Off the back of four straight losses to begin the season, the Bucs were at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Thursday night for a matchup with the Cowboys. Coming in as 9.5-point underdogs, Tampa Bay was badly needing a rare primetime victory to stop the bleeding, cool off some of the heat on coaches and players alike and reverse some of the momentum ahead of a mini-bye leading into a return home in Week 6.

The first half was relatively frustrating for the Bucs once again despite the fact that Jalon Daniels led the offense on a drive that took nearly 11 minutes off the clock. A delay of game penalty on what would’ve been a 61-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin took three points off the board and kept the game at 7-7, then the Cowboys took a 10-7 lead into halftime.

The third quarter belonged to Tampa Bay, though. Bucky Irving ignited the offense with a 72-yard run to get the half going, then Emeka Egbuka scored to give the Bucs their first lead of the night. From there, a Yaya Diaby interception turned into another Buccaneer touchdown drive to make it 24-10, then a forced fumble on the ensuing kickoff kept the pressure on the Cowboys.

The Bucs had a chance to put the game away midway through the fourth quarter at the goal line and didn’t do so, leaving the door open for the Cowboys. Dak Prescott eventually had Dallas within range to tie the game late, but a deflected pass ended up in the hands of Alex Anzalone. One Irving first down sealed it after that, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned their first win of the 2026 season by a score of 24-16.

Here’s a full recap of all the action from Thursday night’s primetime victory at Jerry World:

Bucs 24, Cowboys 16

The Cowboys got the ball to open things up and effortlessly moved down the field on Todd Bowles’ Buccaneer defense. Dak Prescott found George Pickens for a third-conversion early, then Javonte Williams broke through the line for a 21-yard run. Prescott and Pickens then linked up again, this time for 21 yards, to get inside the Bucs’ 10-yard line. After a defensive pass interference call on a ball thrown in the vicinity of no one, it didn’t take long for Williams to punch it into the end zone.

With that nine-play, 70-yard drive, Dallas took an early 7-0 lead.

Cowboys RB Javonte Williams – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

The Bucs offense responded in a big way, putting together a long, methodical drive that killed the rest of the first quarter. Jalon Daniels converted an early third down with a 5-yard scramble, then found Cade Otton for 10 yards. Then came a barrage of penalties. Daron Bland was called for holding on what would’ve been a third-down stop to extend the drive, then he gave Tampa Bay a first down on 1st & 20 (which came about due to a Luke Goedeke hold) with an illegal contact penalty.

From there, Daniels found Chris Godwin Jr. for a gain of 14, then converted another third down with a pass to Emeka Egbuka to continue what was, at that point, a drive of 10+ minutes. In fact, the first quarter came to an end with the Bucs trailing 7-0, though they were still in the midst of their opening drive offensively.

On the other side of the quarter break, Tampa Bay tied things up as Daniels found Bucky Irving for a 5-yard touchdown. That brought an end to the Bucs’ longest drive since 2007 – a 15-play, 73-yard drive that took 10:58 off the clock.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

The Buccaneer defense then got a relatively quick stop, forcing the Cowboys defense right back on the field. To the home team’s advantage, though, Bryan Anger’s punt pinned Daniels and Co. at their own 3-yard line. The ensuing drive went nowhere, and after just a 41-yard punt, Prescott and his offense got going from their own 41 – even after a penalty on the receiving team.

The Bucs defense continued to stand tall, forcing three straight Prescott incompletions to kill the Cowboys’ next drive. But after Anger’s punt to the 10, Daniels and the offense had a long field ahead once again.

The Bucs got the ball moving thanks first to a facemask penalty, then a Payne Durham catch and an eventual Sean Tucker third-down conversion. A solid run by Irving and another by Kenny Gainwell kept the drive going, but it eventually stalled. Todd Bowles sent Chase McLaughlin out for a 61-yard field goal attempt and while he drilled it, the play clock expired before the snap… despite Bowles having three timeouts. So, instead of a 10-7 Buccaneer lead, the game remained 7-7 and Tampa Bay had to punt.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

The defense continued to keep Prescott on a cold streak, forcing three straight incompletions and a three-and-out once again on the next Cowboys possession. But after taking over near midfield, a Ben Bredeson hold set the offense back and Riley Dixon had to punt once again after the two-minute warning.

