Cowboys manage to hang on
They rally in the fourth quarter after Buccaneers take the lead in the third.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Ezekiel Elliott celebrated a short touchdown run by jumping into an oversized Salvation Army red kettle and the Dallas Cowboys closed in on home-field advantage in the playoffs with a 26-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night.
The Cowboys (12-2) bounced back after their franchise-record 11-game winning streak ended, hanging on after what looked to be a festive night after Elliott’s antics turned tense when Jameis Winston rallied the Buccaneers from a 17-3 deficit to a 20-17 lead.
“One of the words we talked about right from the outset this week was ‘response,’ ” Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett said. “We did a good job early in the ballgame to get a lead and they started throwing the ball a lot early in the second half and they went ahead.
“And again, that word ‘response’ came back to the forefront.”
Winston threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns but had four turnovers, including an interception that led to Dan Bailey’s 38-yard field goal that gave Dallas a 23-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Tampa Bay (8-6) had a winning streak end at five games and fell a game behind Atlanta in the NFC South. Dallas stayed two games ahead of the New York Giants in the NFC East.
“We’ve just got to keep winning, see how it plays out,” Winston said. “I know I’m going to keep fighting. I’m not worried about not fighting. We just got to keep winning games.”
Elliott, the NFL’s rushing leader, had a career-high 159 yards, including a 42-yard run to set up Bailey’s fourth field goal for the six-point lead.
Fellow rookie Dak Prescott completed 32 of 36 passes for 279 yards.
Elliott had people laughing when he jumped into the kettle and crouched down after a two-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Dallas received a 15-yard penalty on the kickoff.
“He was actually talking about that pregame, should he do it, will they fine him,” Prescott said. “I didn’t know he was actually going to go down and come back up slow. Got a good laugh out of it, him coming up real slowly. It was funny.”
Winston had scoring passes of 42 yards to Adam Humphries and 10 yards to Cameron Brate to put Tampa Bay ahead, 20-17, but couldn’t move the Buccaneers once Dallas regained the lead.