While the Buccaneers are not one of the traditional rivals of the Dallas Cowboys, it’s still always a big moment when a victory is scored over them—there hasn’t been too much for Tampa fans to cheer about in the relatively short history between the two teams.
Until the start of the 2024 NFL season, the Bucs had only faced off against the Cowboys 22 times, with the Bucs winning just six games. But some of those wins came with high drama, and here, we’ll look back at some of the best victories for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Dallas Cowboys. But first, we need to rewind the clock to explore the origins of the meetings.
1977 Origins
The first-ever match between Tampa and Dallas was on October 2nd, 1977, at the Texas Stadium. This was something of an unwinnable match for the Bucs at the time against Tom Landry’s Cowboys. It was a one-sided contest throughout, with Dallas easing to a 23–7 victory, after posting 17 of those unanswered in the first quarter.
That was the first of an eight-match winning sequence by the Cowboys over the Buccaneers, and the first five of those weren’t even close! The first hint of an upset in the fixture came in 1983 when Dallas took the game to overtime after scoring a late 52-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of regulation (the Cowboys then went on to win it in overtime).
2000 New Century, New Result
The first win that the Bucs got against the Cowboys was in December 2000, in what was just their second home fixture against them. Tampa made a blistering start at the Raymond James Stadium with 65,000+ fans watching on.
Warrick Dunn scored a spectacular 70-yard score for the first touchdown of the game and that was followed up later in the first quarter by a Brian Kelly interception from 9 yards, giving the Bucs a commanding 17–0 first-quarter lead. It wasn’t until the third quarter, when legend Emmitt Smith ran in a touchdown for the Cowboys, that any hint of a comeback was on. But that was shut down midway through the 4th with Dunn scoring his second TD of the game, giving Tampa Bay a 27–7 success, their first victory over the Cowboys.
2001 First Road Win
The 2001 meeting was a low-scoring, tense affair with not much drama going on. There were only nine points in total scored in the first three quarters, with the Cowboys up 6–3, leaving the game on a knife-edge heading into the fourth. The Bucs were still trailing as the game approached the two-minute warning, but Brad Johnson got to the end zone on a 1-yard run, and the TD was successfully converted by Martin Gramatica to give the Bucs their big breakthrough win on the road against the Cowboys.
2003 The Hattrick
Looking back, that initial 2000 victory appeared to be a momentum changer, as the Bucs produced another win over the Cowboys three years later. Again, it was another low-scoring duel between the two sides, which suited the visitors as they couldn’t afford to let Dallas build up a head of steam and quieten the home support in Florida.
Fantastically, the Bucs didn’t allow the home side to get on the scoreboard at all. Tampa opened the scoring in the second quarter with a field goal from Martin Gramatica, who then converted a Keyshawn Johnson touchdown. The rest of the points in the match came from the boot of Gramatica, sending the Cowboys packing in a comprehensive, defensively sound 16–0 victory and making it three straight wins over Dallas.
2015 Pressure Relief
After three wins on the bounce against the Cowboys, things quickly turned sour again for the Bucs, who slumped to a five-match losing streak against them, including a tough 38–10 blowout in 2006. But there was cheer for the Bucs in 2015, which was the first meeting between the teams since 2012 when Tampa had lost in a narrow defeat on their first visit to the new AT&T Stadium.
In yet another tense, edgy low-scoring fixture, at the end of the 3rd Quarter, Dallas were 6–3 ahead. The game-winning moment came at 14:06 of the 4th, when Jameis Winston broke the line and the Dallas defensive resolve from 1 yard. The TD was converted, and Tampa scored a dramatic 10–6 win at the death.
2021 That’s Entertainment
After a dirge of forgettable fixtures between the Buccaneers and the Cowboys where points were at a premium, their 2021 meeting was completely different—a feast of entertaining football. In Florida, the two sides traded first-half touchdowns, Tampa breaking the initial deadlock with a pass from Tom Brady to Chris Goodwin.
Rob Gronkowski added a second early in the 2nd Quarter before Dallas hit back and took the lead for the first time with a touchdown and a field goal. But by the end of the half, Tampa was back in the ascendancy after a wonderful 47-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Antonio Brown.
The points kept flowing in the third, with another touchdown for both teams, and when Grey Zyerlein sent over a lead-taking field goal for Dallas at 13:36 in the 4th Quarter, it set up a breathless finish. After a drive down the field, with two seconds remaining on the clock, Ryan Succop sent over a field goal to give Tampa a stunning, memorable 31–29 win. Brady recorded touchdown passes in the game, with Rob Gronkowski picking up two TDs.
Whilst the two teams haven’t had the most intense or historic rivalry in the NFL, their matchups have become compelling to viewers over the years. Both teams are considered powerhouses with passionate fanbases and impressive records under their belts. It’ll be interesting to see what 2025 brings for both teams and whatever the result of their next showdown is.
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