Off a short week following their Week 4 loss, the 0-4 Bucs return to the field Thursday night for a primetime matchup against the 2-2 Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

After an 0-3 homestand, Tampa Bay is back on the road for the first time since its season opener in Cincinnati. Given the team’s home form, maybe being away from Raymond James Stadium will reverse some of its fortunes. Then again, the Bucs have been horrible in primetime both historically and under head coach Todd Bowles. Tampa Bay hasn’t won a Thursday Night Football game since Week 6 of the 2021 season, meaning it will be looking to break a four-game losing streak on Thursday Night Football in this Week 5 contest against Dallas.

The Bucs will once again be without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield, who is working his way back from a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, who led two touchdown drives but also turned the ball over twice in his first career start on Sunday, will once again lead Tampa Bay into battle.

Here’s a general preview of this primetime game at Jerry World:

The Last Time…

The Bucs and Cowboys last met only two seasons ago when they squared off at AT&T Stadium in a late-December Sunday Night Football matchup. Despite the fact that Tampa Bay came in on a four-game winning streak and in control of its playoff destiny while Dallas had just been officially eliminated from playoff contention earlier that day, it was the home team that emerged with a close 26-24 win behind backup quarterback Cooper Rush.

Rush completed 26 of his 35 pass attempts that night for 292 yards and a touchdown, with CeeDee Lamb being his go-to target to the tune of seven catches for 105 yards. It was Jalen Tolbert who caught Rush’s touchdown pass, and unsurprisingly, the leg of kicker Brandon Aubrey proved key in the ball game as he knocked four field goals through the uprights, including two from 58 yards out.

Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert and Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: USA Today

Down 26-14 late in the third quarter, the Bucs tried to mount a comeback. They got back within 26-17 before the fourth quarter began and looked to be on the move about halfway through the final quarter only for Baker Mayfield to throw an interception on a deep ball to the 2-yard line. But Mayfield bounced back from there and led the offense on a nine-play, 87-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller, which got Tampa Bay within 26-24 with 2:36 remaining.

And after the Buccaneers defense got a stop, the offense had a chance to win the game late. Only the potential game-winning drive never got going, as a short pass to Rachaad White ended with the ball being knocked loose and recovered by the Dallas defense to secure the home victory.

With that loss, the Bucs lost control of their own playoff destiny, though a Falcons primetime loss the next week would return that control back to Todd Bowles and Co., who won their final two games to finish 10-7 and secure a fourth consecutive NFC South title.

All-time, the Cowboys have a 14-6 edge over the Bucs in 20 regular season meetings, though the Bucs have won two of the last three.

How The Bucs And Cowboys Are Trending

The Bucs have been trending in the wrong direction since last November. You know the story. They were 6-2 and looked set to cruise to a fifth straight NFC South title. Three straight losses out of the bye week made it 6-5, they unconvincingly beat a bad Cardinals team to briefly stop the bleeding and then they lost four in a row.

A Week 18 win wasn’t enough to secure the division, leaving them at home during the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Then came an offseason that saw the departure of two franchise icons — Mike Evans to San Francisco and Lavonte David to retirement.

Still, there was reason to believe this Tampa Bay team could bounce back and return to the top of the NFC South, especially after settling two big contract situations during the leadup to the season, one with veteran nose tackle Vita Vea and the other with quarterback Baker Mayfield, who signed a three-year, $165 million extension just ahead of Week 1.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

What has followed has been more of the same from late last year. The vibes from that 3-8/2-7 stretch to finish 2025 have carried over into 2026 with an 0-4 start. The vibes are at a new low surrounding Todd Bowles and this team, and calls for change at the top are only getting louder and angrier by the week. Bowles and the Bucs are 3-12 over their last 15 games, and the fact that their four losses this season have all been by one possession doesn’t help, nor does the fact that they’re 2-9 in their last 11 one-possession games. There’s little reason to believe they’ll turn it around at all, much less beginning Thursday night in Arlington.

