The Dallas Cowboys were at home under the lights and facing a winless team starting an undrafted rookie quarterback.

The Cowboys lost.

Dallas fell 24-16 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, a stunning result as Jalon Daniels outdueled Dak Prescott with Baker Mayfield sidelined.

Dallas led 10-7 at halftime, but completely faltered in the third quarter as Tampa Bay capitalized with a 17-0 point differential. Prescott threw a tip-drill pick in the quarter while KaVontae Turpin fumbled a kickoff return, allowing Tampa Bay to open up a lead.

It got interesting late when a perplexing Tampa Bay decision resulted in hope for Dallas, but another Prescott tip-drill pick sealed the deal.

Tampa Bay earned its first win to improve to 1-4, while the Cowboys are now 2-3 in another worrisome season.

Let’s analyze the Week 5 opener further with winners and losers:

WINNER: Bucky Irving, Buccaneers

Tampa Bay posted 241 rushing yards on the night. Irving was responsible for 165 of them, including a 72-yarder. The 2024 fourth-round pick shone with his power and agility, exposing Dallas’ poor tackling on defense.

Irving had 21 carries and a touchdown on the night, supplying the necessary production with a young quarterback under center. Emeka Egbuka also took in a rushing score from 14 yards out.

LOSER: Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys

It’s becoming quite clear that the Cowboys cannot continue with Schottenheimer as head coach much longer. The defense has not improved and sorely needs a true star presence, which they traded away in Micah Parsons. The secondary coverage was also abysmal, as Christian Parker and Daron Bland were picked on all night.

The team looks just as inconsistent on offense, too. For every decent Prescott play, there’s always a back-breaking mistake loading. Javonte Williams was limited to just 45 rushing yards on 12 carries, while CeeDee Lamb had just two catches for nine yards before being sidelined late with a quad issue. Something has to change in Dallas.

WINNER: Jalon Daniels, Buccaneers

A 23-year-old undrafted rookie quarterback made his first start under the lights in Dallas. Not once did he look fazed. Daniels completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards, one touchdown and no picks, while being sacked just once.

He wasn’t perfect, as his pocket awareness was questionable at times and he played it safe with his throws. But it is the type of simple performance the Buccaneers needed to get in the win column. Can he keep it up with Mayfield sidelined for a bit longer? He won’t always play Dallas’ defense, but there were some flashes.

LOSER: Todd Bowles’ fourth-down decision

It could’ve been a disastrous ending for Tampa Bay if not for Alex Anzalone’s late pick. The Bucs were at Dallas’ one-yard line on a 4th-and-goal. All head coach Todd Bowles had to do was take the field goal to go up three possessions at 27-10 about midway through the fourth.

Instead, it was a run play for Sean Tucker that fell short. Bowles is notoriously a conservative coach, making this decision one of the strangest to analyze. Dallas immediately capitalized on the momentum, going 99 yards on 10 plays to score a touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion.

Who knows what would’ve happened had Dallas pulled off the comeback to drop Tampa to 0-5.

WINNER: Overcoming penalties

The Buccaneers are not a well-coached team at the moment, even with a healthy Mayfield. They chose the right game to capitalize on several penalties.

Tampa Bay was penalized 14 times for 92 yards, with Dallas having just half of those flags. But because Dallas is on par with the coaching level, it wasn’t evident that the Buccaneers had been this wasteful. The scoreline is also slightly flattering, given Bowles’ aforementioned decision.

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