The wild-card round of the NFL playoffs ended Monday, with Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys beating Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14.
Prescott won with the best playoff performance of his career. He threw for four touchdowns and rushed for another while throwing for 305 yards in the win.
Meanwhile, Brady and the Buccaneers offense struggled all night. They were shut out until the end of the third quarter as Brady completed 35 of 66 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns, but a costly one in the end zone in the first half Expensive interception.
The Cowboys advance to a game against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round (Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox).
Popular plays are here!
Dallas Cowboys 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14
big boy sack
Vita Via knocked off the Thunder in the third quarter, sacked Prescott, and forced the Cowboys’ second straight 3-pointer to open the game.
cowboys score first
After both teams had scored one inning each of the first two innings, Dallas finally succeeded on the third down. Some play from Michael Gallup and Tony Pollard, and a rough passing free throw, set up a 22-yard TD pass by Prescott for Dalton Schultz.
The ensuing PAT went right, though, allowing Dallas to maintain a 6-0 lead in Game 1.
running rachard
Rachaad White’s multiple jumpers gave the Bucs the lead on their third down.
Tom Mahomes?
Playing in style of the Kansas City Chiefs star, the 45-year-old quarterback connected Chris Godwin on a running tackle pass for 11 yards.
brady kears
Moments after the broadcast, a graphic mentioned that Brady, who hadn’t made an interception in the red zone since joining the Buccaneers in 2020, made one. Brady made a pass to Jayron Kearse in the end zone as he looked like he was trying to throw the ball out of bounds.
Duck attack
On the fourth play from the 1-yard line, Prescott himself kept the ball on a fake handover and sent a bootleg run to the end zone to score.
However, Brett Maher missed the PAT again, and the Cowboys maintained a 12-0 lead with just over six minutes left in the second quarter.
Dak goes all out in Game 3
Needing six yards to get the first, Prescott scrambled for 10 yards to keep the Cowboys running late in the first half.
Dak to Dalton for Dallas’ third TD
The Cowboys controlled the entire first half, and Prescott found Schultz again in the end zone for an 11-yard score.
The only thing they can’t control is their kicking game. Maher missed the third PAT and the Cowboys held an 18-0 lead before halftime.
gallup score
The Cowboys scored again, scoring on their first possession of the second half, scoring four in a row. Prescott found Gallup behind the end zone for his third touchdown pass of the game. Gallup appeared to almost go out of bounds during the reception, but replay commentary backed his catch.
Maher, however, missed his fourth PAT of the night, making it 24-0 with three points left in the third quarter.
Bucks finally score
In what may have been the last game in the NFL for both players, Brady found Julio Jones on the side of the end zone for a touchdown that ultimately put the Buccaneers on the board. Still, Tampa failed to convert in a 2-point conversion, holding on to three points at the end of the third quarter on a 24-6 run.
Dallas keeps pushing…and scoring as it trails in fourth
With Maher pitching hard, the Cowboys opted to pitch on 4th and 4 beyond the Buccaneers’ 18-yard line. The decision paid off, and then some as Prescott found CeeDee Lamb wide open to score.
Oh, and Maher made the PAT this time, making the game 31-6.
Bucs are late
In keeping with decency, Brady found Camblatt for a toe touchdown before a two-minute warning. He also made it 31-14 on two straight shots with Mike Evans.
Bucs get side kick
It may have been too little, too late for Tampa, but it recovered the offside kick with two minutes of warning. This is the fourth time the team has recovered an offside ball this season.
Stay tuned for updates!
Get more from the NFL Follow your favorites for info on games, news and more
