- Clayton's Illegal Shift Penalty
With the Cowboys leading 3-0 midway through the first quarter, the Bucs were driving down on their first offensive possession. Tampa appeared to have a first-and-goal at the Dallas six after a 14-yard completion to Antonio Bryant. But Tampa WR Michael Clayton was flagged for an illegal shift just before the snap. That not only wiped out the play, but pushed the Bucs back to a first-and-15 at the 25. Tampa picked up just five yards in three plays and settled for a field goal that was blocked by Gerald Sensabaugh and returned by Mike Jenkins to the Tampa 48. That led to a Cowboys field goal. In a matter of five minutes, the Bucs went from knocking on the door for a 7-3 lead to being down 6-0.
- Clayton's Illegal Shift Penalty
- Leftwich Scrambles Out of Bounds
It's hard to image a one-yard run by the quarterback being a difference in the game, but late in the first half Byron Leftwich tried to elude a rush and ended up going out of bounds on second-and-11 from their own 13. Instead of staying in bounds, which would've forced the Cowboys to use their last timeout, it allowed the Cowboys to use it on the next play - a four-yard run on third-and-long. So the Bucs punted the ball just 36 yards, which gave the Cowboys first down at the Dallas 44 with 1:02 to play. If Leftwich doesn't go out of bounds, the Cowboys probably have just about 25 seconds, which could alter their entire mentality. At that point, they're thinking field goal. Instead, they were able to stay aggressive and two plays later, it was 13-7 after Romo's 42-yard touchdown to Miles Austin.
- Sensabaugh's Illegal Contact Penalty
With the Cowboys leading 20-7 and looking for a knockout punch, it looked like Mike Jenkins had delivered one, coming up with an interception off a Leftwich pop-fly pass to the middle of the field. However, safety Gerald Sensabaugh was flagged for an illegal contact penalty for briefly putting his hand on Antonio Bryant, the intended receiver. It wasn't much contact, but enough for the officials to throw the flag. Instead of having the ball with a 13-point lead, it gave the Bucs new life. Tampa eventually scored a touchdown on that drive.
- Fourth-Down Miss To Winslow
With the Bucs trailing 27-14 and trying to get back in the game, Tampa got to the Cowboys' 26, but instead of kicking a field goal, which only would've trimmed the lead to 10, Tampa went for the first down. Byron Leftwich's pass to tight end Kellen Winslow fell incomplete, turning the ball back over to the Cowboys again with 7:44 to play.
- Crayton Strikes Again
It's hard for a 44-yard pass play to go unnoticed, but considering it was the third-longest play of the second half, it's worth noting on this list. After the Bucs turned the ball over on downs, the Cowboys came right back to Crayton, who Romo again found streaking over the middle. Crayton's big play flipped the field position from the Cowboys' 28 to the Tampa Bay 20. Three running plays later from Marion Barber, the Cowboys had another touchdown and a comfortable 34-14 lead.
