Brett's Cowboys Corner

Four hours before kickoff, Jayden Daniels pulls off some late game heroics to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, which keeps the NFC East race still alive but also officially eliminated the Dallas Cowboys from playoff contention.

You would have to imagine that every player taking the field for Dallas knew they were out of playoff contention. Which makes it interesting after seeing the product that night.

A 26-24 victory for the Cowboys, though it felt that Dallas had control of the game the entire time. With a 26-14 lead at one point, and they never trailed.

The Cowboys also had the entire city of Atlanta rooting for them, as a win over the Bucs kept the NFC South race alive and due to tie breaker, Atlanta currently leads the division.

I think this game says a lot about the Cowboys locker room, as they still went out there and played hard despite elimination. Of course there are a lot of young guys who only know how to play hard, and veterans who are playing for jobs next year. Those guys always play hard.

But when you see it out of solidified 2025 roster guys like, Tyler Smith, Micah Parsons, DaRon Bland, and Ceedee Lamb, who is playing through a shoulder injury. I think that speaks volumes how they feel about each other and their head coach.

Defense Wins

Dallas did a great job defensively, especially against a group in Tampa that likes to generate short yards quickly.

Rookie Marist Liufau has been thrown into a starting role with the absence of DeMarvion Overshown, and has been playing beyond expectations.

It’s still early but a third round linebacker isn’t expected to do much in the first year. There is a lot to know when playing the position and it seems Liufau has a great understanding of those duties.

He is always around the ball, he identifies the play and made some great stops in run defense. He understood how the quarterbacks eyes move and took away Baker’s receiving options causing him to hold onto the ball longer.

Baker Mayfield was efficient in the quick passing game against the Cowboys (16/18, 144 yards, TD) but struggled when holding for longer than 2.5 seconds (15/25, 159 yards, TD, INT, sacked 4 times).

This was on the scouting report going into the night. The longer you make Mayfield hold onto the ball, there is a rapid increase that he is going to make a poor decision.

The offensive line has held up nicely for Tampa this year, but Dallas attacked them successfully.

The focus was on Parsons, but that allowed guys like Carl Lawson, Osa Odighizuwa, and rookie Marshawn Kneeland to make some plays.

The Secondary

Jourdan Lewis played great coverage on McMillan, saving a touchdown with a interception, ripping the ball out of McMillan’s hands.

Lewis is a guy that is playing for a job next season, as a free agent. These games are important for him to find himself a role in 2025.

DaRon Bland kept Mike Evans under 80 yards and away from the endzone. Making the game winning forced fumble and recovery on Rachaad White.

Cooper Rush Played His Style

Keeping the offense close to the ball. This was in the scouting report too, the Bucs lead the NFL in completions allowed. Just get a few yards each time and slowly work your way toward the endzone.

Cooper Rush targeted in-breakers on a season-high 42.9% of his pass attempts in Week 16, completing 13-of-15 attempts for 179 yards and a touchdown 

The touchdown was a pretty seam route to Tolbert, perfect ball placement.

The Cowboys had to rely on the passing offense, getting Lamb involved early. CeeDee Lamb caught 7 of 8 targets for 105 yards.

Rush got the ball to multiple receivers, with Lamb, Cooks, Ferguson, and rookie Ryan Flournoy all getting 40+ receiving yards each.

As the Bucs shut down the run game for Dallas, Rico Dowdle had 13 carries for 23 yards. The second leading rusher was KaVontae Turpin, 3 carries for 11 yards.

The Cowboys will now look ahead at playing spoiler any way they can. As Washington needs Philly to lose out to claim the division. The Eagles are next on the schedule for Dallas, and they might be missing QB Jalen Hurts.