The Buccaneers had three first half turnovers, two of which came deep in their own end of the field to hand the Cowboys short fields and nine points. Yet, Tampa Bay still leads at halftime.
Tom Brady threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and the Bucs took a 21-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Brady’s touchdowns went for 5 yards to Chris Godwin, 2 yards to Rob Gronkowski and 47 yards to Antonio Brown. Brown torched Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown for four catches and 118 yards.
Brady had two interceptions, but both need an asterisk. One came on a screen play that was set up perfectly and executed poorly when the pass bounced off Leonard Fournette’s hands and into Trevon Diggs. Brady also threw a pick to Jourdan Lewis on a Hail Mary to end the half.
Ronald Jones lost a fumble as DeMarcus Lawrence punched it out and Randy Gregory recovered it to set up a five-play, 27-yard Cowboys’ touchdown drive. Amari Cooper scored on a 5-yard pass from Dak Prescott.
Fournette’s dropped ball, which led to Diggs’ interception at the Tampa Bay 21, came on the Bucs’ next snap. The Cowboys gained only 4 yards on three plays, settling for a Greg Zuerlein 35-yard field goal. It gave Dallas a 16-14 lead that lasted all of 38 seconds before Antonio Brown’s score.
Zuerlein, who didn’t kick in training camp after back surgery, has missed a 31-yard field goal wide left and an extra point off the left upright.
In his first game since Oct. 11, and coming off a shoulder injury that kept him from throwing most of training camp, Prescott has looked as good as new. He is 23-of-32 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. CeeDee Lamb has a 22-yard touchdown catch among his four receptions for 58 yards.