Tampa Bay Buccaneers middle linebacker Alex Anzalone (34) celebrates intercepting the ball during the second half of the game on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Abigail Dollins
FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
ARLINGTON
In a game that had everything laid out for the Dallas Cowboys to move above .500, they instead wilted on a prime-time stage with a 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving controlled the game, running for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown to help rookie undrafted quarterback Jalon Daniels win his first game in the NFL. The defense couldn’t get off the field, and the offense collapsed by way of its mistakes.
Here are the five takeaways from the atrocity in Arlington:
The most inexcusable Brian Schottenheimer loss
Wins can’t always be quantified as a quarterback stat, but they sure can be for a head coach. And after Thursday’s loss moved Brian Schottenheimer to 9-12-1, it’s hard to find a loss more inexcusable than this one.
The reality of the situation was that the Cowboys welcomed in a winless team starting a rookie undrafted quarterback on a short week with two replacements in the secondary. It’s not only a surprise that the Cowboys didn’t win big, it’s an absolute embarrassment that they were the ones on the wrong end of a blowout instead.
“I’m a little disappointed, for sure,” Schottenheimer said postgame. “I told the guys in there that there were missed opportunities. We didn’t play good in all three phases, certainly not good enough to win a game in the National Football League.”
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer calls out during a play from the sidelines during the first half of the game on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Abigail Dollins FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
The travel of the last 11 days hasn’t been kind to the Cowboys, but beating this team was supposed to be the easy part of the stretch. Instead, they looked unprepared, not rested and out of sorts for 60 minutes. They’re a 2-3 football team as a result.
A defensive embarrassment
As mentioned above, the cards were laid out for the Cowboys’ defense to get right against Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Buccaneers came into the game allowing the most sacks in the NFL, bottom three in giveaways and had failed to score more than 20 points in three out of four games.
Let’s look at how the defense did with that: one sack, zero takeaways and 24 points allowed. The game plan for Tampa Bay was obvious, to shorten the game with long possessions and quick plays to make life easy for its rookie quarterback. It did exactly that with zero pushback from defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s unit.
“We are still, in my mind, right where we started relative to our defense,” owner Jerry Jones said postgame. “And the thing that would concern me the most, that’s without looking at one ounce of tape, is the way they were able to run the ball inside of us, and I did not think that could happen with us.”
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (88) evades Dallas Cowboys cornerback Reddy Steward on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Amanda McCoy FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
With veteran players with proven skins on the wall in the league like Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary and Malik Hooker on that side of the ball, that should not happen. A disastrous loss later, now the Cowboys’ defense will have a bit of a break to take a long look in the mirror at exactly what direction this defense is heading.
DaRon Bland’s job isn’t safe
Cornerback DaRon Bland deserved some grace coming off back-to-back years with major foot injuries, but the grace period and the waiting game for him to return to his 2023 form is long gone. It might be time to accept that he is no longer the same player — an unpleasant thought given that he signed a four-year, $92 million contract extension a year ago.
It’s a tough reality, because Bland’s shine in 2023 was so bright. But since then, his name has been attached to a lot more lowlights. On Thursday, that included two slip-and-falls that resulted in a 64-yard gain to set up a touchdown and a 21-yard gain on third-and-21 to move the chains and set up another Buccaneers touchdown.
Thursday’s performance for Bland comes after a two-week stretch that saw him give up eight receptions for 177 yards and a touchdown. While the numbers in coverage aren’t official, Bland easily gave up another 100-yard day. And even when Bland had the chance to make amends with a late chance at an interception, the ball hit his hands and fell to the turf. Even worse, there was nothing but green turf between him and the end zone.
When Joey Porter Jr. gets healthy from his illness and Cobie Durant heals from his hamstring injury, Bland’s job shouldn’t be a given. There are better-playing corners on this team right now.
The offense is as much to blame
There’s a case to be made that in many of the Cowboys’ losses over the last two years, the offense did all it could just for an atrocious defense to let them down. And while the defense isn’t saving themselves from any blame whatsoever, neither is the offense in this one.
The start was perfect: take the ball, drive down the field and score with ease. George Pickens got going, Javonte Williams capped it off with a touchdown. After that, it took everything the offense had to will a way to points. Bryan Anger punted on three consecutive drives for the first time in two years, Dak Prescott threw his second interception of the year, KaVontae Turpin fumbled a kickoff, and drives stalled out after just a few plays.
A Dallas Cowboys ball comes loose and is recovered by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of the game on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Abigail Dollins FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM 
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott walks off the field after throwing an interception during the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Amanda McCoy FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
“Pressure,” Prescott said about the issues that faced the offense. “It wasn’t just one pressure, or secondary pressure or the linebackers coming all the time. They switch it up all the time.”
Late in the game, a chance presented itself to put together back-to-back drives and push it into overtime. And while the 99-yard drive to bring it to within eight points was smooth, the group didn’t finish.
Trust wanes in field goal unit
For the first time since late in the 2024 season, the Cowboys elected to punt at the opponent’s 47-yard line or closer. In the second quarter, with an opportunity to kick a 64-yard field goal, Schottenheimer sent the punt team out instead of trotting out Brandon Aubrey.
After back-to-back weeks when field goals were blocked, including at a crucial point in Houston, Schottenheimer has reeled in the trust in the unit. Despite having the league’s highest-paid kicker, it takes a protection team up front to have confidence in the unit as well.
The Cowboys (2-3) return to action at the Green Bay Packers (2-2) on Oct. 18.
This story was originally published October 8, 2026 at 10:24 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Nick Harris is the Dallas Cowboys beat reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has experience working on the beat for DallasCowboys.com and previous work experience at Yahoo Sports/Rivals and 247Sports.