TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were eliminated from the postseason after suffering a 31-14 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round Monday night at Raymond James Stadium.
Tampa Bay failed to score a single point in the first half, but Tom Brady found Julio Jones on a deep pass to score the team's first touchdown at the end of the third quarter.
However, the damage seemed to have already been done after the Cowboys led 24-6 heading into the last quarter.
A touchdown reception from Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the fourth quarter pretty much secured the win for his side to make the score 31-6.
Toward the end of the fourth quarter, Bucs tight end Cameron Brate caught a touchdown pass from Brady to cut the deficit to 31-14. However, it was not enough to get his team back in the game.
The Cowboys will now travel to San Francisco to face off against the 49ers at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Whereas for the Bucs, there are more questions than answers heading into the offseason. Brady has not yet announced his plans moving forward with football, whether that is to remain with Tampa Bay, join another team or retire.
Below is the schedule for other divisional-round playoff games in each conference:
- Jacksonville Jaguars vs Kansas City Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.
- New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles at 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.
- Cincinnati Bengals vs Buffalo Bills at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22.
Live blog below:
4th quarter
00:00 The fourth quarter ends. Dallas win 31-14.
2:00 Tampa Bay recovers the ball from an onside kick!
2:04 Cameron Brate scores a touchdown! Bucs down 31-14.
10:15 Dallas scores another touchdown and makes the extra point. Tampa Bay is down 31-6.
15:00 The last quarter begins!
3rd quarter
00:00 The Bucs gets their first touchdown of the game but do not get the two-point conversion. They are now down 24-6 as the third quarter wraps up.
10:04 Dallas scores another touchdown but for the fourth time tonight, they miss the extra point. Tampa Bay are now down 24-0.
15:00 The Bucs receive the ball from the kickoff and the second half is underway!
2nd quarter
00:00 Halftime. Tampa Bay remains down 18-0.
00:27 Dallas scores their third touchdown but misses the extra point. Bucs are now down 18-0
8:06 The Cowboys score another touchdown but once again miss the extra point. Tampa Bay is down 12-0.
14:50 Dallas intercepts the ball in the end zone.
15:00 The second period begins and the Bucs are in a first-and-goal situation.
1st quarter
00:00 The first quarter comes to a close. Bucs remain down 6-0 but will begin the second quarter in the red zone.
6:28 The Cowboys score a touchdown but miss the PAT. Bucs are down 6-0.
11:55 Vita Vea sacks Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott to stop the visitor's second drive of the game!
13:31 Both teams' first drives do not lead to any points on the scoreboard.
15:00 The Buccaneers kick off the ball to the Cowboys and the playoff game is underway!
Pregame
7:16 p.m. The Bucs fans are in their gear as they get ready to cheer on Tampa Bay!
7:11 p.m. Fans are beginning to get to their sits and fill up Raymond James Stadium.
6:59 p.m. The following players are inactive for the Buccaneers: QB Kyle Trask, TE Kyle Rudolph, WR Breshad Perriman, S Keanu Neal and G Nick Leverett. For the Cowboys, their inactive players are LB Jabril Cox, QB Will Grier, WR Jalen Tolbert, CB Nashon Wright, CB Trayvon Mullen, DT Neville Gallimore and DT Quinton Bohanna.
5:15 p.m. Tampa Bay will be wearing their white uniforms for tonight's game.
4:51 p.m. The G.O.A.T takes the field as he gets himself ready for tonight's big game against Dallas!
Game preview below:
It's official — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will welcome the Dallas Cowboys to Raymond James Stadium during the first round of the NFL playoffs.
The Bucs' Wild Card Round game is scheduled at 8:15 p.m. Monday night.
Tampa Bay, who finished with the lowest record among all division winners, was always scheduled to play the highest-ranked wild card team, which was later confirmed as Dallas after losing on Sunday against Washington and finishing the season 12-5.
It will be the first time both franchises meet in the postseason since 1983, and the Bucs have an 0-2 record against the Cowboys in the playoffs. This will be the first time Tampa Bay hosts Dallas in the postseason, though.
Although history may not side with Tampa Bay, Tom Brady has not lost against Dallas since joining the Bucs, with his most recent victory coming in a Week 1, 19-3 win this season.
Tampa Bay will enter the game coming off a 30-17 defeat against Atlanta, but it was a game where head coach Todd Bowles decided to rest most of his starters, including the withdrawal of Brady in the second quarter.
The Bucs clinched their spot in the postseason after a 30-24 division-winning game in Week 17 against Carolina. The team also finished the season with a 8-9 record, becoming the sixth NFL team to make the playoffs with a sub-.500 record. If we ignore the strike-shortened season in 1982, they would become the fourth team ever to accomplish the feat. It might not be a bad omen as two of the last three teams with a losing record have won their first playoff-round matchup. The one loser was Washington against Tampa Bay in 2020.
This weekend's game will be the Bucs' 10th-ever home playoff game. They are 5-4 all-time at home in the postseason.
