Buccaneers beat Cowboys 24-16 for first win, Bucky Irving rushes for 165 yards

The Buccaneers have their first win of the 2026 season. On Thursday night, October 8, they beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington and moved to 1-4. Dallas fell to 2-3 (ESPN, AP via WUSF).

Key facts

• The Buccaneers beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-16 at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, October 8, their first win of 2026 (ESPN, AP via WUSF, October 8).
• Bucky Irving ran for 165 yards on 21 carries, including a 72-yard run, and scored a rushing and a receiving touchdown (ESPN, AP via WUSF, October 8).
• Jalon Daniels completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers (ESPN, Buccaneers.com, October 8).
• Tampa Bay rushed for 241 yards and scored 17 points in the third quarter after trailing 10-7 at halftime (ESPN, Buccaneers.com, October 8).
• The defense took the ball away three times: Yaya Diaby and Alex Anzalone intercepted Dak Prescott, and Miles Killebrew forced a fumble on a kickoff return (Buccaneers.com, October 8).
• The Buccaneers are 1-4 and host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, October 18 (ESPN, October 8).

The Bucs trailed 10-7 at halftime and then scored 17 points in the third quarter. Bucky Irving ran for 165 yards, and Jalon Daniels did not turn the ball over.

How the game went

Dallas opened with a 70-yard touchdown drive, finished by Javonte Williams from the 1-yard line. Tampa Bay answered when Daniels hit Irving for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 7-7 in the first quarter. Brandon Aubrey's 41-yard field goal just before halftime put Dallas up 10-7 (Buccaneers.com, AP via WUSF).

The third quarter belonged to Tampa Bay. Emeka Egbuka opened the half with a 14-yard touchdown run on an end-around, and Irving scored from the 1-yard line for a 21-10 lead. Chase McLaughlin added a 41-yard field goal after Miles Killebrew forced a fumble on a Cowboys kickoff return. George Pickens caught a fourth-quarter touchdown from Dak Prescott, but Keionte Scott broke up the two-point try, and the score stayed 24-16 (Buccaneers.com, AP via WUSF).

The numbers

Source: Buccaneers.com, ESPN, October 8.

Irving's night included a 72-yard run, and it was the first time in his career that he scored both a rushing and a receiving touchdown in one game (Buccaneers.com). Daniels' 64-yard completion to Johnson set up Irving's third-quarter score and was the longest completion of Daniels' career and the longest reception of Johnson's (Buccaneers.com). Our Daniels profile tells how an undrafted rookie got here.

Three takeaways

Prescott threw for 316 yards and Pickens had nine catches for 130 yards, but the Bucs took the ball away three times. Diaby intercepted a tipped pass in the third quarter for the first interception of his career, and Anzalone intercepted another tipped pass at the Bucs' 12-yard line with just over a minute left to seal the win (Buccaneers.com, ESPN). Cornerback Jacob Parrish had three pass breakups, the first time he has had three or more in an NFL game (Buccaneers.com).

Not everything was clean. Tampa Bay was flagged 14 times, and a fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8:36 left ended with Sean Tucker stopped short (ESPN, Buccaneers.com). Todd Bowles told reporters the team "lost the first quarter of the season" (AP via WUSF).

What comes next

Daniels started for the second straight week because Baker Mayfield is out with a dislocated right thumb suffered against Minnesota in Week 3 (ESPN). Our Mayfield thumb report has the details. The Steelers visit Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, October 18, at 1:00 PM ET, 19:00 CEST, on CBS. The updated schedule has every game.

After a 0-4 start that included a 17-14 home loss to the Packers, one win does not repair the standings. It does show a version of this team that is new: a run game that gained 241 yards, a quarterback who protected the ball and a defense that finished the job when it counted.