Tag: 2022 playoffs

Michael Irvin responds publicly, emotionally to Super Bowl hotel incident

The ex-Cowboys WR compared his current situation to a modern-day lynching, saying he doesn’t even know what he’s being accused of. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Michael Irvin has now gone on the offensive in defending himself against allegations made by a Phoenix hotel employee in early February.

The former Cowboys wide receiver held a press conference Wednesday morning where he spoke publicly for the first time about the alleged incident that got him booted from NFL Network’s Super Bowl Week coverage.

A clearly emotional Irvin talked about what he maintains are false allegations that have seriously damaged his reputation, adversely affected his livelihood, negatively impacted his family, and caused the Hall of Famer to reconsider how he deals with fans and the general public moving forward.

Levi McCathern, Irvin’s attorney in the matter, recapped the events that took place Feb. 5 at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown, where Irvin was staying while covering Super Bowl LVII in nearby Glendale. A female employee of the hotel claimed that the three-time Super Bowl champ made “harassing and inappropriate comments” after briefly meeting Irvin in the lobby.

“The allegations are nonsense,” McCathern said Wednesday.

Irvin and his legal team filed a $100 million lawsuit against the woman and Marriott, the parent company of the hotel, in response.

Despite court orders, Marriott still has not provided Irvin with the hotel’s surveillance video of the encounter or even met with Irvin to discuss the details of the claims.

McCathern says he was allowed to view the footage, but only under close supervision.

He described the encounter, which he says lasted just over a minute. While the initial meeting occurred just behind a pillar in the lobby and shielded fom the camera’s view, McCathern says Irvin can be seen shaking the woman’s hand, touching her twice on the elbow as they spoke, and then shaking hands again as they part ways.

“She never acts upset,” McCathern said of the woman’s overall body language as seen on tape. “She doesn’t act like there’s any problem at all.”

Irvin’s attorneys say they have filed an emergency motion to have the video released.

“I haven’t seen this tape,” Irvin said. “I want to see what I’m being accused of, why I’ve had to put my whole life on hold, why family’s had to endure it. If I did something wrong, I’ll suffer the consequences of me doing something wrong. But if you did something wrong- you meaning them- then they should suffer the consequences of what they did wrong.”

He went on to paint a stark picture of what it’s been like to be on the receiving end of such serious allegations, with no evidence presented and no chance to properly defend himself.

“This sickens me,” the 57-year-old said. “In this great country, this takes me back to a time where a white woman would accuse a Black man of something. And they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in the barn, put a rope around his foot, and drag him through the mud, and hang him by the tree. Not a thought about what would happen, not an investigation, not after repeated attempts of people trying to go and say, ‘Guys, here’s what really happened.'”

Two witnesses to the lobby encounter, men who had met Irvin for the first time just minutes earlier that night, joined the press conference via Zoom. They corroborated Irvin’s version of events: that his meeting with the woman was very brief, seemed quite amicable, and made no lasting impression on them until after reports broke days later that a claim of wrongdoing had been made against the Cowboys star.

Irvin says he is now left wondering how to best interact with fans that he meets in public after this incident.

“I’ve always tried to be good with people,” he said tearfully before exiting the press conference. “I’m struggling now, saying, ‘Do I not talk to people? What do I do?’ because of this kind of a situation. I know I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Irvin acknowledged that without the two men he had just met in the hotel also coming forward in his defense, it would now be his word against the female employee’s.

And he knows that might play very differently in the court of public opinion.

“This just blows my mind, that in 2023, we’re still dragging and hanging brothers by the tree. That blows my mind,” Irvin said, “that I have no opportunity to defend- I don’t even know what I’m defending.”

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Judge orders Marriott to turn over video, accuser’s identity in Michael Irvin’s $100M defamation lawsuit

Witnesses corroborate Irvin’s story about his interaction with a hotel employee; the hotel chain has until Monday to provide their evidence. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Michael Irvin remains in the dark about exactly why he was pulled off the air from Super Bowl coverage for NFL Network and ESPN last week.

But a judge in the former wide receiver’s $100 million defamation lawsuit in the matter has ordered the Marriott hotel chain to turn over video recordings and other details in hopes of shedding some light on the allegations.

