The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just handed the Dallas Cowboys their worst loss of the season, which is absolutely wild considering almost everyone on the planet picked Dallas to dominate the winless Bucs. Instead, Tampa Bay strolled into the Cowboys’ home and flat-out owned them. Seriously, what in the world happened?
You Can’t Trust Them, Period
Coming into this game, the entire league basically wrote off the Buccaneers. They hadn’t won a single game, and the Cowboys were supposed to roll. Dallas even looked like they were going to do exactly that, opening the game with a touchdown on their first drive. We were all hyped, right? Then the offense, which had the nerve to call itself the “Greatest Offense There Is,” just disappeared. They managed only three more points until a mere 5:26 left in the fourth quarter. It was infuriating to watch. We knew heading into this week that the Bucs’ only real shot was to blitz Dak Prescott relentlessly, even though he’s usually one of the best in the league at handling that pressure. Well, that gamble paid off big time for Tampa Bay. Dak was under duress all night from free blitzers, and it threw everything off. Timings were messed up, passes were tipped, and Prescott struggled to put the ball where it needed to be. On the flip side, their defense? Yeah, we know they’ve been bad, but they’d actually been showing tiny steps of improvement each week. Not this time. They held on for a bit, then completely folded in the third quarter. It was a mistake-fest: missed tackles, dropped interceptions, you name it. The second half was a complete disaster class from that unit.
The Finish Just Isn’t There When It Counts
Late in the game, the Cowboys had a golden opportunity to tie things up and force overtime, giving us all some false hope. DaRon Bland, the veteran corner who used to make these plays in his sleep, broke perfectly on a short pass for what should have been an easy pick-six. That would’ve made the score 24-22, totally changing the game. But the ball just bounced right through his hands and onto the ground. Seriously? On a night where nothing went Dallas’ way, that was just another gut punch. And get this: even after that huge drop, Dallas got the ball back deep in Tampa Bay territory, with yet another chance at a game-tying touchdown. They had shown they could do it earlier, putting together an insane 99-yard touchdown drive. Dak was looking like his old self, George Pickens was making plays, even KaVontae Turpin and Jonathan Mingo got in on the action. But on a fateful second-and-one throw, Jake Ferguson somehow popped a Dak Prescott dart into the air, and it landed right in a defender’s arms, essentially sealing the win for the Buccaneers. The collective groan of “Of course” from Cowboys fans after Bland’s drop says it all. This team had a goal line stand, a 99-yard drive, and two clear shots to tie the game. They just couldn’t make the plays when it mattered most.
Tyler Smith Didn’t Solve Anything In The Run Game
The opening drive actually made us think the run game was completely renewed! That nine-play, 70-yard drive looked fantastic, with Javonte Williams breaking off a huge 21-yard gain and then punching it in from the one. For a minute, it seemed like Tyler Smith really had solved their issues. But nope. That was pretty much it for any consistent ground attack. This team, man. You think they’re turning a corner, and then they pull something like this. What a frustrating loss for them, especially against a winless squad.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply