BUCCANEERS BEAT COWBOYS 24-16 FOR FIRST WIN OF SEASON

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-16 on Thursday night to claim their first win of the season. Running back Bucky Irving rushed for a career-high 165 yards and scored twice, adding a touchdown reception to a short rushing score, while a 72-yard run from Irving set up the touchdown that put Tampa Bay ahead for good. Quarterback Jalon Daniels, an undrafted rookie making his second NFL start, completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Irving without committing a turnover. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott threw two interceptions as the Cowboys fell to 2-3 on the season. The Buccaneers improved to 1-4. Tampa Bay finished with 241 rushing yards as a team.

Daniels is filling in for Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay's regular starting quarterback, who has been sidelined by a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand and is expected to miss at least one more game. Daniels had thrown three interceptions in a 17-14 defeat to Green Bay in his first start. Irving carried the ball 21 times for a 7.9-yard average. "Six months ago, if you would have told me that my first win would have been on a Thursday night, Prime football game, I don't know what I would have told you," Daniels said, adding that going through "every single emotion" during the season's highs and lows prepares a player for whatever comes next.

Head coach Todd Bowles said the team's early results would not define its campaign, which had begun with expectations of winning the NFC South division. "We lost the first quarter of the season," Bowles said. "We didn't lose the second, third or fourth. We've still got to play those. So we started the second quarter tonight." The Buccaneers and Cowboys will each return to division and conference fixtures as Tampa Bay looks to build on its first victory.