3 takeaways from the Cowboys big, meaningless win over the Buccaneers

Week 16 is in the books and so is another win for the Dallas Cowboys after surprising the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 26-24. The Cowboys led most of the game but still needed a couple of spectacular plays to get the win. For the Buccaneers, this loss was a letdown because it ended a four-game winning streak and dropped them into second place in their division. Since the NFC South will probably get only one team into the playoffs, this could have cost Tampa their season.

The Cowboys are going to fight until the end

Dallas found out that their season had essentially ended a few hours before the Sunday night matchup with Tampa Bay even kicked off. When Washington beat Philadelphia earlier in the day, the Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention, no matter the outcome of the Sunday night game. So, the Cowboys really had nothing more to play for than pride by kickoff.

"I said, 'Hey, let's take the ball and let's get up and get going and get this thing started the right way,'" Mike McCarthy explained. "So I thought it was good the offense went out there and got some points on the board."

And that’s exactly what Jerry Jones’ team did bursting out the gates with their most productive first half of the season in terms of points. Dallas scored 23 of its 26 points en route to win No. 7 this season, in the first half. They played like a team that actually had something left to play for.

"Proud of those guys, boy," Jerry Jones said. "They wouldn't give it up out there. So, I'm real proud of them, and Mike McCarthy, he just won't let them not think that they're not playing for a Super Bowl out there."

By winning their final two games of the season, the Cowboys can finish above .500 which seemed highly unlikely just a month ago. They’ll need to beat Eagles and Commanders to do so but it would still be quite the feat considering how bad they looked throughout most of the 2024 regular season.

"There's many things that have gone into us sitting here not in the playoffs and you can start with me," Jones said. "And I'm not trying to be any way other than a lot of people contribute to it when you win (and) a lot of people contribute to it when you don't. But, boy, you give that kind of effort, that kind of professionalism, those guys came out and played as if they were fighting for a championship game to go to a Super Bowl."

Dallas can win when they abandon the running game

Just when it looked like the Cowboys had figured out this running thing, head coach Mike McCarthy went back to ignoring the ground game in a game where Dallas was in a position to pound it early and often. The Cowboys led this game most of the way and even shut out the Bucs in the first quarter.

Rico Dowdle was coming off three consecutive games where he rushed for over 100 yards and everything in that regard seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. However, the Buccaneers looked determined not to get beaten by Dowdle and they won that battle. Somehow the Cowboys managed to hold onto this game with Dowdle rushing for just 23 yards on 13 carries.

This Cowboys defense that’s been banged up all year came up with timely plays all game. They forced two turnovers and sacked Baker Mayfield four times on Sunday night. Dallas’ defense performed well on all three levels and it paid off in the victory.

Tampa Bay dropped the ball

The Buccaneers could not afford to lose this game with the Atlanta Falcons having already won earlier in the day. Because of these results, the Bucs have been bumped out of first place in the NFC South as they were swept by the Falcons in the season series. Both teams are 8-7 with two games remaining.

Tampa had won four games in a row entering Sunday’s showdown in Big D and failed to get the win they had to have. It’s not all over for Tampa Bay just yet but they’ll need to win these final two games and hope Washington or Carolina can help them out by beating Atlanta.

Spoiler was the only role left for the Cowboys to play by the time this game started and now they can do the same over the next couple of weeks against division rivals Philadelphia and Washington. The Bucs have had a pretty good season but they folded under the bright lights when it really mattered against the Cowboys.