The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have saved their season on Thursday Night Football with a huge 24-16 upset of the Dallas Cowboys.

The Bucs got their desperately needed first victory of the season after marching into Dallas as 9.5-point underdogs and marching out with a win. 

It was a total team effort from Tampa, whose offense and defense both played their best game of the season. 

The offense held the ball for over 39 minutes and rushed for a whopping 241 yards, including a career-high 165 from running back Bucky Irving. 

Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, making his second NFL start, was terrific. Daniels completed 19 of his 25 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. He also ran five times for 21 yards before two victory formation kneel-downs to end the game. Most importantly, the rookie didn’t turn the ball over while earning the first win of his career. 

The Bucs forced three turnovers, including two interceptions of Dak Prescott. Linebacker Alex Anzalone’s pick with only 1:16 left, with the Cowboys driving for a potential tying TD, saved the game and allowed the offense to run out the clock. 

While the performances of Irving and Daniels may be the most talked about, the Bucs would not have won this game without wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who played his best game of the season when his team needed him most. 

I wrote earlier on Thursday that it was time for Egbuka to step up and be the WR1 the Bucs needed him to be. 

Boy, did he ever against the Cowboys. 

The 2025 first-round pick may have had only 38 receiving yards on six catches, but that doesn’t begin to tell the story of how impactful he was. 

On Tampa’s first drive, Egbuka was involved early and often. He caught a couple of short passes to help Daniels get into an early rhythm, none bigger than his six-yard grab on third-and-4, which gave the Bucs a first-and-goal from the nine. 

It was his third catch of the drive and set up Irving’s TD catch just a couple of plays later, putting the finishing touches on Tampa’s 15-play, 73-yard opening drive. The drive took nearly 11 minutes off the clock and was a perfect answer to the Cowboys’ game-opening TD. 

Egbuka was just getting started. 

To open the second half, a penalty on the kickoff return backed the Bucs up to their own 14. On the drive's first play, Irving broke through the Cowboys’ defense for a beautiful 72-yard gallop. 

On the very next play, Egbuka took a jet sweep handoff and scampered into the end zone for a 14-yard score, giving the Bucs a 14-10 lead they would never relinquish. 

After Tampa turned Prescott’s first interception into another touchdown for a 21-10 lead, KaVontae Turpin would fumble the ensuing kickoff, giving the Bucs the ball at the Cowboys’ 37-yard-line.

Daniels was immediately sacked on the first play, knocking Tampa back 11 yards. 

However, on third-and-21 from the 48, Egbuka came up huge again, making a 21-yard grab for the first down. 

The Bucs would eventually settle for a field goal, but without Egbuka’s heroics, they would have gotten no points at all after forcing the huge turnover. 

Egbuka’s game was exactly what the Bucs needed from their young receiver. 

He made huge plays in huge moments and was there whenever his rookie QB needed him the most. Egbuka’s early involvement helped the offense and Daniels to find their grooves early, and his big plays in the second half helped Tampa seize the lead and keep the momentum. 

If not for Egbuka’s big night, the Bucs may still be searching for their first win. He stepped up in a big way Thursday night and showed everyone that he can be the top option in Tampa’s passing game.