Day 40 in our 100-day countdown to kickoff takes us back to one of the most complete playoff showings of the modern Cowboys era. Dallas walked into Tampa Bay, handled Tom Brady’s Buccaneers from start to finish and turned the game into a statement.
Monday, January 16, 2023 - 8:15 p.m. ET
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14
The setup was loaded with reasons for Cowboys fans to brace themselves. Tampa Bay had opened the season by beating Dallas 19-3, a game that also ended with Dak Prescott suffering a fractured thumb.
Brady had never lost to the Cowboys in seven prior meetings. And Dallas arrived in the playoffs off an ugly 26-6 loss to Washington.
None of that mattered once the game kicked off.
The first few minutes were choppy, with both offenses struggling to move the chains. Dallas finally settled in on its third possession.
Tony Pollard handled four carries for 25 yards during an 80-yard march, and Prescott finished it by hitting Dalton Schultz on a 22-yard touchdown. Brett Maher missed the extra point, but the Cowboys were on top 6-0.
Tampa Bay had a chance to answer when Brady pushed the Buccaneers to the Dallas five-yard line. But on second-and-goal, his attempt to throw the ball away in the back of the end zone ended with Jayron Kearse grabbing the interception. It was Brady’s first red-zone interception since 2019, and it slammed the door on Tampa Bay’s best early chance to flip the game.
Prescott and the offense kept rolling from there. Dallas put together an 80-yard drive that took more than eight minutes and consumed 15 plays.
On fourth-and-goal from the one, Prescott kept it on a bootleg and scored himself on the left side. Maher missed again, but the Cowboys had stretched the lead to 12-0.
Before halftime, Prescott added another efficient drive. He completed seven of nine passes on an 80-yard series, escaped pressure and found Schultz again, this time for an 11-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left in the half. Maher missed the extra point for a third straight time, but Dallas still went to the locker room ahead 18-0.
The second half opened the same way the first one had gone. Starting from its own 14, Dallas marched 86 yards in eight plays.
Schultz hauled in a juggling 26-yard catch, CeeDee Lamb followed with a 26-yard grab of his own, and Pollard ripped off an 18-yard run before Prescott hit Michael Gallup for a two-yard touchdown. Maher missed his fourth extra point, but by then the score was 24-0 and the result was all but sealed.
Brady finally got Tampa Bay on the board late in the third quarter with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones, though the two-point try failed. Dallas answered right away.
On fourth-and-four at the Tampa Bay 18, Mike McCarthy kept the offense out there, and Prescott found Lamb wide open for another touchdown. Maher finally made the extra point, though some people were calling for the two-point attempt to keep him off the field.
The Buccaneers tacked on a late Cameron Brate touchdown and converted the two-point try, but it only trimmed the final margin. Dallas had already controlled the line of scrimmage, kept Prescott clean and never allowed Brady to engineer one of those trademark comebacks.
This one earns its place in the countdown because it knocked out several Cowboys frustrations at once. Dallas beat Brady for the first time, ended an eight-game road playoff losing streak and picked up its first postseason road win since the 1992 NFC Championship Game against San Francisco.
Brady announced on February 1, 2023, that he was retiring for good. That made this loss to Dallas the final game of his career.
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