The Dallas Cowboys may have been officially eliminated from the playoffs before the game even started, but that didn't mean they weren't going to give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team still in the thick of the postseason chase, all they could handle.
In fact, the Cowboys were seemingly a team with something to prove, outplaying the visitors from start to finish to come away with an impressive 26-24 victory. The win was Dallas' fourth in its last five games, the team's record now for the season at 7-8.
Mike Zimmer's defense gave quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay offense fits all night, as the visitors were hit hard and hit often. Mayfield threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns, but he was also sacked four times and intercepted once for a 97.4 passer rating.
Coming off perhaps his best career performance last weekend at Carolina, Cooper Rush again led the charge behind center in this one. He completed 74.3 percent of his passes for 292 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a 108.3 mark.
Even though he continues to play with a banged up right shoulder, CeeDee Lamb hauled in seven passes for 105 yards, his third 100-yard effort of the season and second in as many games. Eight different receivers caught passes in the winning effort.
Overall, the Buccaneers came out on top on the stat sheet with more yards (411 to 317), more third-down conversions (50% to 33%) and the time-of-possession advantage (32:48 to 27:12). But the Cowboys won the battle in one key category – turnovers. Dallas didn't turn the ball over once while Tampa Bay did so twice, both of the Buccaneers' key errors coming in the fourth quarter.
First Quarter
The Cowboys couldn't have asked for a better start as they jumped out to a quick ten-point lead within the game's first 15 minutes. Brandon Aubrey capped off a 10-play, 30-yard drive with a 58-yard field goal on Dallas' opening possession.
After the Cowboys defense then stopped Tampa Bay on fourth-and-3 at the Dallas 48-yard line, Rush needed just five plays to take his team to pay dirt. KaVontae Turpin took a handoff up the middle for 12 yards, which was followed by a pass too Brandin Cooks for a 29-yard gain. Three snaps later, with big defensive tackle Vita Vea in his face, Rush threw a honey of a pass to Jalen Tolbert in the back of the end zone for the touchdown and a 10-0 lead.
Second Quarter
Dallas saw the Buccaneers go 57 yards in six plays for a touchdown early in the second frame, but keeping the pressure on, the Cowboys came right back with another 10 points before the half.
A 26-yard pass from Mayfield to wideout Mike Evans was a big blow on Tampa Bay's scoring drive, but running back Bucky Irving also rushed four times for 28 yards. The last two of those came on a dart around the right end for the score.
Dallas came right back with another three points from Aubrey, this time thanks to a 49-yard field goal. Then on their next series, the Cowboys drove 80 yards in nine plays to reach the goal line. Rush went deep to Lamb for a hefty 52-yard completion, and then two snaps later, Lamb took a short pass over the middle and gutted his way 11 more yards to the 1. Ezekiel Elliott got the honors, bullying his way off left tackle for the touchdown.
Unfortunately, with 1:40 left on the clock, that was enough time for Mayfield and company to tack on a score of their own. The Buccaneers quarterback completed 5 of 6 pass attempts for 67 yards, his 11-yard strike to Jalen McMillan accounting for the touchdown.
However, the 48 seconds remaining were enough for the Cowboys to get into Aubrey's range. Rush had back-to-back passes of 21 and 14 yards to Jake Ferguson and Cooks, respectively, which eventually led to Dallas' star kicker hitting another 58-yard field as time expired.
Having earned points on five of their six first-half possessions, the Cowboys went into the break with a 23-14 advantage.
Third Quarter
The Dallas defense set the tone as the second half got underway. Rookie Linebacker Marist Liufau forced a fumble that Tampa recovered, and then Micah Parsons sacked Mayfield and forced another fumble that Nick Vigil couldn't quite corral before going out of bounds. The Buccaneers' series then ended with Liufau jarring the ball loose from tight end Payne Durham with a thundering hit for an incompletion.
Once Turpin returned the ensuing punt 18 yards to the Dallas 35, Rush needed to pick up only 30 more yards in five plays to give Aubrey another try. Of course, the kicker was good, the lead hitting double-digits again, 26-14. With that, he also set a new NFL record with 14 field goals of at least 50 yards for the season.
Make that 26-17. Despite another round of big hits from the Cowboys defense, including a jarring takedown by safety Donovan Wilson, Tampa Bay was able to get down to the Dallas 27-yard line on 11 plays. There they took the three points on a 45-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin.
Fourth Quarter
A relatively quiet start to the final quarter saw the Dallas defense provide some more fireworks. Or more specifically, cornerback Jourdan Lewis did. When Mayfield tried a 40-plus yard bomb to McMillan at the 6:30 mark, the receiver at first appeared to have caught the ball and rolled into the end zone for a score. Instead, it was Lewis who ripped the ball away for a remarkable interception.
Tampa Bay wasn't done yet, though. Working fast, Mayfield marched his side down the field 87 yards in nine plays while taking just 2:07 off the clock. The touchdown came when Dallas had some miscommunication in coverage, leaving receiver Ryan Miller wide open in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown catch to narrow the score to just 26-24.
But just when the Cowboys looked like they were going to find another way to lose, they pulled off a Christmas miracle. After the team's offense went a quick three-and-out, the Buccaneers got the ball back at their own 26-yard line with 1:40 on the clock. But on Tampa Bay's very first snap, Mayfield somehow shook off a sack and shuffled the ball off to running back Rachaad White.
And then the game was sealed. As he was making the tackle, cornerback Daron Bland stripped the ball way from White, the fumble and recovery giving Dallas the ball and the win.
