Duck Prescott outshines Tom Brady as the Cowboys dominate the Buccaneers 31–14 in the playoffs.

TAMPA, Florida — Duck Prescott out-maneuvered Tom Brady, throwing four touchdowns and running to one more to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 31-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC playoff game on Monday night.

Prescott completed 25 of 33 passes for 305 yards and played without losing the ball for the first time in eight games as the Cowboys (13-5) dominated the listless Bucks (8-10) in what could be Brady’s last game in uniform Tampa Bay.

Dallas beat Brady for the first time in the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s career to win a playoff win on the road for the first time in 30 years to earn a trip to San Francisco to face the 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round next Sunday.

The Cowboys have lost eight consecutive playoff games since winning the NFC Championship in San Francisco on January 17, 1993.

Brady, who signed with Tampa Bay in 2020 and led the Bucs to the Super Bowl title two years ago, will be a free agent this winter. He retired briefly last February before changed my mind and returning for the 23rd season at the age of 45.

The only thing that went wrong for the Cowboys on Monday night was kicker Brett Maher missing his first four extra points, becoming the first player in NFL history to miss that much in a game. Maher finally converted his fifth try after coach Mike McCarthy decided not to send him to attempt a field goal from about the same distance as PAT.

Tampa Bay wide receiver Russell Gage was tied to the backboard and taken off the field after suffering an injury late in the fourth quarter. Gage slipped and fell on the turf while running the route and was hit in the neck as he fell. He was unable to get to his feet and the stadium fell silent as the players knelt down and the medical staff attended to him.

Brady, who was 7-0 against the Cowboys, completed 35 of 66 passes for 351 yards, including second-half touchdowns for 30 yards to Julio Jones and 8 yards to Cameron Breit. He was fired twice and also set up a costly interception, a second-quarter end zone pick from the Dallas 5 that prevented the Bucks from potentially taking a lead when they were only 6-0 behind.

Chris Carlson/AP

Prescott threw the first of his two TD passes to Dalton Schultz to get the Cowboys moving forward and then turned Brady’s first red zone interception since 2019 into points, completing a 15-game 80-yard drive with a 1-yard left wing. . TD works on the fourth down.

The Dallas quarterback extended the lead to 18-0 by throwing an 11-yard touchdown to Schultz and then throwing a 2-yard throw to Michael Gallup to take a 24-point lead early in the third quarter. Could have been 28-0 if Maher hadn’t missed all four extra points.

Prescott’s last TD pass, an 18-yard pass from CeeDee Lamb, put the Cowboys up 31–6 with 10:13 left.

Little has come easy for the Bucks this season, just the fourth team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record in a year without a strike.

While Brady broke his own league record for completions in a season and finished third in passing yards behind Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, Tampa Bay finished 25th in scoring with 18.4 ppg and never won more. two in a row, holding Carolina. New Orleans and Atlanta will once again be NFC South champions.

Dallas bounced back from a 19-3 loss to Tampa Bay in Week 1 despite Prescott being out for five weeks with a broken right thumb sustained in that game that looked like a contender for the Super Bowl for most of the season.

However, Prescott entered the playoffs with a career-worst stealing streak of seven games and was given back the pick for a touchdown in three of his last four games, including a horrific 26–6 loss to Washington in the regular season finale.