Cowboys studs and duds: Dak Prescott chokes in the spotlight, again

Stud: DeMarcus Lawrence, EDGE

DeMarcus Lawrence might not get the love Micah Parsons does but he was on his game during the playoffs. He did all he could against the 49ers as he had six tackles, a sack, and two tackles for a loss.

Lawrence impacted the game early and often as he pressured Brock Purdy on third down to force the second punt of the game. He was then able to sack Purdy on the very next defensive snap, which came following the Dak Prescott interception on third down.

Right after Dallas tied things up at nine, San Francisco had to punt following a three-and-out. That was courtesy of another strong play from Lawrence. McCaffrey had a five-yard run on first down, but then Deebo Samuel was hit in the backfield for a loss of four on the second-down run.

That led to Purdy having to drop back to pass and he then sailed it out of bounds when no one was open. He should have had another sack as well, but that didn’t happen thanks to the next ‘dud’ on our list.

Dud: Donovan Wilson, S

Lawrence appeared to have made a huge play as he sacked Brock Purdy which should have forced a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. That didn’t happen as there was a flag that flew as Donovan Wilson was called for holding George Kittle.

It gave San Francisco a fresh set of downs — which is always bad but was even worse when it appeared they had finally stopped a long drive where they were being bullied by the Niners’ offensive line.

They then capped the drive off with a touchdown, which was enough to seal the game.