Bucky Irving and rookie QB Jalon Daniels help Bucs beat sloppy Cowboys 24-16 for 1st win of season

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bucky Irving already had his first 100-yard game since his rookie year in 2024 when the Tampa Bay running back finished off the Dallas Cowboys with a run that gave him a career high.

Jalon Daniels, the undrafted rookie filling in for franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield, enjoyed the view while doing plenty himself to get the Buccaneers their first win of the season in just his second start.

Irving ran for 165 yards, including a 72-yard run to set up the touchdown that put Tampa Bay ahead for good while scoring twice himself, and the Buccaneers beat the Cowboys 24-16 on Thursday night.

Daniels threw a TD pass to Irving in the first half while directing a turnover-free offense and amid several Dallas miscues, finishing an efficient 19 of 25 for 189 yards as the Bucs piled up 241 yards rushing.

Daniels is filling in for Baker Mayfield, who's expected to be sidelined at least one more game with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.

“Six months ago, if you would have told me that my first win would have been on a Thursday night, (Amazon) Prime football game, I don’t know what I would have told you,” said Daniels, who threw three interceptions in a 17-14 loss to Green Bay in his debut. “Like I keep saying, through all the highs and lows, the bads, the goods, go through every single emotion because at the end of the day, it makes you better and prepares you for any situation that comes down the line.”

Irving had 21 carries and a 7.9-yard average while scoring on a 5-yard pass and a 1-yard plunge as the Bucs (1-4) finally found some footing in a season that started with expectations of winning the NFC South.

“We lost the first quarter of the season,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “We didn’t lose the second, third or fourth. We’ve still got to play those. So we started the second quarter tonight. It’s a long way to climb out, but at the same time, we’re upbeat and if we played as hard and played as effective, we’ll be OK.”

Dak Prescott led a 99-yard drive and threw a 13-yard TD pass to George Pickens in the fourth quarter before his second interception off a tipped pass helped Tampa Bay clinch the win in the final two minutes.

The Cowboys (2-3) continued an up-and-down start to the season, this time with an offense that was as times as sloppy as the defense has been in both seasons under coach Brian Schottenheimer.

“I didn’t plan on being 2-3, disappointed by that for sure,” Schottenheimer said. “But we’re just getting started. There’s a lot of football left and we’re gonna play better. We know that.”

After Irving's long run on the first play of the second half was followed by receiver Emeka Egbuka's 14-yard TD run on a jet sweep, Prescott threw his first interception and the Dallas defense left Tez Johnson wide open on a 64-yard grab that led to Irving's 1-yard plunge for a 21-10 lead.

KaVontae Turpin's fumble on the subsequent kickoff led to a Tampa Bay field goal, but only after the Bucs converted a third-and-21 from the Dallas 48-yard line with Daniels' 21-yard pass to Egbuka.

The Cowboys were missing one of the pieces they recently added to try to fix a porous defense. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was a late scratch in what was supposed to be his second appearance since arriving in a trade from Pittsburgh last week.

Prescott was 24 of 42 for 316 yards in his first two-interception game of the season — his first picks since the opener.

Irving's 5-yard TD catch capped a 15-play, 73-yard drive that ran the final 10:44 off the clock in the first quarter and had a final count of 10:58. Then his 72-yard run was the first of two plays on an 86-yard drive that took exactly 1 minute.

Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb followed his career high of 17 catches, when he had 189 yards receiving and a touchdown last weekend against Houston, with just two catches for 9 yards on five targets. He was targeted 21 times against the Texans. Lamb exited the game with a quadriceps injury.

Buccaneers: LT Tristan Wirfs was sidelined by cramps in the second half.

Cowboys: LT Tyler Guyton left with a back issue in the second half. ... DB Alijah Clark exited with a hamstring injury in the first half and didn't return.

Buccaneers: Home against Pittsburgh on Oct. 18.

