David Moore’s Cowboys-Buccaneers report card: No playoffs, but far from a meaningless win

ARLINGTON — The win meant nothing for the Cowboys’ playoff aspirations.

But it would be a mistake to label it as meaningless.

An undermanned team that had the playoff rug pulled out from under it before the game kicked off came out and led the division-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers from start to finish.

Dallas 26, Tampa Bay 24 is the latest example that the Cowboys have righted themselves after a difficult start. Dallas now has won four of its last five games heading into Philadelphia next weekend.

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Here is our report card from the Cowboys-Buccaneers.

Offense

Dominant? Far from it. You can’t scrape together just 31 yards rushing and dominate any opponent.

But Cooper Rush picked apart the Bucs defense by completing more than 74 percent of his passes with four completions going for more than 20 yards. The Cowboys offense scored on six of its first seven possessions and didn’t turn the ball over.

Grade: B-plus

Defense

The Bucs entered the game ranked third in total yards and fourth in scoring with an average of 28.8 points. This was a balanced, explosive offense with quarterback Baker Mayfield playing the best ball of his NFL career.

That wasn’t the case Sunday. Mayfield was sacked four times and threw an interception. The Bucs were stuck at 17 points until the game’s final three minutes and when they had hopes of a game-winning drive to end the game, the Dallas defense dashed those quickly by forcing a fumble.

Grade: A-minus

Special teams

Brandon Aubrey opened the scoring Sunday night with a 58-yard field goal. He drilled another field goal from 58 yards to end the half then added a 53-yarder in the third quarter for good measure.

Aubrey has now made 14 field goals from 50 or more yards this season, an NFL record. And guess what? He’s made 41 of 42 field-goal attempts at AT&T Stadium in his two seasons.

Grade: A

Coaching

Mike McCarthy knew that Tampa’s defense would load the box to take away the run game. He also knew that Rico Dowdle had rushed for more than 100 yards in three consecutive games entering this one.

But McCarthy didn’t beat his, or Dowdle’s, head against the wall. He tilted the game plan to the passing game, calling just enough run attempts to keep the play-action pass a threat. And when the Cowboys did find themselves in the shadow of the goalpost, he turned to his best goal line runner, Ezekiel Elliott, for the score.

Grade: B-plus

Overall

The Cowboys’ margin for success these days is razor thin with all of the key injuries they’ve endured. Dallas has done a good job of walking that line in recent weeks.

They did it again Sunday night.

Grade: B-plus