49ers Defense Dominates Cowboys to Reach NFC Championship Game

In the long arc of football's postseason drama, Sunday's contest at Levi's Stadium offered a quiet parable about the unexpected: a rookie quarterback, the last chosen in his draft class, guided a battle-tested San Francisco team past the Dallas Cowboys, 19-12, earning a place in the NFC Championship. The 49ers' defense, anchored by the relentless Nick Bosa, smothered Dallas's ambitions with two interceptions and an unyielding front, reminding observers that in playoff football, it is often the capacity to deny rather than to create that determines fate. Brock Purdy, undefeated in seven starts,