Takeaways: Buccaneers at Cowboys | Week 16 2024

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ four-game winning streak came to an abrupt end Sunday at AT&T Stadium as the Dallas Cowboys pulled out a 26-24 victory. With the loss, the Bucs are no longer in the driver’s seat of their playoff destiny with two regular season games remaining on the 2024 docket. The Atlanta Falcons and Bucs have an 8-7 record, with Atlanta holding the head-to-head sweep. For the Bucs, failed tackles, penalties and turnovers determined the team’s fate on the road. Tampa Bay had two second-half giveaways, including a third-quarter interception by Jourdan Lewis that changed the trajectory of the ballgame. Baker Mayfield lofted a deep lob to rookie Jalen McMillan, but Lewis managed to steal the ball away. He fought his way through the catch and maneuvered his head around to get away with the ball at the goal line.

With just over two minutes remaining, Mayfield led a methodical nine-play, 87-yard scoring drive that culminated in a Ryan Miller 13-yard touchdown at the 2:36 mark. Mike Evans ran a wheel route and pulled coverage away as a decoy. Ryan Miller ran a post route as he angled towards the post and he was left open for the score. The Bucs’ defense then managed to stop the Cowboys’ offense from advancing, but Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland took the ball away on a game-sealing play.

“We committed way too many penalties and mistakes,” wide receiver Mike Evans said. “They deserved to win today. They played like they were trying to make the playoffs and we didn’t.”

Baker Mayfield had another outing that showed his grit. With multiple struggles for first downs, Mayfield finished the game completing 31 of 43 passes for 303 yards, two touchdowns and the aforementioned goal-line interception. The first touchdown of the day came on the ground by Bucky Irving on a two-yard run. On the drive, he showed his alertness by forcing several missed tackles and accelerating downhill after elusive cuts. Irving rushed 16 times for 68 yards and a touchdown (4.3 avg.) and added three receptions for 24 yards, totaling 92 yards from scrimmage. With his seven rushing touchdowns this season, Irving tied Erric Rhett and Lars Tate for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a rookie running back in team history, trailing only Doug Martin (11 in 2012). Against the Cowboys, Irving forced six missed tackles in the first half alone per Next Gen Stats – a season high in 1½ years – and added 38 rush yards after contact. Dallas rolled coverage to Evans to prevent plays down the field, giving the backs opportunities to get going. Overall, the Bucs rushed for 134 yards in the game while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. carry, marking their 12th 100-yard rushing performance in 15 games played this season.

Mayfield hit McMillan on an 11-yard scoring play in the second quarter, the fourth score by the rookie wideout in the last three games. No. 6 rolled out of the pocket and McMillan found a soft spot in the zone and proceeded to work across the end zone. Mayfield zipped the ball down to his goal to trim the deficit to 20-14.

Evans led the Bucs in receiving with five receptions for 69 yards and passed Shannon Sharpe (815) for the 37th most receptions in NFL history. He now needs three receptions and 182 receiving yards (91.0 yards per game) to continue his 1,000-yard and 60-catch streaks (10 seasons).

The Buccaneers’ defense allowed just 31 yards on 20 carries to the Cowboys, ending Rico Dowdle’s 100-plus-yard streak at three. According to ESPN polls, the Cowboys’ 31 rushing yards were the second fewest in a Dallas franchise victory. The Cowboys were without starting quarterback Dak Prescott (injured reserve), but Cooper Rush had a career-best performance against the Bucs, completing 26 of 35 passes for 292 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions and a 108.3 passer rating. Initially, he operated out of a quick back-and-dunk passing attack to take advantage of off coverage and free releases, but as the game wore on, he found weapons downfield for chunk plays, including gains of 52 and 30 yards to CeeDee Lamb , 29 to Brandin Cooks and 26 to Ryan Flournoy. The Cowboys scored on five of six drives in the first half and managed to impose their will.

The Buccaneers’ defense, which had allowed 15.0 points per game in the league over the previous four weeks, the Rush brought one run into the game, resulting in a split between Yaya Diaby and Calijah Kancey. Christian Izien led the team with 13 tackles and Lavonte David contributed eight tackles, including two for loss. Overall, Tampa Bay allowed just five conversions on 15 third-down attempts by Dallas, but the home team averaged 7.9 yards per carry.