Cooled-off Cowboys set to host hot Buccaneers

The Dallas Cowboys nabbed a much-needed victory on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, moving them one step closer towards locking up home-field advantage in the NFC. As a result of the excellent line play, rookie Ezekiel Elliott is enjoying a breakout campaign, running for 1,392 yards on 4.9 yards per carry with 12 touchdowns. Dak Prescott led the game in passing, completing 32 of 36 attempts for 279 yards. He’s had a chance to handle the spotlight better in the NFL.

That play ended a 10-play, 64-yard drive that featured a strong dose of Prescott easily sifting his way through the Tampa defense, on his way to a 15-of-18, 134-yard start to the game. In short, he has been dominant. This would be a great time for a star player to breakout and lean on heading into the playoffs when pass-rush is king.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the game against the red hot Dallas Cowboys as 7-point underdogs according to National Football League oddsmakers at Bovada. The Bucs rank No. 20 in yardage allowed, giving up 110.7 yards per game (which, on average, ranks them No. 21). “Nobody is fragile. We completely support Dak as our starting quarterback”. Keep in mind, one of Dak’s TD passes was called back because of a holding penalty on offensive lineman Tyron Smith. The Giants are just two games behind and own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so if the Cowboys don’t get back to their winning ways in a hurry, the No. 1 overall seed won’t be a guarantee. Bailey’s third field goal, this one from 38 yards, gave the Cowboys a 23-20 lead in the fourth quarter.

In the end, the Cowboys played like the stronger team that they are. The Cowboys have already clinched a playoff berth, while the Bucs are in position to grab one – and a win would go a long way toward securing that spot. In response to Dallas’ field goal, Winston’s pass on third down sailed high, and it landed in the arms of Jeff Heath, marking the third time Heath has intercepted Winston in the past two seasons.

Prescott isn’t all good again for good after rebounding from his worst rookie game last week, and Winston wasn’t suddenly a dud as his team lost for the first time in six games.

This is what late season football is all about; a prime time game between two tough teams with playoff implications for both teams. And they did so without defensive linemen Cedric Thornton and Demarcus Lawrence. Join the Sports Dallas Fort-Worth team!

If the Cowboys want to be playing late into January, the offense can not afford the mistakes it had Sunday.

Coach Jason Garrett follows the Aikman model, repeatedly declining to address the Romo issue other than reiterating that Prescott is the starter. Only the vaunted Baltimore Ravens’ defense does better.