The Cowboys’ chances of a miracle comeback were sabotaged by Dalton Schultz.

The Dallas tight end made two crushing and head-scratching plays in the final minute of the game with the Cowboys trying to drive the length of the field, trailing the 49ers 19-12 in the NFC Divisional Round game on Sunday.

With 33 seconds left, Dak Prescott hit Schultz on a 9-yard completion along the sideline. However, Schultz coasted into the hit from 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward and got knocked backwards. Schultz still made it to the sideline, but the referee ruled that his forward progress was stopped prior and the clock continued to run.

“When you go out of bounds, you have to be going forwards if you are contacted by the defender,” Fox analyst and former star tight end Greg Olsen said from the Fox booth.

“So, you see how Dalton Schultz is kind of running sideways, Charvarius Ward knows the rule, they coach that. You’ve gotta turn up and be physical into contact and get that official to stop the clock.”

Instead of the clock stopping at 28 seconds, the Cowboys rushed to the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball after a critical 10 seconds had run off.

Two plays later, Prescott hit Schultz for a 15-yard gain — again along the right sideline. This time, Schultz did not ensure his right foot landed in bounds, even though there was plenty of room to do so.

The play was initially ruled a catch that would’ve advanced Dallas to its own 39-yard line — on the borderline of Hail Mary territory. Instead, the Cowboys were stuck on the 24 and ran a bizarre final play — featuring Ezekiel Elliott at center — that led to a meaningless 8-yard catch and secured the San Francisco win.

“I really don’t want to get into detail on it, but that obviously wasn’t the plan,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s obviously a gadget play or whatever to end it. It’s the last-play-situation call we practice.”

Schultz, 26, is now set to become a free agent. The Stanford product has been a reliable target for the Cowboys, with 198 catches and 17 touchdowns in his past three years in Dallas.