The Cowboys walked into Thursday night with a chance to steady things on defense. Instead, they came out with their first F of the season.
Dallas held Tampa Bay to 24 points, which on paper looks manageable. In reality, it was one of the Cowboys’ sloppiest defensive outings of the year.
The Buccaneers piled up 241 rushing yards on 39 carries, averaged 6.2 yards per attempt, and turned three of their four scoring drives into touchdowns on the ground. They finished with 24 first downs, converted 53.8% of their third downs, and cashed in on 60% of their red-zone chances.
The damage really hit in the third quarter, when 17 of Tampa Bay’s 24 points came home. That stretch flipped the night.
After Dallas had forced three straight punts before halftime, the Buccaneers came out and detonated the game with explosives. Bucky Irving ripped off a 72-yard run on the first play of the second half, and that series ended in a touchdown two snaps later.
The next big blow came after a Ryan Flournoy tipped-ball interception, when Tez Johnson turned a 64-yard catch-and-run into another score. DaRon Bland tripped and Johnson was gone.
Later in the quarter, a KaVontae Turpin special teams fumble set Tampa Bay up at the Dallas 37, and the Buccaneers added a field goal.
Those two big plays changed everything, but they were far from the only problem. Dallas finished with 12 missed tackles and had trouble getting off the field all night. The secondary also gave up a 22-yard completion on 3rd-and-21, another gut punch in a game full of them.
Even the quarterback situation didn’t break Dallas’ way. Against an undrafted rookie free agent making just his second start, the Cowboys let Jalon Daniels settle in and play comfortably for most of the night.
Daniels completed 76% of his passes and finished with a quarterback rating 40 points higher than Dak Prescott’s. He nearly handed Dallas a chance late with a short throw that landed in DaRon Bland’s hands, but Bland dropped the interception.
There were a few bright spots in the box score. Dee Winters led the team with 10 tackles, six of them solo.
Otito Ogbonnia had two tackles for loss. Rookie Malachi Lawrence picked up his first NFL sack.
On the PFF side, the top-graded Cowboys were Markquese Bell at 81.2, Malik Hooker at 75.9, and Lawrence at 74.4. The lowest marks went to DaRon Bland at 29.6, Shavon Revel at 36.9, and Kenny Clark at 41.7.
The rookie class had a mixed night overall. Caleb Downs posted four tackles but missed two, and injuries have pushed him into a deeper safety role for now.
Jaishawn Barham added seven tackles and a miss, along with another goal-line stand that gave Dallas a brief lift. Lawrence was the standout, finishing with his first sack of the season, three pressures, and a pass defended.
LT Overton played 23 snaps, logged one pressure and one tackle, and continued to flash without filling up the stat sheet.
For Dallas, the frustrating part is that this should have been the kind of game that gets a defense moving in the right direction. Tampa Bay came in winless, with a rookie quarterback and protection issues, and the Cowboys still allowed the Buccaneers to run wild.
The return of injured defenders could help, and Joey Porter Jr. may also be added to the mix. Brian Schottenheimer has already said changes are coming.
Next up is a trip to Lambeau Field to face Jordan Love and the Packers on Sunday Night Football. Green Bay enters with the 28th ranked scoring offense, giving Dallas another chance to clean this up.
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