Bowles’ defense has actually played well over the last couple of weeks, though it was against two struggling offenses. And the Bucs’ inability to generate a pass rush — combined with Bowles’ apparent refusal to adjust coverages to account for the quarterback getting the ball out quickly — won’t inspire much confidence going forward. Plus, the Cowboys offense is a different beast entirely.

The biggest problem, though, has been Zac Robinson’s offense. Whether it’s been Mayfield (Weeks 1-3) or rookie Jalon Daniels (Week 4) under center, everything has looked way too disjointed and difficult. Every aspect of the unit is off, and there’s little discernible reason involved with a lot of what Robinson is doing. He’s failing at every turn to put his players in advantageous positions, and while it’s only been four games, calls for an in-season firing have already begun.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

On the Cowboys’ side, it’s been an up-and-down start thus far. They lost 28-20 to the Giants on Sunday Night Football to open the season, then bounced back with a 37-20 win over the Commanders in their Week 2 home opener. They then lost 34-31 to the Ravens in Brazil before once again bouncing back in Week 4 with a 34-30 comeback win over the Texans.

Dallas now returns to AT&T Stadium for the first time since Week 2 and will be looking to keep pace in the crowded NFC East picture over these next two weeks. Beating Tampa Bay Thursday night and winning at Green Bay next week on Sunday Night Football would set the Cowboys up well at 4-2 heading into a Monday Night Football game against the Eagles in Week 7.

The Dallas offense is hot right now, having scored 37, 31 and 34 points in the last three weeks, respectively. Dak Prescott is playing very well, having completed 70% of his passes through four weeks for 1,065 yards and eight touchdowns to one interception. Javonte Williams has five rushing touchdowns in four games, while CeeDee Lamb is already up to 37 catches for 498 yards (13.5 avg.) and four touchdowns.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott – Photo by: USA Today

Defensively, the Cowboys have been a bit more vulnerable. The Giants put up 28 points on them in Week 1, then the Ravens put up 34 in Week 3 and the Texans just put up 30 this past Sunday. They’ve struggled to get after the quarterback, tallying only four sacks in four games, and they’ve only generated two takeaways despite the fact that rookie safety Caleb Downs already has three forced fumbles.

This is something of a do-or-die season for Dallas, but aren’t they all? Owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones craves relevance and postseason success, and there’s been little of that for a long while now with this organization. The Cowboys missed the playoffs in 2024 and 2025 and haven’t been past the NFC Divisional Round since they won Super Bowl XXX in the 1995 season. Jones wants that to change as soon as possible. Positioning itself for an NFC East title in 2026 is the first step for Dallas.

Here’s how these two teams stack up with the rest of the league through the first three four of the 2026 season:

Bucs Offense: T-24th in scoring offense (19.0 PPG), 28th in total offense (278.3 yards per game), T-28th in passing offense (172.3 yards per game), 17th in rushing offense (106.0 yards per game)

Cowboys Offense: T-2nd in scoring offense (30.5 PPG), 12th in total offense (347.5 yards per game), 7th in passing offense (258.0 yards per game), 25th in rushing offense (89.5 yards per game)

Bucs Defense: T-19th in scoring defense (24.0 points allowed per game), 4th in total defense (282.8 yards allowed per game), 9th in passing defense (204.3 yards allowed per game), 3rd in run defense (78.5 yards allowed per game)

Cowboys Defense: 28th in scoring defense (28.0 points allowed per game), 30th in total defense (389.5 yards allowed per game), 24th in passing defense (239.3 yards allowed per game), 31st in run defense (150.3 yards allowed per game)

As of Tuesday night, the Cowboys are 8-point favorites, with the Over/Under set at 47.5 (per Hard Rock Bet).

Bucs at Cowboys Game Information

When: Thursday, October 8
Where: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)
Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. ET
TV: Prime Video – Al Michaels (Play by Play), Kirk Herbstreit (Analyst), Kaylee Hartung (Reporter)
Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Tony Castricone (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Color), Jay Recher (Reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Martín Gramática, Santiago Gramática