Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Monday, January 17, 2022
In dramatic fashion, 49ers secure Wild Card win over Cowboys
“Whatever criticism there was of the 49ers’ half would be nitpicking, and that’s generous. They scored on every real drive, and stopped Dallas from scoring on three of their four drives. The lack of a second touchdown made it a potentially nervy situation with Dallas receiving in the second half, but there was no real threat on the other side of the ball.”
“We stand on the shoulders of legends,” Kittle said. “We really do. And one thing I learned in college is you always want to leave your jersey in a better place; and there’s so many 49ers who left the jersey in a better place, and that’s what we’re trying to do too. Just trying to play at a high level and win games that matter.”
Despite injuries, 49ers notch big defensive stops in 23-17 wild-card win over Cowboys (paywall)
“The 49ers had five sacks, 14 quarterback hits, a massive third-quarter interception by cornerback K’Waun Williams, limited Dallas to 77 rushing yards, held prolific wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to one catch and allowed one scoring drive longer than 38 yards.”
Of course the 49ers are still alive, on the path of greatest resistance
“We should have known that from the conclusion of the season opener, when the Jared Goff-led Detroit Lions closed a 24-point gap to 8 points in the span of less than six minutes, nearly sending the game to overtime via a Deebo Samuel fumble, and an onside kick that smacked George Kittle in the face…. This team is weird. This season has been weird. At this point, they’re owning their weirdness. In a way that can’t adequately be explained, they seem to feed off the crackpot nature of their success.”
Shanahan explains fourth-down gaffe on final drive vs. Cowboys
“We just shifted to an unbalanced,” Shanahan said after the game. “It was on the silent count and it was quarterback sneak all the way, but Jimmy got really excited because of the look. Didn’t let Trent get set. He’s got to let him get set.”
Branch: 49ers game grades vs. Cowboys: Defense clears a path for a trip to Green Bay (paywall)
“Well, they sure aren’t boring. It will take a more complete performance to have a chance at frigid Green Bay in late January, but they narrowly lost to the Packers at Levi’s in Week 3. And that defensive effort no doubt got Aaron Rodgers’ attention.”
“The 49ers made too many mistakes in the second half. But the Dallas Cowboys, over the course of the game, made even more miscues… The 49ers came to Dallas as the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs. They were three-point underdogs. For most of the game, they looked like the better team.”
“When K’Waun got the interception I looked at Kyle and said, ‘hey, just give me the ball. I got you,’” Samuel said. “I went out there and next play, I scored.”
“What did Kyle Shanahan think of Jimmy Garoppolo’s performance against the Cowboys on Sunday? And what did D.J. Jones say after the 49ers’ 23-17 win over the Cowboys that left Arik Armstead flattered?”
Kawakami: The 49ers are flawed and gutsy brawlers who thrive in the playoff melodrama (paywall)
“The 49ers have a baseline. They don’t dominate games with it, but if they just run the ball and play steady defense, they don’t get blown out, either. They can take the game into the fourth quarter. And then all hell often breaks loose and they’re used to it.”
Barrows: A twisted, tortuous ending? These 49ers were well conditioned for such a game (paywall)
“After last week’s game in Los Angeles, the 49ers could be heard loudly chanting, “Whose house?” in the locker room, a reference to the oft-played chant the Rams use at SoFi Stadium. Sunday’s locker-room celebration wasn’t nearly as raucous, but there still were audible cheers coming from the visitors, especially in regard to one of their most senior members.”
“Said 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan: “DeMeco has been unbelievable all year. If you do anything consistently against Dak, with his skill set and their schemes, they’ll get after you. I thought DeMeco did a perfect job mixing it up and calling that (Cover) 0 at the end on that fourth down.””
‘We’re ready for the challenge’: 49ers discuss upcoming rematch vs. Packers
“I’m sure I’ll be thinking a lot about it here on the plane,” Shanahan admitted after the 49ers’ 23-17 win on Sunday. “But they’ve had a hell of a year. I’m glad we get an opportunity to go up against them again. They’ve been unbelievable. So, we’ll rest up here. I don’t know whether we’re playing them Saturday or Sunday yet, but we’ll enjoy this plane ride, and we’ll get back to work right when we land.”
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