A late touchdown drive gave Tampa Bay a boost headed into the locker room, but the Dallas Cowboys are still leading the Buccaneers 17-13 at halftime.
The referees helped Tampa move down the field with a couple of questionable calls. Randy Gregory was hit with a bogus roughing the passer penalty and Xavier Woods was called for a “defenseless receiver” hit. Troy Aikman and Joe Buck were dubious of both calls in their commentary.
A rare defensive touchdown helped the Cowboys build their lead early. Gregory hit a scrambling Jameis Winston from behind to dislodge the ball, and Jaylon Smith scooped it up and ran 69 yards to the endzone.
Dak Prescott had a rushing touchdown to first put Dallas on the scoreboard. The Cowboys had a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Brett Maher hit a 59-yard field goal to give Dallas its only points of the second quarter.
Team captain and starting DE Tyrone Crawford suffered a neck injury on just the second play of the game. He was taken off on a cart but had movement in his extremities. Crawford was taken to the hospital and the severity of his injury hasn’t been reported yet.
Elsewhere in the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles are trailing the Houston Texans 16-13 at halftime. Thanks to Washington’s loss yesterday, Dallas can clinch the division today with either their own win or an Eagles loss.
The Cowboys will get the ball back to start the second half.
