For one closing time within the 2024 common season, the 8-6 Bucs will hit the highway this weekend for a Sunday Night time Soccer matchup towards the 6-8 Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Tampa Bay will probably be searching for its fifth straight win out of the bye, a win that will get the staff one step nearer to its fourth straight NFC South title and fifth straight playoff look.
The Bucs are coming off a press release 40-17 highway win over the Chargers final week and will probably be trying to end the common season with a 6-2 file away from residence. In the meantime, the Cowboys have received three of their final 4 and regardless of shedding quarterback Dak Prescott for the season in November, they’ve a glimmer of hope to make the playoffs themselves. They’ll seemingly must win out and get some assist, although.
Dallas is 1-6 at residence this season, and Tampa Bay will probably be trying to make that 1-7. Doing so would hold the strain on Atlanta and arrange a clinching state of affairs in Week 17.
Here’s a preview of Sunday’s matchup between the Bucs and Cowboys:
The Final Time…
Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
The newest matchup between the Bucs and Cowboys got here in January of 2023, when Dallas got here to Raymond James Stadium and beat Tampa Bay within the NFC Wild Card Spherical. That 31-14 Cowboys victory was the ultimate recreation of Tom Brady’s storied NFL profession. Dallas scored the primary 24 factors and finally went up 31-6 early within the fourth quarter earlier than closing the sport out. Dak Prescott was 25-of-33 for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns within the recreation, whereas Brady threw for 351 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 35-of-66 passing.
The final common season assembly between the 2 groups – and their final assembly at Jerry World – got here simply 4 months earlier, as they met on Sunday Night time Soccer to open the 2022 season. The Bucs received that recreation 19-3, with Leonard Fournette working for 127 yards on 21 carries and Mike Evans hauling in 5 passes for 71 yards and a memorable one-handed landing seize. Ryan Succop kicked 4 discipline objectives to paved the way earlier than Evans’ landing basically put the sport out of attain.
Total, the Cowboys lead the all-time common season sequence over the Bucs 13-6, although Tampa Bay has received the final two (the 2021 and 2022 season openers).
How The Bucs And Cowboys Are Trending Heading Into Week 16
Bucs OC Liam Coen, QB Baker Mayfield and HC Todd Bowles – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
The Bucs have managed to do it once more, turning their season round late for the second 12 months in a row. In 2023, they went from 4-7 to 9-8, which was sufficient to assist them three-peat as division champions. They fell into an identical gap this 12 months at 4-6, however they’ve received 4 straight video games out of the bye week to place themselves in place to higher their 2023 win whole and keep on high of the NFC South for one more 12 months.
The lighter schedule has performed a job in Tampa Bay’s turnaround, because the staff went from video games towards the likes of the Ravens and Chiefs to matchups with the Giants and Raiders. However that’s to not downplay what Todd Bowles and Co. have managed to do in current weeks, as each the offense and protection have performed their components on this successful streak. Bowles’ Bucs at the moment are 8-1 during the last two Decembers and 10-3 within the month of December during the last three years.
Over the course of this four-game successful streak, Liam Coen‘s offense has put up a mean of 31 factors per recreation. Baker Mayfield has overcome some turnover issues that appear to come up for stretches of video games, and he’s as much as a career-high 32 passing touchdowns this season. Mike Evans is catching hearth, too, as he’s coming off a 159-yard, two-touchdown efficiency that was his second 100-yard recreation within the final three weeks. However nearly as good because the move recreation has been, Bucky Irving and Rachaad White – in addition to the Buccaneer offensive line – have the run recreation because the energy of the staff proper now.
The caliber of offenses they’ve met in current weeks has helped, however an undermanned Bucs protection has additionally been taking part in higher soccer. Throughout the successful streak, the unit has allowed simply 15 factors per recreation. Bowles’ protection shut out the Chargers within the second half of final week’s win and took the ball away twice, with Jamel Dean choosing off Justin Herbert and Vi Jones forcing a late fumble that was recovered by Kaevon Merriweather.
As for the Cowboys, they’ve received three of their final 4 and have saved themselves from what appeared prefer it was going to be an embarrassingly unhealthy file. It has at the least gotten them to the brink of being “within the hunt,” however NFL.com provides them a lower than 1% likelihood of creating the postseason even with a win over the Bucs on Sunday night time. Nonetheless, having began the season 3-7 whereas shedding Dak Prescott for the 12 months, they’re again to 6-8 heading into this matchup.
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Backup quarterback Cooper Rush has accomplished an admirable job for Dallas, particularly over this four-game stretch. He threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Washington to start out it, and he’s coming off a 214-yard, three-touchdown efficiency in final week’s win over the Panthers. On the season, he’s thrown for 1,405 yards and 10 touchdowns to 3 interceptions, and he’s stored Mike McCarthy’s staff afloat as of late.
It helps that Rush has CeeDee Lamb to throw to. Regardless of Prescott’s harm and the truth that he’s catching passes from a backup in Rush, Lamb has 94 catches on 144 targets this 12 months for 1,089 yards and 6 touchdowns. The offense runs by him, because the next-closest receiver to him when it comes to catches and yardage is Jalen Tolbert at 40 catches for 462 yards. Tolbert does have 5 touchdowns, although. And it additionally helps that Rico Dowdle has been a revelation at working again for the Cowboys, as he’s as much as half of one mile on 177 carries (5.0 avg.) this 12 months and simply ran for 149 yards towards the Panthers final week.
The Dallas protection is taking part in higher soccer as of late, nevertheless it nonetheless ranks as one of many league’s worst throughout the board. It is a unit that has a tough time towards the run, and it’s permitting 27.1 factors per recreation this 12 months, which ties for fourth-worst within the league. Seven Cowboys have at the least three sacks this season, with Micah Parsons predictably main the way in which with 8.5. However this can be a protection that has misplaced playmaking linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and high cornerback Trevon Diggs for the season. These are powerful blows for a protection that has already been struggling.
Right here’s how the Bucs and Cowboys stack up heading into Week 16:
Bucs Offense: 4th in scoring offense (28.8 PPG), third in whole offense (388.3 yards per recreation), 4th in passing offense (244.0 yards per recreation), T-4th in dashing offense (144.4 yards per recreation)
Cowboys Offense: nineteenth in scoring offense (21.3 PPG), seventeenth in whole offense (328.9 yards per recreation), twelfth in passing offense (229.1 yards per recreation), twenty seventh in dashing offense (99.8 yards per recreation)
Bucs Protection: nineteenth in scoring protection (23.3 factors allowed per recreation), twenty seventh in whole protection (356.9 yards allowed per recreation), thirtieth in passing protection (247.7 yards allowed per recreation), eleventh in dashing protection (109.2 yards allowed per recreation)
Cowboys Protection: T-Twenty ninth in scoring protection (27.1 factors allowed per recreation), twenty sixth in whole protection (356.0 yards allowed per recreation), twenty first in passing protection (219.9 yards allowed per recreation), Twenty ninth in dashing protection (136.1 yards allowed per recreation)
As of Thursday morning, the Bucs have been 3.5-point favorites with the Over/Below set at 48.5 (per Arduous Rock Wager).
Bucs at Cowboys Sport Info
When: Sunday, December 22Where: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)Kickoff: 8:20 p.m. ETTV: NBC – Mike Tirico (Play by Play), Cris Collinsworth (Analyst), Melissa Stark (Reporter)Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Gene Deckerhoff (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Coloration), T.J. Rives (Reporter)Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Carlos Bohorquez (Play by Play), Martín Gramática (Analyst), Santiago Gramática (Reporter)
