Cowboys Beat Buccaneers

With nothing to play for but pride after being eliminated from playoff contention, the Dallas Cowboys found a way to win by the skin of their teeth. It took a fumble on a hectic first-down play but the Cowboys earned their fourth win in their five games, 26-24, over the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Sunday Night Football.”

Dallas’ hopes officially ended about four hours before the game when Washington scored in the final seconds to beat Philadelphia, 36-33.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of conversation about it,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I made the point before the game, `Just play the way we always play. We’re playing really dang good football these past four, five weeks. Let’s grind this thing out.’”

Down two with just under two minutes to go, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who is an Austin Texas native, playing in front of over 50 family members and friends, eluded pressure on first down and tossed the ball to running back Rachaad White, who ran forward for a handful of yards before Cowboys cornerback and vocal leader of the defense Jourdan Lewis forced a fumble. Teammate DaRon Bland, playing in only his fifth game of the season, recovered the ball at the Tampa Bay 31-yardline and the Cowboys’ offense went into victory formation and bled the rest of the clock for the narrow win.

“He had two hands on the ball, obviously you’ve got to be careful,” Mayfield said. “The same thing happened to me earlier in the game. They made some plays when it mattered. It’s all about the ball, and they did good taking it away.”

Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush had one of the best games as a starter of the season, including a career-high 226 passing yards in the first half. He finished the night completing 26 of 35 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys relied on the passing game all night.

Tampa Bay came out of the gate slow, turning the ball over on downs on their first series due to a pesky dropped pass on fourth down by wide receiver Sterling Shepard. They would go three-and-out on their next drive but then came alive scoring two touchdowns in their final three drives of the first half, the first on a two-yard run by running back Bucky Irving to cut Dallas’ lead to three, 10-7.

The Cowboys scored 10 unanswered points on seldom used Ezekiel Elliott touchdown run and a Brandon Aubrey field goal for a 20-7 lead.

Rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who has been on fire, had his fourth touchdown in the last three games with a sliding 11-yard catch in the end zone with less than a minute to go in the second quarter. Another Aubrey field goal that he made look like shooting a free throw from 58 yards out, one of four made field goals on the night, gave the Cowboys a 23-14 lead at halftime.

Both defenses tightened the screws in the second half. Dallas had more punts (four) by Bryan Anger, than points (three) in the second half and managed just 68 yards of total offense. Tampa Bay had just 60 yards in their first three drives of the second half.

Mayfield threw his lone interception of the game on a deep shot to McMillan to end a promising drive in its tracks. He would come back on the ensuing drive and go a perfect 9-for-9 for 87 yards on the Buccaneers’ lone touchdown drive of the second half, punctuated by a 13-yard pass to Ryan Miller for a touchdown to make it a two-point game.

Tampa Bay’s defense got a critical stop, forcing a three-and-out on the next drive by the Cowboys to give their offense the ball back with nearly two minutes to go. But White’s fumble on the first play of that drive ended all hopes of a miraculous comeback.

“We lost, we fell back in the pack,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We’ve got to eat it, can’t spend too much time on it. We had our chances. We’ve got to take care of us and let everything else take care of itself.”

The Cowboys are eliminated from the playoffs and head on the road next week to take on Saquon Barkley and the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles (12-3).

This loss snaps Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak. The Buccaneers (8-7) are now tied on record with the Atlanta Falcons atop the NFC South, but the Falcons have a distinct advantage with two head-to-head wins. The Buccaneers will close the season out with a pair of home games, starting against the Carolina Panthers (4-11) next week.

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