Cowboys vs. 49ers: Dallas fans throw trash on the referees after a heartbreaking NFL playoff loss; Dak Prescott says ‘credit to them’

Shortly after the Cowboys' 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday in the NFC Wild Card game, video caught fans throwing rubbish at players and referees as they ran away from the AT&T Stadium pitch.

Cowboy's defensive end, DeMarcus Lawrence, could be seen hitting an object that was about to hit him, though he later told reporters it was aimed at officials.

When star quarterback Dak Prescott was asked about the fans' actions, he initially expressed his disappointment when he thought they were directing their anger at the players.

But when he was informed that the garbage was aimed at the judges, Prescott's message changed: "Credit to them."

Bizarre conclusion

Given the circumstances surrounding the end of the game, it might be understandable why Cowboys fans were frustrated.

Despite all the offensive talent the team has, Dallas struggled to move the ball against the 49ers - the Cowboys had 11 ball possessions, seven of which ended without points.

But with six points behind and with just over 30 seconds on the clock, Prescott had the opportunity to correct.

He managed to move the attack to San Francisco's 41-yard line with 14 seconds left, after which the 49ers called a timeout to stop the clock.

But instead of throwing after the end zone - and with no timeouts left - Prescott ran 17 yards on a designed quarterback run.

When the Cowboys and 49ers tried to get in position so Prescott could stop the clock by throwing the ball to the turf, referee Ramon George also ran to catch the ball.

George collided with Prescott before the quarterback could stop the clock and time ran out before QB could get snapped off.

At his post-match press conference, Prescott said the intended game was something he and his teammates had practiced.

"We've practiced it," Prescott said. "You pass it to the center. The referee, all he has to do is usually come in and hit the ball. Do not necessarily know exactly ... why the blow (with the referee) happened, I think. Yes, I know he will come in and touch the ball. We could say, 'Yes, he should be closer to the ball' or whatever, but in hindsight it's just hard. Just hard to accept. "

Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features and videos

Referee Alex Kemp said George spotted the ball correctly, explaining that he bumped into Cowboys players because he moved the ball to its "correct place" in his post-match report.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said he believed the order of events would be reviewed by officials and time would be added back to allow his team to get one last shot at winning the match.

That wish, however, was not fulfilled and the Cowboys were knocked out of the playoffs by the first time they asked.