Stock up/stock down from the Bucs’ 24-16 win over the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football
Tampa Bay notched a massive win over Dallas, and plenty of individuals had a big hand in the outcome.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are winless no more, and what a way to get off the schneid. The Bucs went into Arlington, Texas and knocked off the Dallas Cowboys 24-16 on Thursday Night Football, improving to 1-4 on the season.
The Bucs fell behind 7-0 after allowing a methodical 70-yard opening drive for a touchdown, but they would answer with their own touchdown drive — 15 plays, 73 yards, and an incredible 10 minutes and 58 second — to level things at 7 apiece.
After trailing 10-7 at halftime, the Bucs stormed ahead for a 24-10 lead in the fourth quarter before having to hang on thanks to a controversial decision by Todd Bowles late in the game. Bowles decided to go for it on fourth and goal at the one rather than kick the field go to go up three scores (and of course Sean Tucker was stopped short). But his defense held on for the win in the final minutes, with Alex Anzalone picking off a tipped pass in the red zone to seal it.
Here are some players/groups/coaches/areas who saw their stock rise and fall in the contest.
Stock up: Jalon Daniels
The undrafted free agent rookie looked anything but a UDFA on Thursday. Aside from perhaps holding the ball a tad too long, he knew when to let it rip and when to tuck and run for extra yards for for a first down. 19/25 for 189 yards through the air with one touchdown and 23 yards on seven carries on the ground. Not eye-popping stats, but he made the throws he needed to in order to help keep the Bucs’ offense on the field for a commanding 39 minutes and 20 seconds.
Yeah, the Dallas defense is the one getting criticized on social media during and after the game, but Daniels’ made that happen and deserves the praise for an incredible second career start.
Stock up: Bucky Irving
Welcome to 2026, Bucky Irving. The Bucs’ talented runner was awesome, and his vision was amped up to 11 with the knob broken off. That was evident on his 72-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half.
The vision and cut to get up and past a host of Dallas defenders on this run is next level.
23 touches, 175 yards, and two touchdowns (165 rushing yards) will get the job done just about every time. The engine of the Bucs’ offense finally appears to be back on track again.
And in that regard, an honorable “stock up” to the Bucs’ offensive line as a whole, who more than held their own to allow that ground game to take off.
Stock up: Zyon McCollum
McCollum did the unthinkable by shutting down star Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb for much of the game, with Lamb finishing with just two catch for nine yards before leaving in the second half banged up.
It’s hard to do much better than that, and he drew the praise for his efforts from the TNF broadcast crew.
Stock up: Jacob Parrish
On the other side, Parrish was the true stat stuffer, and he was a big part of why Dallas’ offense did little on the night. He led the team in both total tackles (nine) and passes defended (four). He did allow, according to my colleague Evan Winter, nine catches for 107 yards on 13 targets, citing Sumer Sports. However, some of that came when the Bucs were in clear protection mode in the second half of the fourth quarter.
After a bit of a rough showing against the Vikings, Parrish is rounding back into form, and tonight was a loud statement that the coaching staff’s decision to put him on the perimeter was the right one.
Stock up: Miles Killebrew/Kevin Knowles
You win games like this with big plays on special teams, and that’s just what Tampa Bay got on one key second half moment. KaVontae Turpin returned a kickoff after the Bucs went up 21-10 in the third quarter. Killebrew saw an opportunity and took it, clubbing the ball out as he reached Turpin. After a long pileup and fight for the ball, Knowles came away with the recovery.
As a reserve, you’ve got to make a play on special teams, and the duo did just that, which led to a crucial field goal on the ensuing Bucs drive to push the lead to 24-10
Stock up: Zac Robinson
It was his best game by a mile on Thursday with the Bucs. What he dialed up worked, particularly in the ground game, he put Daniels in position to throw or run, and he had a nifty wrinkle on the run call to Emeka Egbuka to finish off the go-ahead 86-yard drive right after the long Irving run.
A big day for the leader of the Bucs’ offense.
Stock down: Luke Goedeke
Goedeke was flagged for a holding call and a false start. More on that in a minute, but picking up multiple penalties in a game, where neither is up for debate is going to land you on most lists the wrong way. Gotta do better.
Stock down: penalties/discipline
And that applies to the team as a whole. It speaks to just how dominant the Bucs were against the Cowboys when they weren’t blasting their own toes off repeatedly. 14 (!!!) accepted penalties for 92 yards. That’s just way, way, way too much. Have to cut those down.
