Buccaneers 24, Cowboys 16: Irving's 165, Then the Takeaways

October 8, 2026 - Arlington - The first snap of the second half was supposed to be a reset. Bucky Irving took it left, found grass, and ran 72 yards to the Dallas 14. One play later, Emeka Egbuka took an end-around the other way. 14-10, Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers never trailed again.

They beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-16 at AT&T Stadium for their first win of the season. Irving ran 21 times for a career-high 165 yards, a 1-yard plunge, and a 5-yard touchdown catch. Jalon Daniels, an undrafted rookie in his second start, went 19 of 25 for 189 yards, one score, and no picks. Baker Mayfield watched with a splint. Dallas fell to 2-3.

Tampa Bay had 419 yards, 241 on the ground, and the ball for 39:21. Dallas had 366 and 20:39. The Cowboys turned it over three times and created none.

70 yards, then 11 minutes

Dallas won the toss. Tampa Bay deferred. Javonte Williams ran four times on the opening series, including 21 yards to the 29, and walked in from a yard. Nine plays, 70 yards, 7-0. The Cowboys said he became the third player in franchise history with six rushing scores through five games, after Emmitt Smith and Calvin Hill.

The answer ate the rest of the first quarter. Fifteen plays. Seventy-three yards. 10:58 off the clock. The Buccaneers called it the second-longest scoring drive in club history, one second behind a 1994 march against New Orleans. Daniels converted third downs. A holding flag on DaRon Bland wiped a sack and a punt. Rashan Gary jumped. Daniels rolled right on play 15 and hit Irving, who stretched the ball over the line. 7-7.

Then the night went quiet. Bryan Anger's punt died at the Tampa Bay 3. Daniels threw it away. The Buccaneers punted from their own shadow. Dak Prescott missed CeeDee Lamb twice. David Walker collapsed the third down. Both clubs punted again.

Dallas finally broke it. Prescott hit Ryan Flournoy for 48 down the seam from his own 13. Brandon Aubrey made it 10-7 from 41 with 15 seconds left in the half. Tampa Bay still completed 15 yards to Kenny Gainwell and 19 to Chris Godwin Jr.. The clock expired anyway.

Seventeen points in a quarter Dallas could not stop

Irving's 72-yarder was the longest run of his career and the longest by a Buccaneer since Ronald Jones II went 98 yards in 2020, per ESPN's Jenna Laine. Egbuka scored from 14. 14-10.

Prescott found George Pickens for 27. Two snaps later the ball bounced off Flournoy, off a defender, and to Yaya Diaby for Diaby's first career interception. Daniels then threw 64 yards to a wide-open Tez Johnson after Bland fell. Irving finished it: 9, 5, and 1. 21-10.

Miles Killebrew forced KaVontae Turpin's fumble on the kickoff and recovered it. Daniels took a sack, then hit Egbuka for a first down on third-and-21 from the Dallas 48, the conversion the Cowboys later called the night in miniature. Chase McLaughlin made it 24-10 from 41.

Dallas failed on fourth-and-3 from its own 43. Tampa Bay drove to the 1. Todd Bowles went for it on fourth-and-goal. Sean Tucker was stopped inches short. The Cowboys said the stop ate another 8:14. It also gave Prescott 99 yards of field and no Lamb. Lamb had two catches for 9 yards on five targets after 17 for 189 against Houston. He left in the fourth with a quadriceps injury, per the AP.

Prescott still covered the 99. Completions of 16, 15, 13, and 20, then Pickens leaping in the end zone from 17, per the Cowboys wrap (the AP recap listed 13). Schottenheimer went for two. Keionte Scott broke up the pass. 24-16 with 5:26 left.

Tampa Bay went three-and-out. Prescott reached the Buccaneers 24. The next throw hit Jake Ferguson in the hands, popped up, and Alex Anzalone intercepted it at the 12 with 1:22 left. Irving lost 2, then ran 23. Kneel. First win.

A backup who did not have to be a hero

Daniels did not put up a passing night you frame. He put up the one Tampa Bay needed: 110.2 rating, seven rushes for 23, the ball on the ground. Egbuka caught six for 38 and the jet score. Godwin had three for 37. Cade Otton had three for 25. Johnson's 64-yarder was his only catch. Irving added two receptions for 10.

Pickens caught nine for 130 and the late score. Flournoy had three for 90. Williams finished with 12 carries for 45 and two catches for 17. Forty-five of his rushing yards, the Cowboys said, came on that first drive. Prescott was 24 of 42 for 316, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a 69.1 rating. Both picks came off receivers' hands. They still counted.

Joey Porter Jr. was a late scratch in what was supposed to be his second game since the Pittsburgh trade, per the AP. Tristan Wirfs left with cramps. Tyler Guyton left with his back. Alijah Clark left with a hamstring and did not return. ESPN noted Antoine Winfield Jr. was out. Jacob Parrish still filled the tape: eight solos and four passes defensed in the nflverse line.

Bowles called it complementary football. "We lost the first quarter of the season," he said. "We started the second quarter tonight." Schottenheimer did not dress it up. "I didn't plan on being 2-3, disappointed by that for sure." Daniels, six months removed from undrafted, sounded like someone who understood the room: his first win on a Thursday night Prime game was not the script he would have written.

AthX Engine on 241 rushing yards

AthX Engine NFL scoring already has the Week 5 Thursday line in. Irving's 165, the receiving score, and the plunge land at 56.75, the top total in this game. Pickens is 43.00. Parrish is 41.50. Prescott is 27.28. Daniels is 26.87. Anzalone is 22.50. Egbuka is 22.00. Tampa Bay's team line is 68.00. Dallas is 1.00.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for Irving after a career rushing night, and for a Cowboys skill group that just lost Lamb to a quad in the fourth. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track Irving, Mayfield, Prescott, Pickens, Lamb, and both clubs on the marketplace. Pittsburgh visits Tampa Bay on Oct. 18. Dallas visits Green Bay that afternoon.

*Sources: ESPN game page, ESPN club notes (Archer/Laine), Buccaneers.com, Cowboys.com, AP recap (CBS). ESPN recap HTML had no full AP story body. Club wraps and nflverse agree on 24-16, Irving 21-165, Daniels 19-of-25 for 189, Prescott 24-of-42 for 316 with two interceptions, Pickens 9-130. Cowboys.com listed Pickens' touchdown from 17 yards; the AP recap listed 13. AthX Engine Week 5 lines scored from nflverse weekly stats (CC-BY 4.0). Information only; not financial advice.*