Blogging The Boys
Sunday night was intense.
The Cowboys did it again, notching their fourth win in five games despite learning they had been eliminated from the playoffs earlier that day. They played a physical, gritty game against a Buccaneers team that entered on a four-game winning streak.
This one came down right to the end, and there was a long list of big plays all throughout the game. But these five plays, in retrospect, seem to have been the biggest ones.
The Cowboys got the ball to start the game and they moved down the field quickly before settling for a field goal. Then, the Dallas defense forced a turnover on downs, when the Bucs dropped a fourth and short pass.
The Cowboys had a chance to go up by multiple scores early, and they didn’t pass up the opportunity. KaVontae Turpin took a first down carry for 12 yards, and then Cooper Rush took a deep shot to Brandin Cooks.
Cooks got free and made some moves after the catch to reel in 29 yards in total. That play took Dallas from near midfield to well inside the red zone at the Tampa Bay 11. Just like that, a touchdown seemed a near certainty, and three plays later Jalen Tolbert was dancing in the endzone.
The Buccaneers got a touchdown with just 48 seconds left in the first half to cut the Cowboys lead to 20-14. But Dallas had all three timeouts and a real opportunity to get some points before the break, aiming to put their lead back to multiple scores.
The very first play of the drive practically did all the work for them, as Jake Ferguson came wide open over the middle with some filthy route running.
In total, Ferguson picked up 21 yards and put the ball at the Tampa 49, right on the fringe of field goal range for Brandon Aubrey. They picked up nine more yards before Aubrey hit a 58-yarder, but this catch from Ferguson was pivotal in setting that up.
The Buccaneers started with the ball right out of the halftime break, and they were hoping to keep their offensive momentum going. A couple big plays got them down in Dallas territory, but a holding call backed them up into a second and 19.
Tampa Bay was still at the Dallas 35-yard line, and a field goal was at least in play even if they couldn’t overcome the penalty. But then the Cowboys pass rush came alive.
Wave after wave of pass rushers came bearing down upon Mayfield as he tried to escape, and it was Micah Parsons who knocked the ball free as he got the sack. Nick Vigil very nearly recovered the ball, but he was ruled out of bounds on replay review. Still, it brought up a hilarious third and 40 and also took the...
