Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones was stunned to see his team get upset by the previously winless Buccaneers on Thursday night.
Jones said he thought his lines would be more physical on both sides of the ball, and that his defense would play better against Buccaneers undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, who was making his second start in place of the injured Baker Mayfield.
“Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed,” Jones said, via the team’s website. “You really do need to get it done when it’s there to take. They basically were very physical. I thought both their fronts, was really surprised at how well they ran the ball, how they ran it between the tackles. That was surprising. We thought if they were going to run it, they’d do it outside, and thought we’d put it on the quarterback’s shoulders. Their staff, their quarterback, all their players got a great victory here tonight, and it was a tough loss for us.”
Jones said it was frustrating because he thought his team had a chance to take a step forward, and instead it took a step backward.
“Boy, I’ve been so disappointed before with losses, but this was disappointing,” Jones said. “And I’m disappointed because I see potential growth here. And we need to have good experiences on an individual basis as well as a team. And this was not a good experience out here.”
Up next for the 2-3 Cowboys are back-to-back road games at Green Bay and Philadelphia, in which Jones hopes not to witness any more extraordinary disappointments.
Bucs Clips
With 8:36 remaining in Thursday night’s game, the Buccaneers led the Cowboys, 24-10. Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles had a decision to make.
Go for the touchdown on fourth and goal from the one and make it a three-score game, or kick a field goal and make it a three-score game.
That’s the only way to frame it. And, framing it that way, there was no decision to make.
“We talked about it, and with less than a yard, and the way we were running the football, we were trying to put the game away,” Bowles told reporters after the game.
This ignores the reality that a field goal also would have put the game away. A 17-point lead requires three scores to match or beat. With not much more than half of a quarter remaining, it would have been very difficult for the Cowboys to score three times.
It would have been even more difficult to score three touchdowns than it would have been to score two touchdowns and a field goal, but the focal point in that moment should have been turning a two-score lead into a three-score lead. Period.
And while the Bucs eventually won, it was closer than it should have been. The failed fourth-down play gave Dallas an opening to salvage a victory. Ten plays and 99 yards later, it was a one-score game.
How close was it? Cornerback DaRon Bland had a pick-six in his hands. After that, the Cowboys were driving until a lucky bounce ended the drive. Even then, the Bucs needed one more quality run from tailback Bucky Irving to finally ice it.
If the Cowboys had managed to win, everyone would be waiting to see whether the Bucs would be firing Bowles today. Even though the Bucs held on, the time spent sweating out what should have been an insurmountable three-score lead won’t be forgotten when it’s time for ownership to decide whether to make a change.
The challenge moving forward is obvious. With the Steelers, Panthers, Falcons, and Bears on the docket before the Week 10 bye, it could take at least two wins over the next four games to stave off a Week 10 overhaul. Lose three or more of the next four, and the Bucs may end up getting a head start on searching for their next head coach.
As the Buccaneers were running out the clock on Thursday night’s win in Dallas, television cameras caught Bucs head coach Todd Bowles taking a knee on the sideline while grimacing in pain.
Bowles did his postgame press conference and his health appeared to be fine, but he was not asked about what happened in that moment. It turned out to be a case of friendly fire taking a brief toll on him.
Per Jenna Laine of ESPN.com, Bowles took a helmet to the stomach as the team celebrated the late Alex Anzalone interception and Bucky Irving run that put the finishing touches on the victory. Bowles added that he would be OK moving forward.
It appeared to be a painful moment for the Bucs head coach, but he might consider it a small price to pay for the team’s first win of the year.
Quarterback Jalon Daniels and the Buccaneers came into Dallas as big underdogs on Thursday night and the first Cowboys possession of the night did little to suggest oddsmakers had it wrong.
They rolled 70 yards in four minutes for a touchdown, but the Bucs came up with an answer that foreshadowed the way the game would actually play out. Daniels went 8-of-8 while leading a 10:58 drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to running back Bucky Irving.
It was the second-longest scoring drive in Buccaneers history and Daniels said after the game that it gave the Bucs belief that they could win for the first time this season.
“That offense is a very high-scoring offense,” Daniels said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. “So, the more you’re able to keep those playmakers off the field, the more you’re able to go out there and get closer and closer to being able to get a win. And the fact that we were able to start the game that way and be able to gain confidence also for the rest of the game, I think that’s where it catapulted from.”
Daniels finished the night 19-of-25 for 189 yards while Irving ran 21 times for 165 yards and another score. The Bucs also won the turnover battle 3-0 and that kind of efficient play made the undrafted rookie quarterback a winner for the first time in the NFL. With Baker Mayfield still recovering from a dislocated thumb, Daniels will likely have at least one more chance to show that he belongs in the league.
Jalon Daniels, the Buccaneers’ undrafted rookie backup quarterback, played surprisingly well on Thursday night in an upset win over the Cowboys. But maybe it shouldn’t have been so surprising.
Daniels continued a notable trend of this early NFL season, with teams winning more than they lose when starting a backup quarterback.
After Daniels and the Bucs won on Thursday night, NFL teams are now 8-4 in the 12 games started by backup quarterbacks this season.
