ARLINGTON, Texas – San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan walked onto the field with an emphatic nod, believing his team had beaten the Dallas Cowboys after a chaotic finish that left many unsure of what was happening.
The official word came a short time later.
Versatile receiver Deebo Samuel’s 26-yard touchdown run gave San Francisco what seemed like a comfortable lead in the third quarter, before the Cowboys rallied but ran out of time trying to get a final play in the 49ers’ 23-17 victory Sunday in an NFC wild-card playoff game.
“I’m still trying to figure out where I’m at,” Shanahan said after coaching San Francisco’s first playoff victory at Dallas in a storied postseason rivalry. “It’s pretty emotional out there. Lots of opportunities to win the game.”
Shanahan said the third-seeded Cowboys “just kept fighting. We made a couple mistakes there at the end. We shouldn’t have let it get there.”