Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels standing in for injured Baker Mayfield, stunned the Cowboys 24-16 in Dallas on Thursday for their first victory of the NFL season. Trailing 10-7 at halftime, the Bucs outscored the Cowboys 17-0 in the third quarter to seize a 14-point lead and held on after the Cowboys cut the deficit in the fourth. Linebacker Alex Anzalone intercepted a potential game-tying pass from Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott with 1:16 remaining to seal the triumph.
Daniels, making his second start since Mayfield dislocated his right thumb, completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. Bucky Irving rushed for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and caught two passes for 10 yards and a TD. His 72-yard run on the opening play of the second half set up the touchdown—a 14-yard run from Emeka Egbuka—that put the Bucs up for good. “Hats off to our defense,” Daniels said. “They played lights-out the whole entire game. Alex Anzalone, being able to get that game-winning interception, I appreciate those guys. Offensively we went out there and were able to execute our game plan.”
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After Prescott threw the first of his two interceptions, Tampa Bay extended their lead to 21-10 on Irving’s one-yard scoring plunge, which capped a five-play 75-yard drive that included a 64-yard pass from Daniels to Tez Johnson. Dallas’ KaVontae Turpin fumbled on the subsequent kickoff, and the Buccaneers capitalized with a drive capped by a field goal that made it 24-10. Prescott found George Pickens with an 18-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 24-16 in the fourth quarter, but the two-point conversion attempt failed.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles praised his team’s “good complementary football.” “Jalon did an excellent job of taking care of the football and the defense played well,” he said. The Cowboys took control early, marching 70 yards for a touchdown on the opening possession of the game. But Daniels and the Bucs responded with a 15-play touchdown drive capped by Irving’s five-yard TD reception. “The fact that we were able to start the game that way and gain confidence in ourselves, I think that’s where it came from,” Daniels said.
Mayfield is expected to miss at least one more game, but Bowles said the victory marked the start of the second quarter of the season. “It’s a long way to climb out,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re upbeat and if we play this hard and play this effectively, we’ll be OK.” For the Cowboys—who saw wide receiver CeeDee Lamb exit in the fourth quarter with a quadriceps injury—it was a humbling defeat. “Extraordinarily disappointing,” team owner Jerry Jones told reporters after his heavily favored team fell to 2-3 with their second home defeat of the season. “It was a tough loss for us.”
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