Cowboys at Bucs: 5 Keys to Beating Tom Brady, Inactives for Playoffs

The Dallas Cowboys face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but will need to break a long playoff drought in order to win. So, how do they do it?

The Dallas Cowboys face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a win-or-go-home clash at Raymond James Stadium.

After a 12-5 regular season record, Dallas will be looking to end Tampa Bay’s season and register its first-ever win over Brady. But how do they do it?

First the inactives list

Cowboys inactives: LB Jabril Cox, Will Grier, WR Jalen Tolbert, CB Nahshon Wright, CB Trayvon Mullen, DT Neville Gallimore and DT Quinton Bohanna.

And the captains? Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence (defense), Dak Prescott and Zack Martin (offense) and CJ Goodwin and Luke Gifford (special teams).

Up next, win by doing these five things. ...

Start fast: After last week’s horror show against the Washington Commanders and Dak Prescott’s poor showing, getting off to a fast start is paramount to success.

In hostile territory, against the bogeyman, and with the entire world watching, getting off to a nice start will be a good confidence boost.

Some nice, early throws to get Dak in rhythm and the offense rolling is key to progressing. 

Was last week, as offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said, abnormal? We find out soon enough. 

Zero turnovers: This is something the Cowboys' offense hasn’t been able to do in the last seven weeks. Against a quarterback who is a master of making you pay for your mistakes, Prescott and the offense can’t gift Brady extra possessions.

Unfortunately for Dallas, the Buccaneers' defense has been creating turnovers in bunches. In the last four games, Tampa Bay has forced eight turnovers, so we can bet they will be on their toes for a Prescott interception.

If Dallas has any hope of progressing, Dak and the offense can’t have the turnovers pile up.

We're not just suggesting "winning the turnover margin.''

We're saying zero turnovers.

Get after Brady: Getting after Brady has been something that no team this season has been able to do consistently. The Buccaneers have allowed a league-low 22 sacks on the season.

So they protect Brady well. Not only that, Brady is smart and throws the ball away quicker than any other quarterback this season. If a receiver isn’t open, Brady throws it in the dirt.

This makes getting the Buccaneers in long down situations really tough, but not impossible … especially with stars in Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Dorance Armstrong have all played their part in 54 Cowboys sacks on the season.

Putting Brady on the ground will go a long way in securing passage to the next round of the playoffs. Can it be done?

Stop the run: The Buccaneers’ most significant area of worry is the lack of a running game. Just three times this season Tampa Bay rushed has for over 100 yards, and one of those was against Dallas in Week 1.

Not allowing “Playoff Lenny” in Leonard Fournette to run wild should be high on the to-do list. Having Leighton Vander Esch back to clog the running lanes should help, but the Cowboys can’t allow Tampa Bay to control the line of scrimmage with the run game.

The Buccaneers have only rushed for 100 yards once in their last seven games and have totals of 67 and 86 rushing in their last two outings, so Dallas knows Tampa struggles.

Asking Brady to throw to beat you isn’t exactly a strategy that many Cowboys fans will like, but the seven-time Super Bowl champ isn’t the same this year as touchdowns, yards per play, and quarterback rating are all his lowest since 2019.

Convert the third downs: Dallas and third downs have been a match made in heaven since Prescott returned. That was until Week 18. The Cowboys converted just four of their 18 attempts, going at a measly 22% against the Commanders.

Overall, Dallas is the sixth-best team in the NFL at converting third downs, or the money down as some call it, converting 45 percent of the time.

Tampa Bay, however, is equally as good at stopping third-down conversions, ranking sixth in the NFL, allowing a conversion just 36.86 percent of the time.

Getting into short "make-ables'' will be crucial for Dak and Dallas to keep the chains moving and also to keep Brady on the sideline.

---

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Cowboys?

America's Team ALERT! Get your Dallas Cowboys game TICKETS from SI Tickets ... here!

Follow FishSports on Twitter

Follow Adam Schultz on Twitter

Follow Cowboys / Fish on Facebook

Subscribe to the Cowboys Fish Report on YouTube for constant daily Cowboys live-stream podcasts and reports!