Bucs fall to Cowboys, lose control of NFC South The Bucs just learned the distance between destiny and desperation isn't that far. Entering a game against the playoff-eliminated Cowboys and controlling its own fate, Tampa Bay saw its four-game winning streak snapped by a team that already knew it will be sitting home for the postseason four hours before kick-off. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush - who will never be confused with Troy Aikman or Dak Prescott - shredded the Bucs defense by passing for 292 yards and a touchdown in a 26-24 Cowboys win. Goodbye NFC South lead. Hello scoreboard-watchers. The Bucs had a chance to win the game late. But Rachaad White was stripped of a shovel pass from Baker Mayfield by defensive back Daron Bland, who recovered the fumble to end the comeback attempt with 91 seconds remaining. As White lost the football, the NFC South lead tumbled out of the Bucs grip with it. It was White's second lost fumble in as many games. "We don't point fingers," Jalen McMillan said of White's fumble. "Mistakes happen in football." Rather than control their own destiny by winning their final three games, the Bucs (8-7) fell into a tie with the Falcons, who can win the division by beating the Commanders next Sunday night in Washington and the Panthers Jan. 5 at home. That's because the Falcons own the tiebreaker by sweeping the Bucs in the regular season. "Overall it's about the ball," Mayfield said. "I think everybody needs to learn that. It's obvious, I know. But when you have two hands on it, you've got to be able to protect it, and that starts with me." The Cowboys learned they had been eliminated from the playoffs before kick-off by virtue of the Commanders' 36-33 win over the Eagles earlier Sunday. Nonetheless, they played the first half like a team with everything on the line while the Bucs showed no urgency. The Cowboys scored on five of their six possessions in the first half, building leads of 20-7 and 23-14 by halftime. Rush passed for 226 yards and a touchdown in the half, the most to start a game in his career. Not surprisingly, his favourite target was CeeDee Lamb, who caught six passes for 100 yards in the first half alone. Mike Evans and rookie Bucky Irving ignited the Bucs offense before the end of the first half. Evans caught two passes for 30 yards, and McMillan caught his fourth touchdown pass in three games, cutting the Cowboys' lead to 20-14 with 48 seconds remaining in the half. But that was enough for Rush to throw the Cowboys within range of kicker Brandon Aubrey, who connected on a 58-yard field goal, his second from that distance in the first half. The Bucs had a promising drive to start the second half, marching to the Dallas 25-yard line. But Mayfield was sacked by Micah Parsons, pushing them back to the Tampa Bay 44. Payne Durham couldn't hold onto a pass on third down, and the Bucs were forced to punt. Aubrey added his fourth field goal, this one from 53 yards, to leave the Bucs trailing 26-14. Chase McLaughlin answered with a 45-yard field goal to make it a two-score game at 26-17 with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Bucs never got anything going in the second half against the Cowboys' defense, which pressured Mayfield all night, sacking him four times and hitting him on several other occasions. In fact, Mayfield was evaluated for a concussion after being sacked by Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson in the fourth quarter but remained in the game. The Bucs had a shot to make it a one-score game. But Mayfield's apparent 46-yard touchdown pass to McMillan was taken away from him by Cowboys defensive back Jourdan Lewis in the end zone. "I went over the defender to catch it," McMillan said. "I had it, and as we fell he just made a good play and ripped it away from me. So, props to him on that play. You can't really get everything. I wish I had that back. Great play by him." On the next play, Bucs linebacker J.J. Russell dropped an interception near the Cowboys 30-yard line. Mayfield completed seven passes to move the Bucs from their own 13-yard line to the Cowboys' 13. That set up his TD pass to Ryan Miller to leave the Bucs trailing 26-24 with 2:36 remaining. "I didn't learn anything new about the fight that we have," Mayfield said. "It's never been in question." The Bucs forced the Cowboys to third and 6 at the Dallas 34-yard line at the two-minute warning. Vita Vea tackled Jake Ferguson 2 yards short of a first down with 1:52 remaining. Then White lost the ball, and the Bucs lost their grip on the NFC South. "We lost. We fell back in the pack. We've got to eat it. We can't spend too much time on it," Todd Bowles said. "We had our chance just like everybody else. But it's a long season. We've got two more games to go. We've got to take care of us and let everything else take care of itself." Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times, published 23 December 2024