Jerry Jones' quest for another Super Bowl will have to wait at least one more year.
The Dallas Cowboys fell 23-17 at home to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday in the NFC Wild Card Round.
"Extraordinarily disappointed. Very disappointed. Disappointed for our fans," Jones told reporters after the game, . "This is quite a letdown. … They outplayed us."
The Cowboys got off to a slow start, dug themselves into a 13-0 hole in the first half, and trailed 23-7 heading into the fourth quarter. The offense was erratic. The defense got bullied by the Niners for stretches. And the Cowboys shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with 14 penalties for 89 yards.
Dallas battled back with a chance to win the game on the final possession. But a Dak Prescott run with 14 seconds remaining proved ill-advised as the clock ran out before the refs could spot the ball.
Jones added this sort of ending to a 12-5 season that started so promising was a gut punch.
With a star-studded offense led by Prescott, Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Ezekiel Elliott and a defense highlighted by presumptive AP ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøDefensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons, losing a first-round home game is hard to swallow in Dallas.
"When you get this combination of players together, you need to have success because we all know how it goes in the NFL," Jones said. "The whole thing is set up to take away from the best and add to the ones that need improvement. And personnel-wise, I think we have one of the best."
Coach Mike McCarthy is sure to take heat for the one-and-done postseason appearance highlighted by mental errors and a flubbed last-second play, but Jones said he wasn't going to talk about topics like the coach's future.
"I don't even want to discuss anything like that at this particular time," Jones said. "That's not on the table. The game speaks for itself."
