Cowboys end awkward playoff record by defeating Bucs in WC Game

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14 in the NFL National Football Conference (NFC) Wild Card Game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Monday.

The last time the Cowboys secured a win on the road in the playoffs was in 1992. They also defeated Tom Brady's team for the first time after a seven-game losing streak. The Cowboys will visit Levi's Stadium in Saint Clara, California, to challenge the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round on January 22.

The Cowboys' quarterback (QB) Dak Prescott played with nothing but dominance in Monday's game. He completed 25 of his 33 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns while rushing to score a touchdown of his own. Tight end Dalton Schultz (twice), wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup all received Prescott's sharp passes to score. Lamb's 18-yard connection with Prescott at 10:13 in the fourth quarter took the suspense out of the game completely.

The running backs pair of Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott both made key contributions to the Cowboys' victory by producing solid yards on the ground. Their teammates on the offensive line also protected Prescott well, allowing him to have enough time to observe, think and then throw at the right target.

The only sad part of the Cowboys' offense on Monday might be the performance of their kicker Brett Maher, who made only one of their five extra-point shots. He missed the first four in a row, setting a new awkward NFL record. The team's lead became 24 instead of 28 points due to his poor work after scoring four touchdowns. If the Bucs had been able to get three touchdowns and added two-point conversions to each of them, it would only take them three successful offensive drives instead of four to tie the score.

The Cowboys' defensive group kept that comeback from happening. Outside linebacker Micah Parsons and his teammates kept going through the Bucs' offensive line like stripping the packing off a candy bar, leaving Brady no time to think. Brady was sacked twice and completed only about a half of his passes (35-for-66) for 351 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. The second touchdown was scored at 2:03 in the fourth quarter when the game was long gone.

The Bucs were disappointing on both ends in Monday's game. They lacked powerful ground offense and had to rely heavily on Brady's passing. Not only was that too predictable for the Cowboys' offense, but the Bucs' offensive line was too weak to protect Brady.

Defensively, no team is perfect on this front, but the Bucs were too vulnerable in the center and had multiple fatal misunderstandings, including leaving Lamb completely open to catch Prescott's pass to score that decisive touchdown in the final quarter.

Things will grow complicated between Brady and the Bucs during the offseason. Though he is already 45 years old, Brady is expected by many to continue to play and chase his eighth Super Bowl title. However, the Bucs have too many problems to be fixed in one offseason for the team to stay competitive, not to mention the ability to grow better. If Brady leaves, the Bucs will have to rack their brains to find his replacement. So will Brady over which team he can join to continue his legendary career.

（CGTN）