Irvin was sent home from the site of Super Bowl LVII following a complaint lodged with the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown. Irvin maintains that on Feb. 5, he had a brief and amicable conversation with a woman in the hotel lobby, shook her hand, and then went to his room alone.

The woman, who has since been revealed to be an employee of the hotel, complained to management about her interaction with the Hall of Famer. Hotel security then woke Irvin in his room, his lawsuit claims. They escorted him from the property “without any explanation or questions,” and notified the NFL of the situation.

After being excluded from the remainder of Super Bowl Week coverage by NFL Network, Irvin filed a nine-figure lawsuit against the parent company of the hotel as well as the woman, who he claims he had never seen before and has not seen since the incident.

Irvin’s lawsuit accuses the two parties of defamation as well as wrongful interference in a business relationship. The 56-year-old Cowboys icon claims he suffered damage to his reputation and lost out on added income from personal appearances that had to be scrapped as a result of his removal from the airwaves.

Irvin argues he is being “railroaded” as a target of “cancel culture.”

The three-time Super Bowl champ maintains that the interaction with the woman identified in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe” was in no way physical beyond a handshake, though he admits that he doesn’t remember exactly what was said, as he had been out drinking. Video recordings from the lobby apparently captured the meeting, but Irvin said they were not shown to him; he also has not been told what he supposedly said to the woman.

Local police officials have said no official criminal complaints against Irvin were filed. Representatives for Irvin attempted to speak with the hotel directly about the allegations and provide witnesses to resolve the matter, but those efforts were rebuffed by the Renaissance.

Marriott has, this week, banned Irvin from all its properties, according to the lawsuit.

The Collin County (Tex.) judge in the case has ordered Marriott to submit all video recordings, written reports, and witness statements regarding the incident. They must also provide the name and contact information of the female employee as well as any employers or managers who contacted the league about the episode, and even the names of the league employees who received the original complaints.

The evidence that has already come to light seems to back up Irvin’s version of events.

According to the Dallas Morning News, three witnesses have said they saw the encounter and have even provided photos and videos pinpointing when Irvin’s conversation with the woman happened.

Bryn Davis, Joe Manuele, and Phil Watkins were in the Renaissance bar when they saw Irvin in the lobby with former Cowboys player Michael Brooks. The business associates say the two ex-players were speaking with some fans.

After offering to buy Irvin a drink (which he declined), the four men chatted. The men asked for a group photo; Irvin requested that they all go outside to do so. Those photos were timestamped as having been taken at 11:08 p.m.

Upon re-entering the lobby, Davis says he saw a female employee of the hotel approach Irvin as he walked toward the elevator and start a conversation. The encounter, he says, appeared completely normal and involved no physical contact beyond their parting handshake.

“It was very distinct,” Davis told the DMN. “I remember where his hands were, because I remember thinking he was in good shape for an almost 60-year-old guy. He leaned over, shook her hand, and I am telling you right now: That conversation was [about] 30 seconds. If it was a minute, I would be shocked. I think 30 seconds. Just a normal back-and-forth. … Michael walks toward the elevator. She goes back into the restaurant, and everything is as normal as could possibly be. And that’s it.”

Watkins corroborates that account.

“It was a positive, friendly conversation,” the Australian told TMZ. “They had a brief interaction- it was 30, 40 seconds- he kept his distance at all times, stood about a meter away from her, they ended with a handshake, and he literally turned around and went back to the lift.”

Watkins says he neither saw nor heard anything that led him to believe something inappropriate had taken place.

“There was a little bit of laughter. Obviously, a jovial conversation,” he explained. “Nothing untoward for me to actually take notice of what was going on. … She turned around after the conversation, she went back into the bar area or around the bar area, and everyone continued their evening.”

Davis said it was only later in the week, when the woman’s complaint was first reported, that he realized he and his friends had witnessed the event that was making headlines.

“I felt sick when I saw it,” he told TMZ, “because it’s the first time I was ever, firsthand experience where something like that happened that was just fabricated. It was a totally normal conversation.”

