The Cowboys are one of the NFL’s signature brands. Their defense has been anything but in 2026, however.
Dallas sports one of the worst defensive units in the league. The numbers bear out that ignominious reputation — the Cowboys entered their Week 5 tilt against the Buccaneers having conceded an average of 28.0 points per game, the fourth-worst mark in football.
A matchup with Tampa Bay figured to be a bit of a reprieve. After all, the Buccaneers are without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield. Understudy Jalon Daniels looked shaky in his NFL debut, giving more credence to the suggestion that Dallas would get a pick-me-up on Thursday night.
It only took one drive for onlookers to realize that wouldn’t be the case. Here’s a look at how the Buccaneers made history at the Cowboys’ expense on “Thursday Night Football.”
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How Buccaneers’ longest drive in 19 years baffled Cowboys’ defense
Daniels and Co. set sights on Dallas’ end zone from their own 27. Over the course of the next 15 plays, Todd Bowles side inched its way towards the pylons, employing a “death by 1,000 paper cuts” approach to gash the Cowboys’ much-maligned defense.
Daniels was central to the efforts, completing all eight of his passes to lead Tampa Bay down the field. He accounted for 60 yards of offense on his own — 49 coming from his arm, the other 11 jutting from his legs.
Jalon Daniels lowers the shoulder and picks up the 1st down 💪 @TBvsDAL on Prime Video Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/LG3l61JU0s
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2026
Dallas was unable to blight the Buccaneers’ attack, surrendering yardage in bunches. Brian Schottenheimer’s side gave up 25 yards due to penalty, effectively rolling out the red carpet for the Daniels-led attack to traipse towards the goal-line.
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It was only a matter of time before the Bucs would make the Cowboys defense pay. On second-and-goal, Daniels found Bucky Irving, who turned the corner and leapt into the end zone to level the score at seven apiece.
KEEP IT A BUC 👏 📺: #TBvsDAL on Prime Video https://t.co/q2c8Krq4TD
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 9, 2026
The drive took about 11 minutes to complete. It proved Tampa Bay’s longest drive by elapsed time since 2007. It’s also the longest opening drive any team has authored up since 2022.
The Cowboys entered Thursday night’s game knowing their defense was liable to concede, even against an uneven Buccaneers attack. They likely wouldn’t have predicted struggling as mightily as they did in Tampa’s first offensive drive, however. That doesn’t bode well on Dallas’ prospects going forward.
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