In addition to the Bucs going 1-1 with Daniels, teams that have won games with their backups this year are the Giants (2-0 with Jameis Winston), the Bears (2-0 with Case Keenum), the Vikings (1-0 with Carson Wentz), the Seahawks (1-0 with Drew Lock) and the Commanders (1-1 with Marcus Mariota).
The Falcons drag the record down by going 0-2 with their third-string quarterback, Cooper Rush, who looked like a third-string quarterback when Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa were both injured for the first two games of the season. Atlanta is the only team that has started a backup quarterback and failed to win at least one game with him.
No team wants to lose its starting quarterback, but the results this season show that losing a starter doesn’t have to be a disaster. Teams can and do win games with backup quarterbacks. This season, they’ve won twice as many games as they’ve lost.
Dan Quinn left as the Cowboys’ defense coordinator after the 2023 season to become the Commanders’ head coach. Mike Zimmer and Matt Eberflus each lasted one season after Quinn’s departure.
The Cowboys ranked 31st in points and 28th in yards in 2024 under Zimmer and 32nd in points and 30th in yards in 2025 under Eberflus.
They hired Christian Parker, the Eagles’ passing game coordinator and secondary coach, as their defensive coordinator to fix what was broken. The Cowboys, though, entered Thursday night ranked 30th in total defense, including 31st against the run, and 28th in points allowed.
The Cowboys allowed 419 yards, including 241 rushing yards, in a 24-16 loss to the previous winless Bucs who were starting an undrafted rookie quarterback. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones conceded it was a missed opportunity.
“That’s a question that I think we all, if you’re a Cowboy fan, realize that patience really may not be the proper term here. . . . I like a lot about what we’ve got. We missed a chance here to improve, and we didn’t improve.”
That prompted questions about Parker’s job security.
“Premature,” Jones said.
Jones said he still has confidence in Parker.
“I do. Yes, I do,” Jones said. “He’s sitting there taking it on the shoulders, which goes with the territory, but I feel that he’s competent, and the things that he’s trying to do, I’m going to say it one more time: The thing that probably bothers me the most tonight is how they ran between the tackles so to speak and we’re able to have that running game up in there, where we have a lot of strength. That’s something that we’ve got to really look at and will.”
Cowboys defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley is the only assistant on staff who has previously served as a defensive coordinator. Ansley was the Chargers’ defensive coordinator in 2023.
Thus, the Cowboys likely will ride with Parker until at least the end of the season.
The Cowboys suffered one of their most humiliating defeats with Dak Prescott as their quarterback. They lost 24-16 at home to a previously winless team starting an undrafted rookie quarterback.
Dallas is 2-3 and Tampa Bay 1-4.
The Buccaneers, who trailed 10-7 at halftime, dominated the third quarter by outscoring the Cowboys 17-0 and outgaining them 197 to 59.
The Cowboys got a break when Todd Bowles decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the Dallas 1 with 8:36 remaining. Sean Tucker was stopped for no gain by Jaishawn Barham, giving the Cowboys hope.
Dallas went 99 yards in 10 plays, and George Pickens’ 18-yard touchdown reception pulled the Cowboys within 24-16 after a missed 2-point conversion.
The Cowboys drove to the Tampa Bay 24 with a chance to tie it, but a Prescott pass bounced off the hands of Jake Ferguson and Alex Anzalone intercepted the carom with 1:16 left.
The Bucs gained 419 yards with 241 coming on the ground. Bucky Irving rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and caught two passes for 10 yards and a touchdown.
Jalon Daniels, making a second start in place of Baker Mayfield, was 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown.
The Cowboys gained 366 yards with Prescott going 24-of-42 for 316 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Pickens caught nine passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.
The Cowboys lost wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (quad) and left tackle Tyler Guyton (back) in the fourth quarter, but they will have a mini-bye week to get rested and healed before facing the Packers on Oct. 18.
The Cowboys are without wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who is questionable to return with a quad injury. They still have George Pickens, though.
His 17-yard touchdown reception has drawn the Cowboys to within one score of the Bucs.
Dallas went for 2 points and Dak Prescott’s pass was incomplete, leaving the Cowboys trailing 24-16 with 5:26 left.
The Cowboys got a break when Todd Bowles decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the Dallas 1 with 8:36 remaining. Sean Tucker was stopped for no gain by Jaishawn Barham, giving the Cowboys hope.
They then drove 99 yards in 10 plays.
The Bucs list left tackle Tristan Wirfs questionable to return with cramps.
Bucky Irving has 122 rushing yards, and his second touchdown of the night has given the Buccaneers a 21-10 lead.
The winless Bucs have dominated the second half with scoring drives of 86 and 75 yards on only five plays.
Jalon Daniels hit a wide-open Tyler Johnson for 64 yards for the big play on the second drive of the half.
Daniels is 13-of-17 for 155 yards and a touchdown.
The Bucs have 315 yards to the Cowboys’ 171.
The Bucs’ first possession of Thursday night’s game was a 15-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that ate 10:58 off the clock. That was their only score of the first half.
They opened the second with a two-play, 86-yard drive, needing only one minute to take a 14-10 lead over the Cowboys.
Bucky Irving went 72 yards to the Dallas 14 before rookie safety Caleb Downs pushed the Bucs running back out of bounds. Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka scored on a 14-yard run on the next play.
Irving has 10 carries for 107 yards.
Of the Bucs’ 241 yards, 150 have come on the ground.