Davis even pointed out that none of the men are Cowboys fans and would have no reason to defend him if he were in the wrong.

“I’ll say this, man,” he continued. “I’m from Philadelphia. I grew up and Michael was our enemy. But he’s a super, super, super nice guy, and that’s why I felt like I needed to say something- only because he’s a good dude and to have that happen and have your livelihood or career taken is crazy. It’s not fair, so it was worth coming out and saying something.”

Marriott has been given a deadline of Feb. 20 to comply with the judge’s order to submit materials in the case.

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Report: Michael Irvin files $100M lawsuit against accuser, hotel over misconduct claims

The ex-Cowboy says he is being “railroaded” as a victim of “cancel culture” and that he has witnesses who back up his version of events. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Playmaker may have been benched from NFL Network’s coverage of Super Bowl Week from Glendale, but he’s not accepting the punishment without a counter move.

On Thursday, former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin filed a $100 million lawsuit against the woman who filed a complaint against him earlier in the week, as well as the parent company of the hotel where the misconduct allegedly occurred. The Hall of Famer says he is being “railroaded” as a target of “cancel culture.”

Irvin was removed from the week’s scheduled programming and sent home after an unknown woman complained to the hotel about the 56-year old ex-player. Irvin acknowledges that he met a woman Sunday night in the lobby  of the Renaissance Hotel and maintains that he had “a 45-second conversation” with her there.

But he says network representatives confronted him with a different version of events the next day.

“I guess the girl said I said something to her within that minute that we talked,” he explained.

Now he is firing back with a nine-figure lawsuit.

The suit, according to TMZ Sports, reads, in part:

“Rash and thoughtless actions can have severe consequences. Marriott [the parent company of Renaissance Hotels] apparently did not appreciate these simple truths when, in a rush to judgment, its employees and management inaccurately and inflammatorily accused Mr. Irvin of misconduct to the National Football League.”

Irvin provided eyewitnesses who reportedly corroborated his version of events, but “they say the Renaissance refused to listen,” per TMZ.

“In fact, the lawsuit accuses the hotel manager of reporting the alleged incident to the NFL ‘with the intention of damaging that relationship and canceling [Irvin].'”

The $100 million figure in the lawsuit comes from Irvin’s now-damaged reputation, according to his legal team, as well as earnings lost from other appearances in Glendale that had to be canceled as a result of the allegations.

“It is clear Michael is the latest victim of our cancel culture where all it takes is an accusation to ruin a person’s life,” Irvin’s lawyer said in a statement issued to TMZ. “Michael looks forward to clearing his name in court and hopes the court of public opinion will see the truth come out as well.”

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Michael Irvin pulled from NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage after woman lodges complaint

Irvin cannot recall the brief conversation he had with a woman in a hotel lobby, but something has gotten him kicked off the air. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Former Cowboys receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion Michael Irvin has been pulled off NFL Network’s airwaves for the rest of this week’s coverage from Arizona.

The action, first reported by Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, comes after a woman lodged a complaint against the 56-year-old Hall of Famer in Glendale, where Super Bowl LVII is set to take place on Sunday.

“Michael Irvin will not be a part of NFL Network’s Super Bowl LVII week coverage,” said an NFL Media spokesperson in a statement.

The incident in question allegedly occurred Sunday, after Irvin returned to his hotel after an evening out with onetime Cowboys safety Michael Brooks.

As Irvin recalled Wednesday to 105.3 The Fan, network representatives approached him the following evening, after his appearances during Super Bowl Opening Night coverage, and asked about the previous night.

“I don’t remember it, but I guess when I came in, they asked, ‘Well, what did you do [last night]?’ I said, ‘I went straight to the room,” Irvin told the station.

“But I guess I had met somebody in the lobby, talked to somebody in the lobby for about a minute, and then I went to my room. And after I got off the air [the next day], they said, ‘Come on, we’ve got to move you [to another] hotel.'”

Although Irvin maintained that he went directly to his room, he says the network claims that video shows something different.

“And then they showed it on camera, that I did talk to somebody. I talked to this girl for about a minute. I don’t know; they didn’t show it to me. They told me. And I didn’t see it,” Irvin said. “I don’t know what she looks like or anything. But that’s why they moved me. Because I guess the girl said I said something to her within that minute that we talked.”

