Bucs 24, Cowboys 16: Jalon Daniels Gets His First NFL Win in Dallas

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cowboys were 8.5-point favorites at home against a winless team starting an undrafted rookie quarterback, and for about two quarters Thursday night, that felt about right. Then the third quarter happened, and then the fourth, and by the end the Buccaneers had walked out of AT&T Stadium with a 24-16 win that was equal parts shocking and, if you watched the second half, inevitable.

Tampa Bay trailed 10-7 at halftime. It then won the third quarter 17-0, outgaining Dallas 197-59 in the frame, and never gave the lead back. Jalon Daniels, making his second start in place of Baker Mayfield (dislocated thumb), looked nothing like a guy the entire league passed on: 19-of-25, 189 yards, one touchdown, calm in the pocket and cleaner than the veteran across the field. NBC Sports called it one of the most humiliating defeats of Dak Prescott's career as a starter. It is hard to argue.

Bucky Irving ran all over Dallas

If Daniels was the story, Irving was the engine. The second-year back carried 21 times for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown, and added a touchdown reception for good measure — two catches for 10 yards, but one of them was the only touchdown pass Daniels threw all night. Tampa Bay finished with 241 rushing yards on 419 total, and Dallas simply had no answer once the Bucs committed to the run in the second half.

The third quarter was the game. The Bucs scored 17 unanswered, flipped a 10-7 deficit into a 24-10 lead, and for 15 minutes Dallas looked like a team that had never seen a zone run before. The Cowboys' defense, already thin — Joey Porter Jr. was scratched before the game with an illness — got gashed between the tackles and couldn't get off the field.

Dallas had its chances and wasted every one

Give the Cowboys this much: they didn't go quietly. Down 24-10, head coach Todd Bowles — coaching the other sideline — made a curious decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the Dallas 1 with 8:36 remaining. Sean Tucker was stuffed for no gain by Jaishawn Barham, and the door swung open.

Dallas marched 99 yards in 10 plays. George Pickens, who finished with nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, hauled in an 18-yard score with 5:26 left. The two-point conversion — the play that would have made it a one-score game — was broken up by rookie Keionte Scott. 24-16.

Then came the last gasp. Prescott, who finished 24-of-42 for 316 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, drove Dallas to the Tampa Bay 24 with a chance to tie. His pass bounced off the hands of Jake Ferguson, and Alex Anzalone intercepted the carom with 1:16 left. Ball game. Both of Prescott's interceptions came off deflections, including YaYa Diaby's first career pick earlier in the night — but a loss is a loss, and the box score doesn't grade style.

The injuries hurt almost as much as the loss

The Cowboys didn't just lose the game. They lost CeeDee Lamb to a quad injury in the fourth quarter — he had just two catches for 9 yards before going down — and left tackle Tyler Guyton to a back injury. The one mercy is the calendar: Dallas has a mini-bye before visiting the Packers at Lambeau Field on Oct. 18, which buys both players time to heal.

The result also scrambles the math in a way the standings don't fully show yet. Dallas falls to 2-3 with the mini-bye as its only medicine, and a trip to Lambeau Field on Oct. 18 looming — Green Bay on the road is no one's idea of a get-right game, and the Cowboys' defense just gave up 241 rushing yards to a team that hadn't won all year. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is 1-4 but suddenly interesting: the Bucs were supposed to be treading water until Mayfield's thumb healed, and instead their undrafted rookie just outplayed a franchise quarterback in his own building. Todd Bowles' seat was getting warm at 0-4. It's a lot cooler this morning.

For Tampa Bay, the question now is what happens at quarterback. Mayfield's dislocated thumb was supposed to mean a week or two of holding the fort. Instead, Daniels just beat the Cowboys in Dallas in his second NFL start. That's not a caretaker. That's a conversation.

The loss drops Dallas to 2-3 and turns the volume all the way up on a team that was supposed to contend. The win lifts Tampa to 1-4 — still a long way from anywhere, but 1-4 with a rookie quarterback who just won in Jerry World feels a lot different than 0-5. Check the sports hub for more on a wild Thursday across the NFL.