FRISCO, Texas – With their win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Dallas Cowboys have now won four of their last five games, three of which were surprise wins against playoff contenders. And even though they were officially eliminated from the playoffs before Sunday Night Football’s matchup, DaRon Bland and Co. had a mission they were determined to stick to.

They wanted to make veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield’s life hell, and that’s exactly what they did – Jourdan Lewis grabbed a potential late-game touchdown from Jalen McMillan and Bland literally did the exact same thing by throwing running back Rachaad White brought the Seal a 26-24 victory at AT&T Stadium.

“It’s just the composure of our defense,” Bland said of Mike Zimmer’s squad’s recent impressive defensive effort. “We try to get through it together, no matter what’s going on out there – we stay together.”

Mayfield was also sacked and fumbled four times, although he recovered it. It was a night where the Cowboys legitimately could have avoided more than four interceptions if the ball had been headed their way three times when he gave them a chance to take the ball away in the air.

Lewis seethed over his missed interception early in the game and largely made up for it. Bland had a chance that he would normally take as well and, like Lewis, spent the rest of the game looking for another opportunity to thwart the football gods’ plan for his evening.

“I tried to get this back,” said a smiling Bland. “At the start of the game I had the ball in my hand and was just trying to get it back. Baker came out and got it to the running back, and I saw that the running back had the ball kind of loose, so I tried to get there quickly; and in the end he had the ball.

“…It felt great. On the drive before we gave up that touchdown to end the game like that? Felt good.”

After missing most of the season with a foot injury that left him on injured reserve until just a few weeks ago, this is the king of the pick-six’s first loss of the 2024 season.

“It’s like I’m finally getting back into the swing of things, that’s what it feels like.”

And with that, a Landry shift ended Week 16, dropping the Cowboys to a 6-7 record with just two games remaining and a chance to play Grinch against the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, similar they did it against the Buccaneers in 2016 prime time.

“Getting a strong result and keeping the ball rolling,” Bland said of the mentality heading into Week 17 and the regular-season finale. “That’s all. Keep the momentum and finish the season (the right way).”