It hurts.
That was the common phrase echoing throughout the Dallas Cowboys locker room as players and staff met with the media following the team’s season-ending loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday night’s divisional playoff game.
“We didn’t reach our goal. I gave everything I had,” safety Jayron Kearse said after the game. “I knew we had the team to do it. It’s tough when you fall short.”
“There’s no feeling like this,” added linebacker Micah Parsons. “I hurt for the guys. I hurt for the fans. I hurt for myself.”
The Cowboys lost by a touchdown and failed to drive the 94 yards needed to tie the game in the waning moments. Players are saying the loss will serve as their motivation for next season.
“It’s a different type of pain,” said rookie offensive lineman Tyler Smith. “We went through this season and we fought hard. We made it far, but we didn’t make it far enough. Remembering this pain and turning it into fuel for the fire is gonna be important for me.”
“It sucks,” added wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. “I mean at the end of the day, you gotta take it for what it is and be better next year. We had a good season, but we gotta show in the playoffs.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott, who threw two crucial interceptions, is taking this particular loss to heart.
“I’m disappointed in the way I played,” he said postgame. “Those guys gave their all on both sides of the ball and put me in a position to go win the game, and I wasn’t able to do that.”
“I know that when I wake up tomorrow, it’ll be the first thing on my mind and I’ll carry it through my training throughout this offseason as we get to the start of next season.”
Still, it was not at all what the team had in mind.
“It was two really outstanding defensive teams giving it the best they got,” owner Jerry Jones told the media after the game.
“You would know how proud I am of these guys in here,” he continued. “That’s a good team… I’m so disappointed for our fans. This felt good but San Francisco had something to say about that.”
“Our team is one that could have handled any of the situations we had tonight,” he added. “But we came up short. We’re sick. We’re sick.”
“I had a different ending for this planned. This is very sickening to not win tonight.”
Those fans were vocal throughout the game and expressed their disappointment following the loss.
Kicker Brett Maher’s blocked extra point after the game’s first touchdown drew additional attention as he had missed four of them the previous week against Tampa Bay.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott joined in on the fun by tweeting, “I swear, I can kick as good as the Dallas Cowboys kicker.” Others chimed in with various suggestions for new jobs and jokes about potential open tryouts for the position.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson also tweeted about his dissatisfaction with the kicking game.
“Attention @dallascowboys: This is your MAYOR speaking. NO MORE KICKING! #CowboyNation”
Maher recovered to add two critical field goals to keep the Cowboys in striking distance.
“It was a very long week,” he told reporters after the game. “So, to be able to make those two field goals, like I was prepped to do, was good.”
Fans also voiced their displeasure with Prescott’s play, primarily pointing out his knack for turning the ball over.
But his teammates still have faith in him.
“Just because he threw picks, everyone’s gonna be on him,” Lamb explained.
“There’s no better leader than him in this league,” running back Ezekiel Elliott added. “That’s my brother. We’ve been through every day together, and every day he’s come in with the same mentality and every day he works harder than anyone in this league. He’s the leader of this team.”
“When you play this position for this organization,” Prescott said while taking the blame for the loss. “You’ve got to accept that. That’s the reality of it. As I said, it’ll make me better.”
The national media has been blasting Prescott’s play in the aftermath of the loss.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg and Ryan Clark called his play “flat-out bad” on Monday morning.
Former Cowboy Marcus Spears added that inconsistency had been the identity of the team this season, and they “cannot win because of Dak Prescott.”
And former running back LeSean McCoy said, “He’s not that good. He’s just an above average quarterback,” as he joined Fox Sports 1’s Speak for Yourself.
Some Cowboys’ fans had been trash-talking the 49ers, with one even going as far as FaceTiming San Francisco wide receiver Deebo Samuel and telling him, “The Cowboys are coming for you.”
Samuel took a shot at the fans after the game on Twitter, posting a picture of himself on FaceTime with a caption that read, “Don’t poke the bear.”
You know that all these remarks about our kicker and our Quarterback is uncalled for. They both are working as hard as they can to be winners. And stop and think, we all have bad days at work. And there is nothing you can do. Just stop an look around and say I will do better next time. I stand behind them all the way. With all the bad talk about the kicker we are lucky he was able to make the field goals. He had a lot on his shoulder at this time. Pressure make you make mistakes. Thanks, said my peace.