Ezekiel Elliott couldn't hide his emotions after the Dallas Cowboys suffered a rather brutal defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in their Wild Card game on Sunday.
The Cowboys trailed 16-7 at halftime, but a second half run saw them cut the lead to just six points â at 23-17 â in the closing stages. They got some bit of luck to take control of the ball with just a minute left, but a controversial play call at the end of the fourth quarter doomed their chances:
WHAT AN ENDING đ¨
The Niners escape the Cowboys comeback as time expires đŻpic.twitter.com/DvuQSUUCqF
â ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 17, 2022
Naturally, the whole Cowboys locker room was in deep pain. While they needed some sort of miracle to win the game, it is undoubtedly frustrating they were denied a chance to even try it.
Not to mention that they had a great season, finishing 12-6 on the season and earning home-field advantage for the Wild Card Round. However, the 49ers dissected their defense really well, allowing them to get the lead early on.
Elliott was blunt after the loss:
âShit it hurts. All of us are hurting,â Ezekiel Elliott said of the loss, per Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News.
A lot of things went wrong for the Cowboys, and that much is clear with their 14 penalties in the contest â tying their most penalties in a playoff game.
For what it's worth, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones himself expressed his disappointment after the game and noted the 49ers simply outplayed them:
âExtraordinarily disappointed,â Jones said. âVery disappointed. Disappointed for our fans. This is quite a letdown.â
With everything that happened, the loss will surely sting for quite a while. Hopefully, Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys can learn from all their mistakes in the game.