Buccaneers vs. Cowboys: Sunday Night Football Picks and Predictions
Tonight features an NFC South vs. NFC East clash deep in the heart of Texas on Sunday Night Football tonight between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys. We’ve got Sunday Night Football picks and predictions for the game below for PrizePicks and NFL DFS.
Below, we’ll highlight some of the best NFL DFS picks for Sunday Night Football and a touchdown scorer pick for the game on PrizePicks.
Don’t forget to head to the PrizePicks NFL board, lock in your picks, and build your Lineup to get in on the real money sports action.
Sunday Night Football Picks: Buccaneers vs. Cowboys
Here are three of the top Buccaneers vs. Cowboys picks and predictions for Sunday Night Football on PrizePicks, plus a score prediction.
- Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving 13.5 Longest Rush — More
- Buccaneers WR Mike Evans 89.5 Receiving Yards — More (Demon)
- TD Scorer Pick: Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb
- Score Prediction: Buccaneers 28, Cowboys 24
Buccaneers vs. Cowboys Sunday Night Football: Time, TV, Location
Date: Sunday, December 22, 2024
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Tex.
TV: NBC, Peacock
While both of these teams are still technically in the Playoff hunt as of Sunday morning, the Buccaneers are in control of their own destiny in the NFC South, while the Cowboys need a miracle to reach the Playoffs.
The Cowboys, whose season has been a major disappointment, will look to play playoff spoiler to the Buccaneers, who are virtually in a win-and-in situation. For the Baker Mayfield-led Bucs, with win tonight, their playoff chances increase to 93%, whereas a loss opens up the NFC — and drops their chances to 65%.
The Cowboys, whose postseason hopes are reaching impossible, have actually looked like a formidable squad of late despite the injuries that have plagued their season. Backup QB Cooper Rush has led them to wins in three of their last four, and pass rusher Micah Parsons is reigning terror in the backfield again — with 5.5 sacks in the last four games.
Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving 14.5 Yards Longest Rush — More
While the Buccaneers can’t decide who their RB1 is, the analytics favor Irving by a landslide over Rachaad White. Due to the split carry nature of their backfield, taking Irving’s projections can put you at the mercy of who gets the bulk of the carries that week. But longest rush has been more of a sure thing with Irving.
Across 14 games this season, Irving has only fallen short on this projection four times. Of the four misses, three were to top-six rush defenses in Detroit, Baltimore, and Kansas City. The only outlier being his miss against the Raiders defense.
What Irving lacks in volume, he makes up for in explosiveness. He currently ranks:
- 3rd in runs over 30+ yards
- T-2nd in runs over 40+ yards
- T-3rd in runs over 50+ yards
- T-2nd in yards after contact per attempt at 3.2 (of those with 50+ attempts)
- T-3rd in yards per attempt at 5.6 (of those with 50+ attempts)
The cherry on top? Irving now sees a defense that gives up 136.1 rushing yards per game, good for 29th in the NFL. I see him continuing his streak of breaking them off for big gains with ease.
Buccaneers WR Mike Evans 89.5 Receiving Yards — More (Demon)
Future Hall of Fame WR Mike Evans has hit 1,000 receiving yards every season since he came into the league in 2014. It hasn’t mattered who’s throwing to him, or if the team is doing well — he always finds a way to hit the mark. Now the streak is in jeopardy, with 750 yards with only three games to go.
The beginning of the season for the Buccaneers offense was the Chris Godwin show; then, after his season-long injury, Mike Evans got hurt as well. After four weeks of recovery, he’s back and has the 1,000-yard mark in his sights.
The good news is, he isn’t alone in the effort to maintain the 1K streak. QB Baker Mayfield is in fact “thinking about it more than Mike is”. All that stands against him is a defense that comes in at 21st in passing yards allowed per game, and a defense that has been plagued with injuries.
To hit 1,000 receiving yards, Evans needs to average 84 yards a game for the final three to stay on track for the milestone. If the record isn’t enough incentive — those yards across 18 or more receptions would net him a cool $3 million in incentives.
Since returning from injury, Evans is averaging 103.5 yards per game over four games. I see the late season push continuing as both the money and accolades are more than enough motivation. Evans should be able to green out this projection on Sunday Night Football.
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TD Scorer Prediction: Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (Demon)
Believe it or not, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott had 11 TDs and 8 interceptions before he was shut down for the season. Cooper Rush on the season has 10 TDs and 3 interceptions. Of Lamb’s 6 touchdowns, four of them have come since Rush took over.
While the TDs have been more sparse than Lamb drafters and fans had hoped for, the volume with Rush under center did not cause a drop. Lamb is averaging 10 targets per game with Rush at QB. Lamb currently has TD grabs in back-to-back games, the first time he’s done so all season — and will look to extend the streak to three.
The matchup is perfect for the Cowboys to find Lamb in the end zone tonight. The Buccaneers run the most Cover 3 in the NFL. Lamb’s targets per route run (TPPR) vs all coverages is 28% — already an impressive number. Against Cover 3, it’s bumped up to 33%. His yards per route run also increases from 2.6 YPPR to 2.81 YPPR.
The Buccaneers blitz at the highest rate in the NFL — another scheme Lamb excels against. When Dallas is not blitzed, he posts a 26% TPPR, 1.68 YPRR, and 29.1% first read target share. When Dallas gets blitzed, all his numbers jump up — 36% TPPR, 4.32 YPRR, and 42.6% first read target share.
Couple that with Rush ranking third-highest in fantasy points per dropback against the blitz since Week 11, and Lamb seeing the ball early, often, and in the end zone seems likely.
Note: Demon picks add a payout boost to your lineup on PrizePicks, as they are more difficult projections to hit.
Sunday Night Football Prediction: Buccaneers 28, Cowboys 24
While the Cowboys actually match up really well against the Buccaneers style and scheme defensively, I see the Buccaneers having way more to play for. The Bucs are driven by motivation to secure their spot in the playoffs, whereas the Cowboys would be better off tanking at this point for a better draft pick.
I also don’t forecast the Cowboys being able to slow the red-hot Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, along with the 1-2 punch of Bucky Irving and Rachaad White that has been so good all season, both on the ground and in the pass game.
In what I could see being a high scoring and fun to watch affair to round out the Sunday games, I believe the Buccaneers will add another one to the win column for a fifth-straight W.
Build Your NFL DFS Lineup on PrizePicks
Whether you’re going big with a Demon pick or staying safe with the Goblins, there’s no better way to add to the excitement of Sunday Night Football for Buccaneers vs. Cowboys than building your PrizePicks Lineup.
It’s the easiest way to get real money action on Sunday Night Football. By combining the picks above in a Power Play Lineup, you can reach 8x payouts for Sunday Night.
Just pick more or less on two or more player projections, set your lineup, and lock in for Sunday Night Football. The more you pick the more you stand to win. Keep coming back to the Playbook for more NFL DFS picks all season long.
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