Embarrassing Cowboys Report Card As Bucs Crush Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys embarrassed themselves on primetime Thursday as they fell to a 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium.

The defense somehow got worse against a rookie quarterback in his first road start, and he looked like a Pro Bowler.

And the offense had a really off night with Dak Prescott nowhere near his usual level, and CeeDee Lamb (who in the end came up lame) was barely sighted.

Prior to the game, we highlighted five things the Cowboys had to do in order to win this game, and if you are brave enough, let's see how they went.

1 - Start Fast: C

The Cowboys got the ball and marched 70 yards in nine plays with a Javonte Williams touchdown as the offense only faced one third-down on the drive.

A fast start, but could the defense back it up?

The Bucs, with a rookie quarterback, went 73 yards in 15 plays and milked an astonishing 10:58 off the clock and ended with a touchdown. 

Fast start over.

The offense then went three-and-out, and all the momentum from that first drive was gone.

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2 - Curtail Daniels' running threat: C

We knew that Jalon Daniels was going to be a problem with his legs, and he was, as he picked up a third down with his legs and ended the night with 23 yards from seven carries, but it was when he got his yards that killed Dallas.

He managed to buy time, escape pressure with his legs, and constantly hurt Dallas.

3 - Get turnovers: D

Where do we start here?

Two tipped interceptions from the offense as both passes hit Ryan Flournoy and Jake Ferguson in the hands, but the ball popped up into the hands of the Bucs defense.

And if that wasn't bad enough, after the Bucs had just driven 85 yards to go up 21-10, KaVontae Turpin fumbled on a kick return.

Ferguson tipped pass was the game-ender with 1:16 on the clock and Dallas at the Tampa Bay's 24-yard line.

Brutal, absolutely brutal.

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4 - GOTI has to show up: D

After the opening drive that saw the offense go 63 yards to score a touchdown, the offense then failed miserably.

After opening drive touchdown, the offense went punt, punt, punt, FG, INT, fumble, and turnover on downs before the 99-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, and then Ferguson's interception.

It showed flashes, but this was one of the worst games the offense has played in a long time.

5 - Stop Buccaneers' weapons: D

We warned that Irving could be key here, and he was. He had a monster 72-yard run on the first play of the third quarter, and ended his night going for 165 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, averaging 7.9 yards per run.

Tez Johnson had a huge 64-yard catch, Chris Godwin caught all three of his targets for 37 yards, Emeka Egbuka caught six of his nine for 38 yards, as Daniels had just six incompletions for the night.

A truly woeful night all-round for the 2-3 Cowboys, ending in a bad grade.