NFL Network has not commented on the exact nature of the woman’s complaint or elaborated on what Irvin supposedly said to her.

“I don’t really recall that conversation, to tell you the truth,” Irvin said, per the DMN. “We were out drinking. It was just a friendly conversation: ‘What’s up?’ I don’t even know. … I am totally perplexed.”

Irvin admits that he cannot remember some of the details of the evening, saying, “I had a few drinks, to tell you the truth.”

But he is adamant that nothing happened beyond the lobby encounter.

“There was definitely nothing physical,” he told the paper by phone. “That’s honestly all that happened. Nobody was in my room. It was a 45-second conversation in the lobby: a handshake and we left. … I don’t know. I don’t know what this is, and it’s running me crazy.”

Irvin said he had not seen the woman before or since that brief conversation.

Neither Glendale police nor other local authorities were aware of any incident involving the Cowboys legend, according the report.

Some reports state that he has already been sent home from Arizona.

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Parsons, Diggs among Cowboys in Thursday’s Pro Bowl Games skills events

Dodgeball and a Lightning Round of field day events and football drills will be part of the opening night’s festivities from Las Vegas. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The newly-revamped Pro Bowl Games will kick off Thursday night on ESPN, with several Cowboys taking part in various skills competitions.

Five events are to be broadcast from Las Vegas beginning at 7 p.m. ET, with more skills events and a triple-header of flag football matches finishing off the all-star festivities on Sunday.

Dallas has participants scheduled to play in two of the opening night’s contests.

The dodgeball competition will be a bracket-style tournament with four five-player teams, divided by offensive and defensive players and also by conference. The NFC offense will feature Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb; cornerback Trevon Diggs and linebacker Micah Parsons will play for the NFC defense.

Lightning Round is billed as a three-part elimination challenge that is part-elementary school field day, part football. Participants will start out competing in a water balloon toss; those who advance will then field punts from a JUGS machine. The last portion of the event will see finalists throwing footballs at a target in an attempt to dump a bucket of water on an opposing coach’s head.

Guard Zack Martin, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, center Tyler Biadasz, and return specialist KaVontae Turpin will represent the Cowboys in the Lightning Round.

A precision passing event featuring three quarterbacks from each conference, a longest golf drive competition (five players from each conference), and the opening round of the best catch contest (two players from each conference) will also be aired Thursday night.

Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs won last year’s best catch contest, beating out three wide receivers, including his brother Stefon of the Buffalo Bills.

On Sunday, the two highest vote-getters from the best catch contest will go head-to-head in the finale. Three kickers from each conference will play Kick-Tac-Toe, five players from each conference will race in a side-by-side agility relay, and two five-man squads from each conference will try to outmuscle one another in a best-of-three weighted wall pull.

Lawrence will compete on one of the NFC’s teams in that “Move the Chains” event; Martin and Biadasz are on the other.

Flag football will serve as the grand finale, with three games to be played. AFC and NFC teams will play 7-on-7 matches against one another: no linemen except for centers, who will only snap the ball and then kneel for the duration of each play (as is the rule in 7-on-7).

Biadasz will be one of the NFC’s centers. Lamb, Parsons, Diggs, and Turpin are skill-position members of the conference’s roster.

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GOAT Herders: Cowboys put finishing touch on Brady’s historic career

Brady’s comeback in 2022 ultimately gave the Cowboys two more cracks at beating the GOAT. They did it in what will be his final NFL game. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Tom Brady has announced his retirement from football. Again. Exactly one year- to the day- after he announced his retirement from football the first time.

In 2022, that Feb. 1 declaration lasted just 40 days before he changed his mind. This time, though, it’s “for good,” he said in a quick video statement he posted to social media on Wednesday. “You only get one super-emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year.”

And while the 45-year-old goes out owning an entire trophy room’s worth of NFL records- Super Bowl rings, division titles, playoff starts, passing yards, touchdown throws, game-winning drives among them- he also goes out on a losing note.