Then, as is customary, the Tampa Bay defense got lost all of a sudden in crunch time. Prescott connected with Ryan Flournoy between two defenders over the middle of the field for a 48-yard gain. The rest of the drive only went 16 more yards, but that was enough to set up a 41-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal that sent the game to halftime with Dallas up 10-7.

The Bucs got the ball to open the second half and scored quicker than they have all season long. After a holding penalty on the kickoff set them back, Bucky Irving worked some magic and broke free for a 72-yard run down to the Cowboys’ 14. One play later, Emeka Egbuka took an end-around for a 14-yard touchdown, putting the visitors up 14-10 one minute into the third quarter.

Bucs WRs Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr. – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

And just after it looked like the Cowboys got momentum back with a 27-yard catch by George Pickens, the Bucs got a takeaway. Dak Prescott’s throw was disrupted by a dropping David Walker, with the ball going off the hands of Ryan Flournoy and nearly into the hands of Tykee Smith, who tipped the ball into the air. Ultimately, Yaya Diaby came down with it for his first career interception.

The Bucs would turn that takeaway into points, too. Tez Johnson found himself WIDE OPEN for a 64-yard catch and run, then Irving did the rest. He picked up gains of nine and five, then punched it in to give Tampa Bay a 21-10 lead.

Tampa Bay’s charmed third quarter continued from there, as Miles Killebrew forced a KaVontae Turpin fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Kevin Knowles came up with the recovery at the bottom of the pile, giving the ball right back to Jalon Daniels and the offense.

The offense didn’t do much with the turnover, but Chase McLaughlin turned it into a 41-yard field goal and three points added on, making it 24-10 in favor of the visitors.

Dallas couldn’t muster up an answer before the end of the third quarter, failing on fourth down from its own 43 to remain behind by two scores.

Then came a crucial turning point in the game. Tampa Bay was killing clock and got down to the Dallas goal line, but faced a 4th & Goal. Head coach Todd Bowles could go for it and try to go up 31-10 with half a quarter left, or he could kick the field goal and go up 17 – still a three-score lead. Bowles opted to go for it, and Sean Tucker was stopped just short, keeping it a 24-10 game.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Nonetheless, the Cowboys still had to go 99 yards, right?

Well, that’s what they did, doing so in 10 plays and taking just 3:06. Prescott found Pickens for a 17-yard touchdown, and though the two-point conversion try failed, Dallas was still within one possession with 5:26 to go.

To make matters worse, yet another Ben Bredeson penalty set the offense back to start its next drive. That set up a three-and-out, and suddenly, the ball was back to the Cowboys with 3:42 to go in a one-score game.

Dallas got moving quickly and was already inside the Tampa Bay 40 by the two-minute warning, but Tampa Bay would make the play it needed to survive as a Prescott pass deflected off Jake Ferguson high into the air, which allowed Alex Anzalone to come down with it for the defense’s second interception of the night.

One first down from Irving on the ensuing possession sealed it, and the Bucs held on for a 24-16 victory.

Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels earned his first career win, and he earned it in a big way. He started the game 8-of-8 and led that 11-minute scoring drive to answer the Cowboys’ first touchdown, then he went on to finish 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown while adding 23 rushing yards. He converted some key third downs with his legs and stayed turnover-free, which was another big key.

The biggest story for the Bucs, though, was Bucky Irving and the run game. Irving ran 21 times for 165 yards and a touchdown while also catching a 10-yard touchdown. But as a team, Tampa Bay ran for 241 yards, which helped keep the Dallas offense off the field. The Bucs had a time of possession advantage of 39:21-20:39 as a result.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Tampa Bay also won the turnover battle 3-0, with the defense coming away with two interceptions and the kick coverage unit contributing with a forced fumble and recovery.

Dallas penalties were part of the story, too, with the defense giving Tampa Bay first downs on 1st & 20, 3rd & 10 and 3rd & 13 at different points in the night. The Bucs didn’t help themselves, though, as they were flagged 14 times for 92 yards.

Now, the Bucs (1-4) will have a mini-bye week to rest up and prepare for a chance at a second straight win. They’ll host the Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2) on Sunday, Oct. 18, with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m.