The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ four-game winning streak suddenly ended Sunday at AT&T Stadium as the Dallas Cowboys cruised to a 26-24 victory. With the loss, the Bucs are no longer in a position to determine their playoff fate with two regular season games remaining in 2024. The Atlanta Falcons and Bucs have an 8-7 record, with Atlanta leading the way. For the Bucs, missed tackles, penalties and turnovers determined the team’s fate on the road. Tampa Bay had two surprises in the second half, including a third-quarter interception by Jourdan Lewis that changed the course of the ballgame. Baker Mayfield threw a deep lob to rookie Jalen McMillan, but Lewis managed to steal the ball away. He fought through the catch point and maneuvered his head around to get the ball at the goal line.

With just over two minutes to play, Mayfield led a methodical, nine-play, 87-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 13-yard touchdown by Ryan Miller with 2:36 left. Mike Evans ran a wheel route and provided cover as a decoy. Ryan Miller ran a post route as he headed toward the goal post and was wide open for the score. The Bucs defense then managed to stop the Cowboys offense from advancing, but Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland picked off the ball in a game-winning turnover.

“We committed way too many penalties and mistakes,” wide receiver Mike Evans said. “You deserved to win today. They played like they were trying to make the playoffs, but we didn’t make it.”

Baker Mayfield had another performance that demonstrated his mettle. With multiple battles for first downs, Mayfield finished the game completing 31 of 43 passes for 303 yards, two touchdowns and the aforementioned goal-line interception. The first touchdown of the day came from Bucky Irving with a two-yard run. On the drive, he demonstrated his agility by forcing multiple tackles and accelerating downhill after elusive drives. Irving rushed 16 times for 68 yards and a touchdown (4.3 average) and added three receptions for 24 yards, for a total of 92 yards from scrimmage. With his seven rushing touchdowns this season, Irving tied Errict Rhett and Lars Tate for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a rookie running back in team history, now trailing only Doug Martin (11 in 2012). Against the Cowboys, according to Next Gen Stats, Irving forced six missed tackles in the first half alone – a season high in a half – and added 38 rush yards after contact. Dallas rolled coverage on Evans to prevent the play downfield, giving defenders an opportunity to get rolling. In total, the Bucs ran for 134 yards in the game while averaging 5.8 yards per carry, marking their 12th 100-yard rushing performance in 15 games this season.

Mayfield hit McMillan on an 11-yard scoring dart in the second quarter, the rookie wideout’s fourth score in the last three games. No. 6 rolled out of the pocket and McMillan found a weak spot in the zone and continued working across the end zone. Mayfield shot the ball deep into his goal and reduced the deficit to 20:14.

Evans led the Bucs with five receptions for 69 yards, passing Shannon Sharpe (815) for the 37th-most receptions in NFL history. He now needs three receptions and 182 receiving yards (91.0 yards per game) to continue his 1,000-yard, 60-catch streak (10 seasons).

The Buccaneers’ defense allowed the Cowboys just 31 yards on 20 carries, ending Rico Dowdle’s streak of games with more than 100 yards on three. According to ESPN research, the Cowboys’ 31 rushing yards were the second fewest in a win in Dallas franchise history. The Cowboys were missing starting quarterback Dak Prescott (injured reserve), but Cooper Rush had the best performance of his career against the Bucs, completing 26 of 35 passes for 292 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 108.3 passer rating. He initially used a quick passing attack with dink-and-dunks to take advantage of off-coverage and free releases, but as the game progressed he found weapons down the field for chunk plays, including gains of 52 yards and 30 yards for CeeDee Lamb, 29 to Brandin Cooks and 26 to Ryan Flournoy. The Cowboys scored five of six drives in the first half and were able to impose their will.

The Buccaneers’ defense, which had allowed a league-low 15.0 points per game over the past four weeks, beat Rush once in the contest, leading to a split between Yaya Diaby and Calijah Kancey. Christian Izien led the team with 13 tackles and Lavonte David contributed eight tackles, including two for loss. Overall, Tampa Bay allowed just five conversions on Dallas’ 15 third-down attempts, but the home team averaged 7.9 yards per pass.