The Buccaneers finally got their first win of the season Thursday night, and it came in a 24-16 result over the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. It wasn’t clean, and Dallas made things uncomfortable late, but Tampa Bay still controlled enough of the night to leave with a 1-4 record instead of staring at a longer drought.
Even with the victory in hand, there was plenty to pull apart afterward. The game offered a few easy overreactions, and not all of them were about the scoreboard.
One of the biggest takeaways came from Walker, who is technically in his rookie season after tearing his ACL in training camp last year. He looked the part of a player who is forcing his way into more responsibility. Walker got after Dak Prescott repeatedly, helped disrupt the passing game and even got a hand on a ball in coverage that turned into a Yaya Diaby interception.
That production stands out even more when you look at where he sits on the depth chart. Walker is OLB5 behind Rueben Bain Jr., Yaya Diaby, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Anthony Nelson, but he has been better than all of them so far this year. The snaps should follow.
There was also another encouraging sign for Tampa Bay in Jalon Daniels. The Cowboys defense was poor, sure, but Daniels still handled his business over the last two weeks and played better than many expected from an undrafted free agent. The Buccaneers took a shot on him after the draft, then doubled down by making him QB2, and he has rewarded that faith.
He wasn’t flawless. Daniels nearly threw a disastrous pick six.
But he managed the offense, kept it moving and helped turn the opportunity into a win. Once Mayfield returns, the Bucs should still feel good about having Daniels waiting behind him.
The night also exposed an old problem that didn’t go away just because Tampa Bay won. The Buccaneers were flagged 13 times for 87 yards, with a heavy dose of offensive penalties mixed in, including holding and false starts.
That lack of discipline on offense keeps showing up. When the play starts moving, the wideouts and quarterback often wind up in spots the line doesn’t anticipate, and the result is the same: too many flags and too many drives going backward.
Even with a win on the books, there’s no obvious fix in sight. Tampa Bay still has to clean up the operation from top to bottom if it wants to stop beating itself every week.
In Other News...
Dak Prescott Left Tampa Facing More Than Just Another Loss
The Cowboys left Tampa with more than another loss on their hands, and Dak Prescott ended up at the center of the postgame conversation once the noise from the result had faded. What followed in the stadium became part of the story, adding a sharp edge to a night already defined by Dallas struggling to keep up with the Buccaneers.
Prescott later described the exchange and made clear he would rather hear criticism head-on than have it come from a distance. Brian Schottenheimer also acknowledged the teams struggles and said he plans to review everything, including possible changes on the coaching staff, which only deepens the sense that this defeat could ripple well beyond one frustrating Sunday. [Read more 🡒]
Jalon Daniels Just Gave Bucs Fans A Reason To Believe
Jalon Daniels arrived at just the right moment for Tampa Bay, giving a season-starved crowd something tangible to hang onto after the teams rough opening stretch. His steady outing against Dallas came with enough command and enough mobility to suggest the Buccaneers may have found a quarterback who can settle the operation down, at least for the time being, after an 0-4 start left little room for patience.
Now the challenge gets real. Daniels is expected to start again in Week 6 against Pittsburgh, and the Buccaneers will be watching to see whether this is the start of something sustainable or just one sharp response to a desperate situation. For a team trying to climb out of an early hole, the next step matters almost as much as the first breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Bowles Had A Sideline Scare During Bucs' First Win
The Buccaneers first win of the season came with a brief scare on the sideline late in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys. After an interception and a run by Tampa Bay players sparked a celebration, head coach Todd Bowles took an unexpected shot in the stomach from a helmet and was seen grimacing before dropping to one knee.
Bowles was reported to be OK shortly after the incident, easing what looked for a moment like a much bigger concern. The sequence was the kind of chaotic sideline flash that can get lost in the aftermath of a win, even as the Bucs were still sorting through an ending that had plenty of energy and not much margin for error. [Read more 🡒]