FRISCO, Texas — With their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Dallas Cowboys have now won four of their last five games and three of those have been upset wins against playoff contenders. And despite themselves having been officially eliminated from playoff contention prior to the matchup on Sunday Night Football, DaRon Bland and Co. had a mission they were hellbent on sticking to.
They wanted to make life a living hell for veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield, and they did exactly that — Jourdan Lewis snatching away a would-be late-game touchdown from Jalen McMillan and Bland doing almost literally the exact same from running back Rachaad White to seal the 26-24 victory at AT&T Stadium.
"That's just the composure of our defense," Bland said of the latest impressive defensive outing from Mike Zimmer's bunch. "We try to stick it out together, no matter what's going on out there — you stay tight."
Mayfield was also sacked four times and fumbled, though he recovered it. It was an evening wherein the Cowboys rightfully could've walked away from upwards of four interceptions if the ball bounced their way on three occasions when he gave them a shot at taking the ball away in the air.
Lewis seethed over his dropped interception from earlier in the game, and made up for it in a major way. Bland had one that he would normally reel in as well and, like Lewis, spent the remainder of the game looking for another opportunity to disrupt the football gods' plan for his evening.
"I was trying to get that back," said a smiling Bland. "I had my hands on the ball earlier in the game and I was just trying to get that back. Baker got loose and got it to the running back, and I saw the running back had the ball kinda loose so I tried to get there quick; and ended up with the ball.
"... It felt great. On the drive before, we gave up that touchdown so to end that game like that? Felt good."
Having missed the majority of the season with a foot injury the left him on injured reserve until just a few weeks ago, this marks the first takeaway of the 2024 season for the king of pick-sixes.
"It's like, finally. I'm getting back in the groove, it feels like."
And, with that, a Landry Shift ended Week 16 and pushed the Cowboys to a 6-7 record with only two games remaining and a chance to play Grinch to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders, much in how they did against the Buccaneers in primetime.
"Finishing out strong and keeping the ball rolling," Bland said of the mentality heading into Week 17 and the regular season finale. "That's all it is. Keep the momentum and finish out the season [the right way]."
