Buccaneers at Cowboys, let’s talk about it.
Football is a game of inches, but it’s also a game of quarters. Let’s dive into a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of some Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ football. With just a half-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons, the Buccaneers took the field at AT&T Stadium knowing they needed a win to maintain their lead in the NFC South.
First Quarter:
With first place in the divisional race on the line, Tampa’s defense took the field to start. Todd Bowles’ group yielded yards, but points were less accessible. The Bucs’ defense held Dallas to a 58-yard field goal attempt— Far kick, but a good kick. 3-0, Cowboys.
On their second drive, following a failed fourth down conversion, Dallas finished the drive they could not finish previously. Good field position became seven points and a 10-0 Dallas lead.
Second Quarter:
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Quarter number two has been a Tampa Bay Buccaneer bugaboo for the regularly fast-starting Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense. Sunday Night Football told a new tale. Baker Mayfield took the team down the field for their first touchdown of the evening, in a drive where he found Mike Evans for a big play and then gave the ball to Bucky Irving to let him finish it with back-to-back carries and his seventh rushing score of the season. 10-7, Cowboys.
The ensuing drive, featured CeeDee Lamb’s introduction to the SNF viewing audience. Lamb, beating the duo of Dean and Izien, flipped the field and put the Cowboys in position for another field goal. One more swing of Brandon Aubrey’s leg gave Dallas three more points. 13-7, Cowboys.
The Dallas Cowboys’ defense continued to do its job, Tampa’s not as much. The Baker Mayfield sack, CeeDee Lamb highlight, Ezekiel Elliott touchdown run, combo platter gave Dallas their first two-score lead of the game. 20-7, Dallas.
Amidst their most impressive drive of the night, the second drive to heavily feature Mike Evans, Tampa decided to stall the clock with a questionable timeout. The Buccaneers’ offense immediately scored which meant Todd Bowles’ timeout was a favorable one for Dallas. Consensus would have been to bleed the clock down as much as possible prior to scoring, however, Todd Bowles bucked the norm. The Cowboys’ offense stepped back on the field with more than 40 seconds remaining on the game’s un-bled clock and pushed the line of scrimmage right back into field goal range. While Tampa could have gone into the half with the last score, the team’s game management allowed Dallas to retake their two score lead before the break. 23-14, Dallas.
Third Quarter:
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Out of the intermission, the Bucs’ offense treated fans to the rare third down and 40. Unsurprisingly, a first down being 40 yards away from the line of scrimmage is not advantageous for the offense— Similarly to how a three-man rotation at punter isn’t beneficial for a team. One third down stop, one large punt return, and one pile of missed tackles later— add three more points for the home team. 26-14, Cowboys.
As the third quarter trickled into its final minutes, Chase McLaughlin was seen impersonating Brandon Aubrey. 26-17, Dallas.
Fourth Quarter:
Three quarters of a spiraling mess made its smooth transition into four quarters of a spiraling mess when Baker Mayfield’s first touch of the game’s final period was knee-deep in his own endzone. His first touch, in Tampa’s next drive, must’ve felt eerily similar. Backed up from the nine yard line, Baker baked up 20 yards with his legs, baked up fast ball to Trey Palmer but, then he left a ball in the oven too long and found Jourdan Lewis for the wrong sort of completion— interception, Dallas’ ball.
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Faced with adversity, Baker Mayfield and the Bucs’ offense took the ball down the field and shrunk the deficit to two with a touchdown pass to Ryan Miller.
Tampa Bay’s defense, backed into a must-stop situation, proved prepared. Stepping up to the moment, Vita Vea’s third down tackle gave the Buccaneers one more shot at a win— A shot that would miss the mark. On Tampa Bay’s first snap— Baker Mayfield, despite holding on to the ball while walking with a Dallas defender draped on his hips, flipped a pass to Rachaad White who proceeded to fail in maintaining the level of ball security his quarterback demonstrated just seconds prior. Fumbled football recovered by Dallas— Brace kneel down.
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