Cowboys win 26-24 over Buccaneers after playoffs

The Cowboys season ended before they even had a chance to play this week. Although no one actually expected them to make the postseason, Dallas was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention early Sunday when Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels threw a clear touchdown with six seconds left to upset the Eagles.

A few hours later, the Cowboys started a primetime showdown against a Buccaneers team with plenty left to play for, but it was the Cowboys who looked like a team trying to prove something. This game came right down to the wire, but when all was said and done, the Cowboys won with one of their toughest wins of the year.

Things couldn’t have started better for Dallas, who started the game on offense. Cooper Rush came out with his hair on fire and completed all six of his passes on the opening drive for 21 yards, navigating the team down into field goal range. Brandon Aubrey hit a 58-yarder with ease to make it 3-0.

Then it was the defense’s turn. Baker Mayfield managed to pick up a first down early, but Mike Zimmer’s creative pressure schemes proved too much, forcing errant throws from the Texas native on third and fourth downs. Just like that, the defense forced a turnover on downs.

Rush and the offense took over right at midfield and ripped off two big plays in a short amount of time. KaVontae Turpin caught a pass for 12 yards before the Rush hit Brandin Cooks on the run for 29 yards. A few plays later, Jalen Tolbert made an impressive toe tap touchdown and the Cowboys were up 10-0.

The two teams traded punts after that before Tampa Bay finally managed to get a touchdown. But Aubrey hit a 49-yarder to extend the lead to 13-7. Their defense forced another punt and the offense began to move down the field with haste. Two ridiculous plays by CeeDee Lamb set up an easy 1-yard touchdown scamper for Ezekiel Elliott.

The Buccaneers managed to match it with a touchdown of their own, but the Cowboys trailed with 48 seconds and all three timeouts before halftime. A big catch-and-run by Jake Ferguson put them in field goal range right away, and Aubrey hit a 58-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a two-score lead, 23-14 at the break.

The third quarter went by with both teams scoring just one field goal, and an impressive endzone interception by Jourdan Lewis with six and a half minutes left in the game seemed to turn things around. But Rush nearly threw a pick on the first play, and then Dallas had their next two run plays gain eight yards and fall short on first down, setting up a punt.

Tampa Bay got the ball back with four and a half minutes left, and Mayfield went supernova. He racked up 75 passing yards on a 100% completion rate and also scrambled on a first down and found a wide open receiver in the end zone with two and a half minutes left.

With two timeouts and the two-minute warning remaining, Tampa Bay opted for a regular kickoff instead of the onside kick. The Cowboys tried to trap the Buccaneers with a jet sweep to Turpin, but he was stopped for a loss of one yard. Two quick passes helped fuel the two timeouts, but Dallas was forced to punt with 1:52 left.

Suddenly, it looked like the Buccaneers could pull this off. Then came one of the most chaotic spectacles that can only be seen:

The Cowboys’ swarming pass rush, Mayfield’s grit to keep his feet moving and flip it to Rachaad White, and then heads-up play from DaRon Bland to strip the ball and recover the fumble. None of it could possibly be scripted, and it perfectly encapsulated the gritty nature that Dallas has been playing with for the last month or so.

They escaped with a hard-fought win, which marked their fourth in five attempts. They now move to 7-8 ahead of a road trip to Philadelphia with a chance for a winning record on the line. The playoffs are officially out of the question for this team, but you wouldn’t know how they played in this one. These Cowboys officially play for the love of the game, and if Sunday night was anything to go by, they really do love football.