passes for 215 yards with no turnovers against the Cowboys, joining Joe Flacco (2008) and Mark Sanchez (2009) as the only rookie quarterbacks to win two playoff starts.

The 49ers took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when McCaffrey capped a 91-yard drive with a 2-yard run.

The drive featured a juggling 30-yard catch by Kittle and a pair of defensive holds against Dallas, including one on Donovan Wilson near the goal line that negated a sack on third down.

Maher made his second field goal of the game when he converted from 43 yards out to cut San Francisco’s lead to 16-12.

The NFL’s top two scoring teams over the past 13 weeks struggled to get going as defenses led by San Francisco’s All-Pros Nick Bosa and Dallas’ Micah Parsons controlled the game.

The Niners converted two first-half interceptions by Prescott into Robbie Gould field goals and led 9–6 at the half.

The Cowboys scored the only TD of the first half with Prescott connecting with tight end Dalton Schultz for the third time this postseason. But Maher’s low extra point attempt was blocked by Samson Ebukam.

Maher got some redemption when he made a 25-yard field goal that tied the game at 9 early in the third quarter after Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled on a punt return at the San Francisco 21-yard line.