Buccaneers Week 16 Top Performers at Dallas Cowboys

The rollercoaster ride continues.

Primetime Buccaneers, what could go wrong?

Well as it turns out, quite a lot.

Tampa Bay dropped to an abysmal 3-7 in primetime games under Todd Bowles as his defense allowed backup Cooper Rush to dissect them from start to finish in a mellowing 26-24 Dallas Cowboys victory.

The offense fought back but dealt with too many miscues, including several unacceptable plays from Baker Mayfield and three fumbles as a whole, and the hole just proved to be too cavernous to emerge from. Tampa once again falls into a divisional tie with the Atlanta Falcons but still can secure the NFC South crown by winning out with Atlanta losing just one, but they no longer fully control their own destiny.

Sunday proved to be the latest frustrating chapter in a violently erratic year. Shout-out time then Christmas time.

Offensive Top Performer: RB Bucky Irving

The offense had one of it worst games of the season. Mayfield was largely awful for most of it, and that hindered production for everyone since the defense put them at a disadvantage from the get-go.

Irving served as the main driver (19 touches, 92 total yards), as he has been for most of the season. The rookie eclipsed 900 yards rushing for the year and picked up his 7th score, both leading all first-year players. He’ll need to keep being stellar if this team has any hope of salvaging its season.

Jalen McMillan caught his fourth score in three weeks as he continues to heat up some from a cold start to his career. He corralled 5 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, though a terrible jump ball play late that led to an interception and killed a scoring drive puts some damper on it. Got plenty of room for improvement.

Defensive Top Performer: DL Calijah Kancey

This defense got shredded by Cooper Rush. What more needs to be said?

Rush threw for 226 yards in the first half, which was a career-high and more total yards than he logged in 3 out of his last 4 starts. You can’t make this stuff up.

The injury excuses have grown old, especially when you see what other teams are doing with less (like the Cowboys). The only reason it wasn’t worse was because of how conservative the Cowboys went in effort to run the clock (which nearly didn’t work out for them anyway).

Kancey split a sack with Yaya Diaby, which gives him 6.5 in 9 games to lead the team. Both are the only pass rushers with a pulse and are young, so that’s cool. Vita Vea was also awesome, most notably on the game-saving tackle to force a punt on the game’s penultimate drive.

Special Teams Top Performer: KR Rakim Jarrett

I’m tired of writing Chase McLaughlin’s name into this slot every week so instead here are some flowers for Jarrett, who’s been a solid kick returner since coming off IR and taking over for Bucky Irving in the co-role with Sean Tucker.

He logged two 30-plus-yard returns, including one of 38, to help create positive field position. When this unit is so consistently bad across the board, you’ve got to take any upside.