The Cowboys’ 31-14 win on Jan. 16 over the Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the postseason will, assuming this retirement holds up, go down as Brady’s final NFL game appearance. Dallas snuck the victory in just under the wire; they had never beaten Brady before in seven previous meetings.

Cowboys fans thought they had missed their chance at taking down the GOAT when he retired the first time. His comeback ended up giving Dallas two more shots at him, and they finally made good with the last one.

Here’s a look back at the series history between Brady and the Cowboys.

49ers LB fined for out-of-bounds playoff hit on Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott

Dre Greenlaw leveled Elliott on the San Francisco sideline and drew a penalty; the late hit will cost him over $10,000 in fines. | From @ToddBrock24f7

San Francisco safety Jimmie Ward will have last Sunday’s so-called “hip-drop” tackle of Cowboys running back Tony Pollard examined by the NFL’s Competition Committee sometime during the offseason, a move that may result in a new penalty in the league’s rulebook.

49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw didn’t have to wait nearly that long to learn the repercussions of his hit in the same game on Ezekiel Elliott.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Greenlaw has been fined $10,609 for a late out-of-bounds blow delivered to Elliott late in the second quarter of last weekend’s divisional-round playoff game.

The late hit drew a 15-yard flag for unnecessary roughness at the time. While the foul put the Cowboys offense into 49ers territory with a fresh set of downs, the drive ultimately turned into a nightmare for the Cowboys.

Just five plays after Greenlaw’s penalty came the Pollard tackle, sending him out of the game for good with a high ankle sprain and a fractured fibula. Literally adding insult to injury, Dallas then turned the ball over on the very next snap; Dak Prescott threw an interception in the red zone just as it seemed that a go-ahead touchdown was imminent.

Niners Wire reports that it’s the second time this year Greenlaw has been fined for an illegal hit; he was docked the same amount of money (and was even ejected) for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 10.

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Tony Pollard Rule? NFL to consider rule change after RB injury

The “hip-drop” tackle that left Pollard with a high ankle sprain and fractured fibula wasn’t illegal, but the NFL may look at making it so. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The play that ended Tony Pollard’s postseason had huge ramifications on the Cowboys offense in their divisional-round loss to San Francisco last Sunday.

It may ultimately have an effect on every defensive player in the league moving forward.

The NFL Competition Committee is expected to consider looking into the “mechanics of the tackle” during their offseason discussions and could perhaps even ban so-called “hip-drop” tackles like the one employed by 49ers safety Jimmie Ward.

On the play, Ward corralled Pollard around the waist from behind and then threw out an anchor by swinging his hips, pulling Pollard down while dropping his own body to the turf. Pollard’s leg got twisted underneath Ward’s midsection, resulting in a high ankle sprain and fractured fibula.

A similar tackle in Kansas City earlier in the weekend sent Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the locker room during their playoff game versus Jacksonville. Mahomes was able to return, though his movements were visibly limited. He will likely play through his high ankle sprain when Kansas City hosts the Bengals in the AFC title game.

Pollard had ankle surgery this week; the fibula will be left to heal on its own. He is expected to be fully healthy before training camp, but had the Cowboys won Sunday’s game, they would obviously have been without their 1,000-yard-rusher’s services for a conference championship appearance.

It’s important to note that both tackles were perfectly legal under the current rules. No flags were thrown, and it’s highly improbable that any punishment or fine is coming for Ward or Jaguars linebacker Arden Key.

The Washington Post notes that Australia’s National Rugby League banned hip-drop tackles after they “saw an increased occurrence of these types of tackles, some of which resulted in serious injuries to attacking players including a broken ankle, ACL tear, and many high-ankle sprains.” Starting in 2020, the NRL even imposed mutligame suspensions for players who used the technique.

To identify a hip-drop, that league looks for an “unnatural” movement that lets the tackler “drop or swing their hip[s] around.” The goal is not to ban lower-body tackles, but to discourage defenders from “trapping the legs/ankles of [ballcarriers] by dropping their body weight through their hips, legs, or buttocks.”

If the NFL does adopt a “Tony Pollard” penalty that outlaws the hip-drop, it would be far from the first time a Cowboys player has given birth to a new rule.

