Buccaneers vs. Cowboys prediction, best bet: Dallas red-hot attack will drown out Tampa Bay
“Thursday Night Football” is notoriously a minefield for bettors. The popular belief is that the short rest forces stagnant offense and games devolve into defensive slugfests: words that could have nothing to do with the 2026 Dallas Cowboys. “America’s Team” has hung 30 points in three straight games heading into the Week 5 opener against the Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium.Since Dallas opened as 9.5-point favorites, the line has steamed toward Tampa after the market noted heavy public and sharp action on the Buccaneers. The original 9.5 overweighted Mayfield injury and the 0-4 start.
The fact is that all four of those losses have been one-possession scores, and the undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels showed enough dual-threat ability in his debut to give a shaky Dallas run defense some challenges. But that still doesn’t erase Tampa Bay’s bottom-three ranking in EPA per play.It doesn’t erase the offense failing to have topped 20 points in all of those games or hide the highest sack rate allowed in the NFL. If there’s any defense that would fail to take advantage of that, it would be Dallas’, having generated only four sacks through four games. The question becomes whether Daniels can keep pace with Dak Prescott and one of the most prolific units in the game — in his first road game, no less. Daniels showcased both promise and mistakes.
While he raked in 55 yards with his legs, the Kansas product only aired 148 passing yards, and the two picks he threw were converted for 10 points.They’ve now forked over 40 points on turnovers.The scoring has incrementally dropped each week by first-year offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s unit.
Even aside from the offensive line woes, the attack can’t execute chunk plays, and it is plagued by flags.Let’s contrast that just to CeeDee Lamb alone, who caught 17 balls for 189 yards and a touchdown against Houston last week.Lamb is moved frequently between the slot and the outside, which can give a Ta...