The Dallas Cowboys won their fourth game in five weeks, upsetting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-24 on “Sunday Night Football.”
Cowboys cornerback Daron Bland forced a fumble on the first play of the Buccaneers’ final offensive possession, squashing a potential game-winning drive and sealing the victory for Dallas.
The loss was a costly one for Tampa Bay, which dropped from first place in the NFC South to outside the playoff bracket.
Bland’s forced fumble was a shocking play in a game filled with them. After Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield barely escaped a sack and flipped the ball to running back Rachaad White, Bland stripped White as he fought for more yards and then recovered the loose ball.
Mayfield completed 31 of 43 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the loss.
Meanwhile, quarterback Cooper Rush played well for the Cowboys, throwing for 292 yards and a touchdown.
Dallas came out strong offensively, taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter before eventually taking a 23-14 lead into halftime. After a field goal on their first possession of the second half, however, the Cowboys wouldn’t score again. But their defense came up with multiple big stops to prevent a Tampa Bay comeback — including two key turnovers.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Mayfield appeared to find Jalen McMillan for a 46-yard touchdown on a deep pass, but as McMillan fell down to the field, Jourdan Lewis wrestled the ball away for an interception.
Two drives later, after the Bucs made it a two-point game, Bland ended the game with his forced fumble.
Dallas competed admirably despite having been eliminated from playoff contention before the game. The Cowboys improved to 7-8. They will play the Philadelphia Eagles next week.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has had a roller-coaster season. The Buccaneers started 4-2, then lost four games, then won four straight before Sunday’s loss, which dropped them to 8-7. The Bucs now have the same record as the division-leading Atlanta Falcons but trail them in the standings after being swept in their two-game season series.
Tampa Bay will play the Carolina Panthers in Week 17.
Big D in Dallas ends 26-24 Cowboys
Daron Bland just made the play of the night in Dallas. With Tampa trying to drive the length of the field to win the game with less than 2 minutes remaining, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield eluded multiple defenders to avoid a sack and keep the play alive by throwing a shuttle pass to his running back, Rachaad White.
But as White was falling to the turf, Bland ripped the ball away for a turnover, and the Cowboys ran out the clock for the win. They will improve to 7-8, while Tampa will fall to 8-6.
The Bucs are now second in the standings to Atlanta in the NFC South, and their road to the playoffs just got harder.
Tampa keeps comeback hopes alive!
Don’t count out the Buccaneers just yet. They now trail Dallas just 26-24 with 2:36 remaining after their 87-yard touchdown drive took just 2:07 off the clock. It ended with Baker Mayfield finding a wide open Ryan Miller for a 13-yard pass. Mayfield had to reach just to get the ball over the outstretched arm of a Cowboys defender.Andrew Greif
CeeDee Lamb made the 88 jersey proud tonight
Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb wears the No. 88 jersey made famous by Michael Irvin, and tonight Lamb joined Irvin in another exclusive club.
With his 100 receiving yards tonight, Lamb posted his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season, tying Irvin for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in Dallas history.
Did Dallas just seal a victory?
Baker Mayfield was going for the home-run touchdown pass to Jalen McMillan, but instead Jourdan Lewis ripped the ball away while in coverage, as McMillan was tumbling into the end zone. Incredible awareness by Lewis, and with Dallas now getting the ball back with six minutes to play in regulation, Dallas has a chance to run out the clock with a lengthy drive.
Bucs need to score but opt to punt
Trailing by nine points with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter, Tampa was pinned too deep inside its own half of the field to go for a long fourth-down try and punted instead. Baker Mayfield was seen entering the injury tent to be looked at.
Dallas 26, Tampa 17
That was an adventurous 11-play, 6-minute drive for Tampa, full of Baker Mayfield scrambles to varying levels of success, but it ends with points. Chase McLaughlin’s 45-yard field goal pulls the Bucs within nine points with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
Brandon Aubrey has missed only twice from 50-plus yards this season
Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey remains hilariously good at converting super-long field goals.
Aubrey is 3 for 3 on kicks from over 50 tonight, hitting kicks of 53, 58 and 58 yards.
Entering tonight, Aubrey was 11 of 13 on kicks from over 50 yards this season. One of those misses was a 70-yard attempt against the Panthers last week — the kind of kick you only really try when you have Brandon Aubrey.
Including tonight, Aubrey is now 24 of 26 on kicks over 50 yards in his career — a 92.3% conversion rate. Aubrey converts 50-yarders at a higher percentage than the league’s all-time most accurate kicker (Justin Tucker) converts all field goals (89.1%).
Aubrey’s only miss from over 50 but under 70 came earlier this season, when he shockingly missed a 51-yarder against the Giants.
Brandon Aubrey makes fourth field goal
Aubrey the automatic. The Cowboys’ kicker is 4-for-4 after a 53-yarder to extend the Dallas lead to 26-14 with 6:33 to go in the third quarter. Aubrey is now 3-for-3 beyond 50 yards tonight.
Buccaneers avoid a costly mistake
Tampa will punt with 9:25 to play in the third quarter to end a promising drive that seemed destined to end in points. But the Buccaneers avoided a turnover when Dallas couldn’t recover a wild fumble in bounds. Instead of starting a drive inside Tampa’s half of the field, the Cowboys didn’t have a short field.
Halftime: Dallas 23, Buccaneers 14
Brandon Aubrey hits his third field goal of the first half by knocking in a 58-yarder as time expires to put the Cowboys ahead 23-14 at the break. That was a very convincing half from a team that should theoretically have little to play for after being eliminated from the postseason earlier today. Aubrey has now made two kicks of 58 yards, plus a 49-yarder.