Most famous is the “Roy Williams Rule,” the one that made the horse-collar tackle illegal after the Cowboys safety made a habit of using it during the early part of his career. In 2005, wide receiver Terrell Owens, then with the Eagles, suffered a high-ankle sprain and broken fibula when Williams tackled him on a play that eerily resembled the Pollard incident.

The hip-drop is essentially a horse-collar tackle without the grasping of or reaching into the ballcarrier’s jersey at the neckhole, but the finishing movement is the same and presents the same danger to the player being dragged to the ground.

And it may soon be against the rules on an NFL field.

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Cowboys RB Tony Pollard undergoes same ankle surgery as Tua, Tannehill

The “tightrope” procedure has helped other players return to play within weeks, but Pollard also has a broken fibula that needs to mend. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys running back Tony Pollard underwent surgery on Tuesday for the high ankle sprain he suffered during Sunday’s divisional-round playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

The four-year playmaker now faces a recovery and rehab of several months. But it’s thought that he’ll be at full strength “well before training camp,” at least if Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, and Ryan Tannehill’s experiences can be used as a barometer.

Pollard reportedly had the same “tightrope” procedure performed as all three of those quarterbacks, as per Todd Archer of ESPN.

The procedure uses braided polyethylene cord and is fastened to both the tibia and fibula to reduce the gap between the bones that the injury may have worsened. Small holes through both bones allow the cord to be fastened at either end of the “tightrope” with metallic buttons, and the suture is then tightened like a nylon zip-tie until the bones’ spacing is correct. The cord stabilizes the ankle while the body’s natural ligaments heal.

In a conventional surgery, long screws are used to physically hold the bones to one another during the initial healing. Those screws have to be removed via a second surgery, prolonging the rehab. The tightrope, however, stays in place: one lesser procedure, one usually-quicker recovery.

Hurts and Tagovailoa both underwent the procedure for ankle sprains while at Alabama in 2018. Both returned to play in a matter of weeks.

In 2019, Tagovailoa had the procedure repeated on his other ankle. He was back on the football field, playing in a CFP semifinal game, 28 days after that sprain.

Tannehill had tightrope surgery shortly after the ankle sprain he sustained on Dec. 18. The Titans had hopes of him even returning for the regular-season finale before finally placing him on injured reserve Dec. 29.

For Pollard, the tightrope addresses only the high ankle sprain he suffered Sunday. His fractured fibula will be allowed to heal on its own and will extend Pollard’s recovery time.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, have a decision to make regarding Pollard’s future with the club. He’s set to become a free agent, but Dallas could choose to award him a new contract or even use the franchise tag on him to retain the 1,000-yard-rusher’s services.

“Tony Pollard, he’ll be back from the injury,” Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay said Monday on Cowboys Hour. “But he’s a very vital cog to what we do. Other people see him as a very vital cog to what they could do as well. There’s a lot of running backs in free agency, so depending upon what people want to do… But he’s an explosive, playmaking guy.”

And hopefully Tony Pollard’s tightrope helps him get back to doing just that sooner rather than later.

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Dak Prescott’s ‘unacceptable’ performance vs 49ers points to inconvenient truth

Fans wanted to believe Dak’s day vs Tampa Bay was the norm, but his inaccurate 2-INT performance Sunday is closer to recent reality. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Dak Prescott followed up a game he’ll remember his whole life with one he’d just as soon forget.

The Cowboys quarterback picked a bad day to have a bad day, going just 23-of-37 passing for 206 yards and a lone touchdown in the team’s 19-12 loss to San Francisco in the divisional round of the playoffs.

But beyond the obviously disappointing postseason exit, Prescott’s poor showing brings to light an unsettling notion.

Cowboys fans watched last week’s four-touchdown, 143.3-passer-rating day in Tampa and saw what Prescott is capable of doing when all the stars align.

But then…

Prescott’s 63.6 passer rating this past Sunday was the lowest of his six total playoff appearances, and it was just the 18th time in his career he’s ended a game with a rating of under 70.0.

The Cowboys’ record in those games: 2-16.

Worst of all? Four of those sub-70 outings have come in the Cowboys’ last 20 games.

