The Dallas Cowboys threw a wrench into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFC South division title hopes on Sunday thanks to clutch plays from the defense when it mattered the most.

Crucial Buccaneers drives were stopped dead in its tracks. In the fourth quarter, Baker Mayfield was intercepted in the end zone by Jourdan Lewis. Then, as the Buccaneers tried to final some last-minute gusto, saw running back Rachaad White get stripped by DaRon Bland.

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The two fourth quarter turnovers helped Dallas solidify a 26-24 win.

Cooper Rush was 26-of-35 with 292 passing yards and a touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert. CeeDee Lamb had seven catches for 105 yards. But the story of the game was the defense.

Mayfield was sacked four times to go along with the interception and White’s fumble. He had 304 passing yards and two touchdown passes but struggled to find a consistent rhythm.

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Chauncey Golston, Micah Parsons, Donovan Wilson and Linval Joseph each had a sack.

The Cowboys were only held to three points in the second half but did enough to crush Tampa Bay’s hopes when it mattered the most.

Dallas was eliminated from playoff contention before the game started but they were determined enough to make it more difficult for Tampa Bay to win the NFC South.

The Buccaneers fell to 8-7 and are behind the Falcons despite having the same record. Atlanta defeated Tampa Bay twice this season.

With two games left in the regular season, the Buccaneers have the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints left on the schedule.

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The Cincinnati Bengals have had some crushing defeats this season, but something finally went their way to cash a 27-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on "Monday Night Football."

The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak, moving to 5-8 on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ win streak of two games comes to a halt and they are also 5-8 on the year. 

At the two-minute warning, the Bengals were in their own zone after a potential game-winning drive went awry. Facing fourth-and-27, they had no choice but to punt, and things got much worse when Cal Adomitis blocked the punt which should’ve given the Cowboys perfect field position to take the lead late in the game. 

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Then, that big Bengals break came for Zac Taylor’s squad. 

Amani Oruwariye thought it was smart to try and recover the bouncing ball as it was making its way downfield, but he was unable to field it cleanly. 

Since it touched Oruwariye, the Bengals could recover and regain possession, and that’s exactly what happened as Maema Njongmeta fell on the ball at the Cincinnati 43-yard line to give Joe Burrow and his crew another shot at taking the lead. 

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Just three plays later, Burrow found ol’ reliable, Ja’Marr Chase, on a short pass where he made a Cowboys' cornerback miss, and he was off to the races for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 27-20 after the extra point. 

That capped another "Monday Night Football" highlight reel for Chase, who finished the game with 177 yards on 14 catches with two touchdowns, which also included the first for the Bengals on the night. 

Cooper Rush and the Cowboys did have enough time to move downfield for a potential game-tying drive. But on fourth-and-7 near midfield, Rush overshot Jake Ferguson and the ball hit the turf, sealing Dallas’ fate as a loss. 

CeeDee Lamb, who scored the game’s first touchdown and had 93 yards on six catches, was jumping up and down because he was wide open in the middle of the field. Rush didn’t see him, and thus the result. 

Burrow’s night was another spectacular one, as he went 33-for-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns – the other a catch-and-run by running back Chase Brown in the first half – as well as an interception.

For the Cowboys, a positive trend continued for Rico Dowdle despite the loss, as the young running back rushed for a game-high 131 yards on just 18 carries. Since taking over the lead role in the backfield, Dowdle has really turned it on late in the season. 

Both of these teams might not be in playoff position with four games remaining, but a primetime thriller was seen at AT&T Stadium where the Bengals finally tasted victory again. 

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The Houston Texans have won the battle of Texas, as they dominated the struggling Dallas Cowboys, 34-10, on "Monday Night Football."

Houston came into this game losing back-to-back games, and there were some murmurs from the fan base about what needs to be done on offense with C.J. Stroud struggling to get going of late. 

But, with his trusty receiver Nico Collins back from a hamstring injury, Stroud looked more poised, and it opened up a lot for offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik to work with. 

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Collins’ return to the football field led to 54 yards on four receptions. 

His first catch of the game was a screen that went all the way for a touchdown, which would’ve been the ultimate welcome back. However, it was called back due to an illegal man downfield. 

But a few plays later, it was Joe Mixon, the Texans’ workhorse running back, scoring his first of three touchdowns on the night – a 45-yard sprint that got past every Cowboys defender on his way to the end zone. 

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Mixon’s second came on the Texans’ third drive of the game, as he bounced out to the right and showboated his way into the colored paint to give the Texans a definitive 14-0 lead. He finished the game with 109 yards on the ground on 20 carries. 

But Cooper Rush and the Cowboys’ offense didn’t just roll over like last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Rush needed to get something going for Dallas after an opening-drive fake punt was thwarted by Houston, and the signal caller threw an interception on the team’s second drive. 

He did just that with KaVontae Turpin’s speed, as he caught a slant and hit the jets for a 64-yard touchdown. It was exactly what the Cowboys, and Rush in particular, needed to feel confident with the ball in their hands after scoring just six points a week ago. 

While no other play found the end zone after Turpin, there was a back-and-forth of field goals between Ka’imi Fairbairn and Brandon Aubrey, the latter of who knocked through an incredible 64-yard field goal. 

In the second half, with Houston owning a 20-10 lead, the Cowboys were knocking on the doorstep, looking at fourth-and-2 from the Texans’ 8-yard line. Head coach Mike McCarthy opted to go for it, but a pass that went incomplete turned the ball over on downs for the second time this game. 

The Cowboys were able to force the Texans to punt, but a costly mistake came when Rush was strip sacked and despite one of his offensive lineman scooping up the fumble, it was knocked out of his hands and Derek Barnett took it into the end zone to make it 27-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Mixon would later rush for his third touchdown of the night, which was the kill shot for the Cowboys, who have now lost five straight games and moved to 3-7. 

Stroud was efficient with his passes in this one, going 23-of-34 for 257 yards, though he didn’t throw a touchdown. He hit eight different receivers, including Tank Dell who matched Collins’ output of 54 yards on four catches. 

For the Cowboys, Rush had to throw 55 times, completing 32 of them for 354 yards with one touchdown and one interception. CeeDee Lamb hauled in a game-high eight catches for 93 yards, though his face said it all on the sidelines after yet another crushing loss. 

Finally, the Cowboys have now trailed by at least 20 points in six straight home games, which continues to be an NFL record as they can’t figure things out in their own barn. 

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