Dak Prescott threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns as he and the Cowboys slayed all demons with a 31-14 win in Tampa on Monday night.
The Cowboys beat Tom Brady for the first time in franchise history after seven losses in what could be Brady’s final game with the Bucs. They won a playoff game for the first time since 2018 and only the second in Prescott’s seven seasons and won on the road in the postseason for the first time since 1992.
With the win, the Cowboys advance to play the 49ers on Sunday in Santa Clara, with the NFC East getting three teams into the final four. The Giants will play at Philadelphia on Saturday.
It was all fun and games for Dallas aside from Brett Maher’s kicking problems.
Maher missed four extra points, setting a modern-era NFL record for misses before making his fifth attempt. He also missed his only PAT try in Week 18.
On Monday, he missed the first two wide right, the third wide left and the fourth off the top of the right upright.
Cowboys scouts likely were busy lining up kickers for tryouts at The Star on Tuesday.
That was one of the few things that didn’t go their way against the Bucs. Injury concerns to left tackle Jason Peters (hip) and defensive back Jayron Kearse (knee) were the only other issues after a butt kicking of Brady and the Bucs.
Prescott completed 25 of 33 passes, with touchdowns of 22 and 11 yards to Dalton Schultz, 2 yards to Michael Gallup and 18 to CeeDee Lamb. He also ran for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down. His touchdown throw to Lamb also came on fourth down.
Schultz caught seven passes for 95 yards and Lamb four for 68.
Brady went one-and-done in the postseason for only the second time in 12 years, with the last time coming in 2019 in his final game with the Patriots. Speculation is ripe that this is Brady’s final game with the Bucs, with the only question whether Brady plays with another team next season.
He threw his first red zone interception in his Bucs’ career, with Kearse picking him in the end zone with the Bucs on the 5-yard line and trailing only 6-0. That’s as close as they came to making it a game.
The Cowboys pulled away, scoring early and often, taking an 18-0 lead into the locker room at halftime and were up 24-0 before the Bucs scored for the first time.
Brady finished 35-of-66 for 351 yards with two touchdowns and the interception.