The Buccaneers came into Thursday Night Football facing long odds on the road and improbably secured their first victory of 2026 with a 24-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
It almost crumbled into disaster late, with the Bucs forgoing a chance at a 3-score lead that nearly bit them you-know-where, but they benefitted from just enough luck to hold on. The defense showed it might indeed be above average after weeks of stifling lesser offenses, which was encouraging outside of the near-collapse toward
the end.
The offense took advantage of a horrific Dallas defense, as Jalon Daniels played clean and Bucky Irving wrecked house with a career high in yardage.
There were still far too many coaching miscues and self-inflicted mistakes, but a win is a win. Now the team has a mini-bye to rest up and continue making tweaks. We’ll see where it goes from here, but let’s do some victory shoutouts.
Offensive Top Performer: RB Bucky Irving
Bucky Irving recorded his best game in more than a year and his highest yardage total ever, as he carried the rock 21 times for 165 yards and a score. That total included an electrifying 72-yard jaunt that sparked the Bucs’ offense in the second half as well as the game-clinching 22-yard run. He also added 2 catches for 10 yards an additional touchdown to lead the offense to its best output since Week 1.
If the Bucs can run the ball more effectively like they did Thursday, their offense should be in a better place moving forward.
Jalon Daniels played much more confidently and poised in his second start, on a short week no less, starting the game 8-for-8 and finishing 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown to go along with 7 rushes for 23 yards. He almost threw a back-breaking pick six that Dallas’s Daron Bland inexcusably dropped, but that was the only major blemish on an otherwise rock-solid night.
The offense did a better job of getting the ball to its premier targets as well, as Emeka Egbuka recorded 6 catches for 38 yards and one carry for 14 yards and a touchdown. Incremental improvements, I suppose.
Defensive Top Performer: CB Jacob Parrish
The defense faced a daunting task against a top-5 offense that just dismantled a vaunted Houston defense last week, and it did a mostly standup job of taking the punches.
It looked dicey after an opening-drive touchdown, and again with a 99-yard march in the fourth quarter, but the in-between was encouraging. The secondary capped CeeDee Lamb, who just went off for 17 catches and nearly 175 yards on Sunday, by holding him to just 2 catches for 9 yards.
The man to lead that charge? Jacob Parrish once again. He recorded a game-high four pass breakups, constantly harassing Cowboys pass catchers despite consistently getting put in disadvantageous positions with Todd Bowles’s zone-heavy scheme. He’s been a stud all season, now currently sitting at top 3 in the NFL for passes defensed.
The pass rush actually looked alive, consistently pressuring Dak Prescott and getting him uncomfortable despite failing to record a sack. Per SumerSports, the Bucs recorded a 2.31-second average time-to-pressure, which was top 5 for any team this season. Tykee Smith thrived all night, converting 5 of his 7 blitzing opportunities into pressures — along with 2 quarterback hits — to lead the team. David Walker also cooked with his opportunities to run as the looper on multiple blitzes, and he even tipped a pass that led to a Yaya Diaby interception.
And of course, we need to give Alex Anzalone some credit for actually holding onto the game-clinching interception that caromed off tight end Jake Ferguson. Anzalone was not very good overall but credit where credit is due on clinching the game.
Special Teams Top Performer: ST Miles Killebrew
Hey, someone who isn’t Chase McLaughlin.
The Buccaneers stared down one of the most dangerous return men in the league in KaVontae Turpin and needed to keep him contained, and special teams ace Miles Killebrew delivered with a massive forced fumble to set the offense up in position to secure an additional 3 points off the leg of McLaughlin. Killebrew was signed exclusively for this purpose so it’s nice to see that investment pay off.
That was Turpin’s first fumble on a kick return ever, great time!
