The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked into Thursday night at 0-4 and staring at a rough primetime spot on the road against a Cowboys team that had been rolling. Instead, they left with their first win of the season, a shocker built on a strong showing in all three phases and a handful of standout performances that made the difference.
Bucky Irving was the headliner. He turned in the best game of his career, piling up 165 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground while also adding a receiving touchdown.
Tampa Bay made no secret of its plan: lean on the run, ease the burden on rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, and keep a dangerous Cowboys offense parked on the sideline. Irving’s efficiency made that approach work, and he was the engine behind the Buccaneers’ control of the game.
Daniels, meanwhile, looked nothing like a rookie who had appeared overwhelmed just a few days earlier. In primetime, on a short week, he played with poise, finishing 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 23 yards. Most importantly, he protected the football and gave Tampa Bay exactly what it needed by taking what the defense offered.
The Buccaneers’ biggest issue was the stuff they kept handing Dallas. Tampa Bay was flagged 14 times for 92 yards, with most of the damage coming against the offensive line.
One of those penalties wiped out a 61-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal after a delay of game, a painful self-inflicted swing that could have mattered a lot more in a tighter finish. The Bucs survived the mess, but it was the kind of sloppiness that can wreck a night against a better finish.
Defensively, Zyon McCollum had one of the cleanest wins of the night. He spent the game matched up with CeeDee Lamb and didn’t allow a catch in 10 one-on-one battles. That kind of work against a top receiver doesn’t happen by accident, and McCollum has quietly opened the season by holding his own against some of the league’s best.
Jacob Parrish also kept making his presence felt. He was beaten a few times, but he kept battling and led Tampa Bay with nine tackles and four passes defended. At 5-foot-10, he played bigger than his size and continued to look like the Buccaneers’ best cover corner.
Todd Bowles’ defense deserves plenty of credit for the overall plan. His blitzes threw Dak Prescott off rhythm, and Tampa Bay held CeeDee Lamb to two catches for nine yards after Lamb had exploded for 17 catches and 189 yards against the Texans a week earlier. Prescott still ended up with more than 300 passing yards, and George Pickens finished with 130, but the bigger picture belonged to the Buccaneers: Dallas, which had been averaging 30 points per game, was held to 16, and Prescott was intercepted twice.
Bowles still landed in the wrong column for his game management. With Tampa Bay up 24-10 in the fourth quarter, he chose to go for it on fourth-and-1 instead of taking a field goal that would have made it a three-possession game. Dallas answered with a 24-16 score and nearly turned the night into a nightmare comeback before Tampa Bay finally closed it out.
The Bucs got more help in the secondary from Antoine Winfield Jr.’s replacement, with Smith stepping up as a blitzer and recording a team-high five pressures. He also added four tackles and helped disrupt the Cowboys’ passing game.
In the back end, Scott delivered seven tackles, including one for loss, plus a pass defended. His biggest play came when he broke up Dallas’ two-point conversion attempt and kept the game at eight points.
Alex Anzalone may have delivered the play everyone will remember most. After a rough start to his Tampa Bay tenure, he has been showing up in the winner’s column more and more often, and this one might have been his biggest moment yet.
With Dallas threatening to tie the game, Anzalone intercepted a pass and shut down the comeback bid. He added five tackles to go with the game-sealing pick and became the unlikely hero of the Buccaneers’ first win.
In Other News...
Dak Prescott Tunnel Confrontation Keeps Stirring Debate After Bucs Win
After the Buccaneers handled Dallas, the conversation around the game quickly shifted from the scoreboard to the tunnel. Dak Prescott was heckled as he walked off after the loss, with the man shouting that the performance was embarrassing, and Prescott stopped to confront him in the moment. The scene added another layer to a lopsided night and drew plenty of attention because it came as the Cowboys quarterback was already dealing with the weight of a frustrating result.
The debate only grew once a TikTok clip began circulating around the confrontation, feeding speculation about what happened next. Prescott acknowledged the criticism, while a local report identified the heckler as a car service driver rather than a stadium employee, complicating some of the early assumptions about who was involved. For Tampa Bay, it was the sort of postgame flashpoint that kept the win in the headlines for reasons far beyond the Bucs own performance. [Read more 🡒]
Baker Mayfield Is Still Driving The Bucs Through This QB Crisis
Baker Mayfield may be sidelined, but he has not disappeared from the Buccaneers quarterback room. With Mayfield out because of injury, Tampa Bay has handed the offense to Jalon Daniels, and the rookie has leaned on the veterans steady hand as he settles into a much bigger role than anyone expected this early in the season.
Daniels has said Mayfield has helped him get ready for games in ways that go beyond a quick tip or two, with support in practice, in film study and on the sideline. That kind of presence matters even more for a young quarterback who was thrust into the starting job, and it was part of the backdrop before Tampa Bay picked up its first win of the season in Dallas. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Rookie Gives Fans One More Reason To Love Beating Dallas
The Buccaneers Thursday night win over Dallas gave Tampa Bay another satisfying layer to enjoy after the final whistle, and rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter made sure fans noticed. Trotter, whose football bloodlines run deep as the son of former Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Sr. and the brother of Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., shared his own postgame moment from the victory, leaning into the kind of swagger that follows a surprise win over a marquee opponent.
On social media, Trotter posted photos and a video from the game, including a tackle of Cowboys running back Javonte Williams, and capped it with a pointed nod at Dallas. It was the sort of rookie flex that lands well in the aftermath of a big home crowd win, especially when the opponent is the Cowboys, and it added one more talking point to a night Tampa Bay had already turned firmly in its favor. [Read more 🡒]