Niners knock out Cowboys in chaotic finish

ARLINGTON, TEXAS Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers have started another playoff run after hanging on in a frantic wild-card finish against Dallas.

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys will have to keep waiting for that elusive deep trip in the post-season.

San Francisco’s versatile receiver ran 26 yards for a touchdown one play after an interception of a Prescott pass, and the 49ers held on for a 23-17 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday.

The Cowboys had a final chance with 32 seconds remaining, at the San Francisco 41 with 14 seconds to go, when Prescott took off up the middle intending to slide and then spike the ball for a final play. But Dallas didn’t get the snap off from the 24 until after the clock hit zero.

After a brief delay, referee Alex Kemp announced the game was over. Dallas coach Mike McCarthy suggested the Cowboys were slowed by a collision between Prescott and umpire Ramon George, and that a sideline official assured him the play was being reviewed.

“The communication that I was given on the sideline was, they were reviewing it,” McCarthy said. “They were going to put time back on the clock, and the next thing I know they’re running off the field.”

Referee Alex Kemp said in a pool report that George was trailing the play at a proper distance and acted appropriately to get the ball spotted correctly. The umpire has to touch the ball before another play can happen. Kemp said the decision that the snap came after the clock had expired was made on the field.

“The umpire was simply spotting the ball properly,” Kemp said. “He collided with the players as he was setting the ball because he was moving it to the proper spot.”

The 49ers overcame an interception by Jimmy Garoppolo when they led by 13 in the fourth quarter. Prescott ran for a touchdown to get within a score, and had a chance to drive Dallas to a go-ahead score. But the 49ers got a stop at midfield when Prescott’s desperation fourth-down pass was just out of receiver Cedrick Wilson’s reach.

After a 14th penalty by the NFL’s most-penalized team in the regular season that helped San Francisco run out most of the clock — and the frantic final seconds as Dallas tried for the win — the 49ers clinched their first playoff victory at the Cowboys in a storied rivalry. Now they head to Green Bay looking for another trip to the NFC championship game, two years after losing to Kansas City in the Super Bowl.

“It was like the whole day, it really was,” Garoppolo said of the final sequence. “It was a dogfight, hell of an atmosphere out here. I mean, the fans were nuts. It was everything we thought it was going to be. It was fun.”

The wait for Dallas to get that far will reach at least 27 years after another first-game flame-out in the post-season for Prescott, the second in three trips over six seasons for the star quarterback.