Cowboys: At Green Bay on Oct. 18.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) gets past Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dee Winters (53) in the second half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Yaya Diaby (0) intercepts a pass against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Cowboys' Kavontae Turpin (9) fumbles the ball on a kickoff return and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers recover in the second half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jalon Daniels passes against the Dallas Cowboys in the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) dives past Dallas Cowboys defensive back Reddy Steward (27) for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

CHICAGO (AP) — José Ramírez homered and drove in three runs, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Thursday night to send their AL Division Series to a winner-take-all Game 5.

Patrick Bailey also went deep and Game 2 starter Gavin Williams came out of the bullpen to get the last three outs as the Guardians won for the second consecutive day in Chicago after beginning their postseason with two straight losses at home. Jo Adell hit a two-run single to cap a six-run sixth inning for the AL Central champions.

Cleveland is looking to become the first major league team to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series since the 2017 New York Yankees accomplished the feat against, well, Cleveland. Teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have gone on to win 83 of 93 times.

Game 5 is back in Cleveland on Saturday night, and the winner will open the American League Championship Series at Tampa Bay next Monday.

“As we’ve battled back and forth with these guys, obviously fitting that it’s going to come down to this,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “It’s been how the back and forth has been all year.”

Chicago's bullpen — one of its biggest strengths in a surprising season — is suddenly looking very tired. Grant Taylor was hit hard after pitching 5 1/3 scoreless innings over the first two games of the series, allowing four runs and four hits without retiring any of the six batters he faced during Cleveland's rally in the sixth.

Miguel Vargas homered late for the White Sox, who flopped in their second straight bid to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since the 1906 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Sam Antonacci drove in two runs.

All-Star closer Cade Smith worked a scoreless eighth for Cleveland but then gave up Vargas' first postseason homer and a walk to start the ninth. He was replaced by Williams, who was making his first career relief appearance and could still start Game 5 as well.

The right-hander needed 18 pitches to get the final three outs Thursday after throwing 98 on Monday. He was the seventh Guardians reliever as the teams combined to use 15 pitchers in a game that took 3 hours, 39 minutes.

Williams went 14-8 this season and led the AL with 248 strikeouts.

Cleveland trailed 2-0 before rallying in the fifth. Bailey led off with a pinch-hit homer, and Steven Kwan chased Erick Fedde with a one-out single.

Jordan Hicks came in and Ramírez drove a 99.9 mph fastball deep to right-center for just his second homer since Sept. 1, a span of 26 games. The seven-time All-Star had surgery after he broke a bone in his left hand on a swing June 13.

It was Ramírez's first postseason homer since 2024 and No. 5 overall. He also starred in Game 3, finishing with two hits and two RBIs in Cleveland's 9-3 victory.

Chicago responded with two runs in the bottom half, sending a charge through the crowd of 39,920. Antonacci was hit by a pitch from Tim Herrin with the bases loaded, and Brenton Doyle made it 4-3 with a sacrifice fly. The White Sox had the bases loaded with two down, but rookie Braden Montgomery struck out swinging against winning pitcher Erik Sabrowski.

Antonacci has been plunked 33 times this year, including a franchise-record 29 in the regular season. The rookie became the first player in postseason history to be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded multiple times in a career, after he was also plunked in the same situation in Game 3.

Losing pitcher Anthony Kay started the sixth for Chicago, but the left-hander was replaced by Taylor after Travis Bazzana's RBI double tied it at 4. Bailey greeted Taylor with a run-scoring single, and Cleveland started to pull away.

Walks by Brayan Rocchio and Kwan loaded the bases for Ramírez, who made it 6-4 with an infield single. Chase DeLauter added another run-scoring single before Adell capped the outburst with a liner to right that drove in Kwan and Ramírez.

“They’re making really good swing decisions. They’re making contact. We talked about how good a job they do of doing that," Venable said. “When you walk guys, they make you pay. We were able to get away with it a couple times the first couple games. These last two, just weren’t able to.”

Adell hit a three-run triple during Cleveland's Game 3 victory. He has four hits, three walks and six RBIs in the series.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Chicago White Sox players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)

Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas watches his solo home run during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Gavin Williams delivers during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez celebrates after hitting a 2-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez hits a 2-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)