SAN FRANCISCO PRODUCED another gutsy victory on the road to stun Dallas 23-17 in Arlington in their NFC wild card meeting overnight.
The 49ers, who squeezed into the playoffs with a nerve-jangling win over the Rams in Los Angeles last week, dug deep once again to prevail at the AT&T Stadium.
Elijah Mitchell’s first-quarter touchdown and three Robbie Gould field goals — two from over 50 yards — had helped San Francisco into a 16-7 half-time lead with Amari Cooper’s touchdown catch the only score for Dallas.
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel then weaved over for a superb 26-yard rushing touchdown to break the game open for San Francisco at 23-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Injuries to San Francisco defensive stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner gave Dallas a lifeline however, with Dak Prescott scoring a touchdown in a Cowboys rally to close the gap to 23-17.
But Dallas failed to score in either of two late possessions, and the game finished on a comical note when Prescott rushed up the middle of the field — rather than attempt a pass into the end zone — and ran out of time before managing to stop the clock.
“It was a dogfight, hell of an atmosphere and the fans were nuts,” said 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who finished with 172 yards from 16-of-25 attempts.
“It was everything we thought it was going to be. It was fun. Guys were just stepping up in big key situations, that’s what it was all day.
“We’ve got some dogs on our defense man. It’s fun.”
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs swatted aside the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-21 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — all but certain to retire at the end of the season — could only look on as the Chiefs erupted with 35 unanswered points in just 10 minutes either side of half-time.
Patrick Mahomes tossed five touchdowns and finished with 404 passing yards. Tight end Travis Kelce also threw for a touchdown after a late trick play.
The Chiefs offense was slow to start after a first quarter dominated by defense which saw no fewer than seven punts.
But after T.J. Watt’s turnover touchdown gave the Steelers a surprise 7-0 lead, Mahomes caught fire, rattling off touchdown passes to Jerick McKinnon, Byron Pringle, Travis Kelce, Nick Allegretti and Tyreek Hill to open up a 35-7 lead.
Roethlisberger meanwhile tossed passes to Diontae Johnson and James Washington, finishing with two touchdowns and 215 passing yards.
Earlier on Sunday, Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers past the Philadelphia Eagles on a scoreline of 31-15.