They are: last year’s wild-card loss to the 49ers, the 2022 season opener at Tampa, the 2022 season finale at Washington, and this past Sunday’s divisional defeat.

All four still hurt, they’re so fresh.

That all-too-recent history suggests that it’s Dak’s wild-card showing that was actually the anomaly… and what we saw on Sunday was, unfortunately, closer to the inconvenient truth.

While Prescott got to enjoy last week’s surgical performance versus Tampa Bay for just a few days, this latest loss will linger for an entire offseason. The Cowboys were in the game right until the end, but they’ll once again watch the conference championships from home, just as they had for the past 26 years.

“Those guys in that locker room gave it all, both sides of the ball,” the quarterback told reporters from the podium Sunday night. “Put me in a position to go win the game, and I wasn’t able to do that. I put it on my shoulders. When you play this position and you play for this organization, you’ve got to accept that. That’s the reality of it. It’ll make me better. It sucks that I don’t get another shot at it for a long time.”

Most troubling for Prescott and Cowboys Nation, though, were the passer’s two interceptions, building on the theme that will live on as the lead story of the team’s entire 2022 season.

“Just two throws that I can’t have, you can’t have in the playoffs, you can’t have when you’re trying to beat a team like that, you can’t have on the road,” Prescott admitted. “No excuses for it. Those two are 100 percent on me.”

The first came early, ending Dallas’s second offensive possession. Prescott dropped back on a third-and-nine and hurled one toward Michael Gallup on the sideline, not realizing that 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir had run the route even better than the Cowboys wide receiver.

 

That turnover gave San Francisco outstanding field position and led to an easy field goal and first-quarter lead for the home squad.

Prescott’s second pick proved even costlier.

Driving deep in 49ers territory late in the second quarter, Prescott tried to force a throw to CeeDee Lamb through a very tight window. Jimmie Ward deflected it, and linebacker Fred Warner was waiting with open arms.

That mistake not only ended what appeared to be a scoring drive by the Cowboys, but allowed San Francisco to tack on another field goal before halftime. What should have been a seven-point Dallas lead at the break was instead a 9-6 deficit.

“I’ve got to play better than I did tonight, simple as that,” Prescott said.

But of course, it wasn’t just Sunday night. Prescott’s 2022 pick problem dates all the way back to opening night, when Tampa Bay safety Antoine Winfield Jr. jumped a Noah Brown route in Week 1 and nabbed a bad Prescott toss.

Prescott went on to finish the regular season with 15 interceptions, a career-worst for him. And that’s with him sitting out five full games due to a fractured thumb.

Some of those turnovers came from receiver miscommunication. Some were the result of a poor quarterback decision or just a bad throw. Some came off an unlucky bounce.

But whatever the reason, they all counted. They all haunted Prescott over the course of a rollercoaster season. And after a wild-card week hiatus, they came back Sunday in Santa Clara.

“They all have their own story,” Prescott said. “Two tonight. As I said, unacceptable. I can’t put the ball in jeopardy like that, whether they’re tipped up in tight throws or whether I’m late on a stop route. Can’t happen. The number that it’s gotten to is ridiculous. I can promise that the number will never be this again. I can promise that.”

Problem is, Prescott had been promising to clean up the misfires for most of the season. And in a game when the defense held the powerhouse 49ers to under 20 points, these latest self-inflicted wounds helped prove fatal to the Cowboys’ postseason run.

“For us to only put up the points that we did, that’s unacceptable. And it starts with me. I’ve got to be better. No other way to sugarcoat it.”

That’s the taste that the Cowboys- and especially Prescott- will have in his mouth from now until the 2023 season.

Sadly, it’s more than a postseason problem, although the team’s 27-year absence from the conference championship round seriously stings the day after getting booted from the tournament.

Ultimately, Prescott says he doesn’t know why the club can’t seem to get over that hump.

“If I had the answers, we would have won tonight,” he told media members. “I promise you, we will, though. In my time, playing on this team, for this organization, we will.”

But not if Prescott can’t figure out why this keeps happening to him, with increasing and alarming frequency, playoffs or otherwise.

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