Since Playoff Win Over Buccaneers, Cowboys Have Unraveled

On Jan. 16, 2023 the Cowboys sent Tom Brady into retirement with a 31-14 victory. Dak Prescott threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns and they cruised - despite four missed extra points by kicker Brett Maher - to an easy win. As the dust settled on that game, it would have been impossible to predict that by the end of 2024 the Bucs would catch - and even clearly pass - the Cowboys in the NFL pecking order.

Those Cowboys were coming off a 12-win regular season and Prescott was seemingly in his prime. Brady threw the 737th and last touchdown pass of his Hall-of-Fame career before retiring a month after the game.

The Cowboys had immediate bigger goals. The Bucs needed a quarterback and had questions about rookie head coach Todd Bowles.

End result: Since that game the Buccaneers (1) have more playoff wins than the Cowboys (0). And fans are all saying the same thing about the post-playoff disaster that is Dallas.

This season - led by resurrected quarterback Baker Mayfield - Tampa Bay has won four consecutive games to get to 8-6 and lead the NFC South. Thanks in part to a season-ending injury to Prescott, the Cowboys enter Sunday night 6-8 and realistically eliminated from the playoffs.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, it will be the Cowboys head into 2025 with more questions (mainly about head coach Mike McCarthy) than the Bucs.