Dallas Cowboys: Big takeaways from win vs. Buccaneers in Week 16

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 23: Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys carries the ball against De’Vante Harris #22 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium on December 23, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

The Dallas Cowboys were able to get a 27-20 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs and lock up the NFC East. Here we have 3 big takeaways from the game

It was much closer than they would have liked, but the Dallas Cowboys ended up getting a big win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-20, which locked up the NFC East for them.

They still have a lot to work on if they hope to make some noise in the playoffs, which was evident by how they struggled to put this one away against a team that had just five wins.

Dallas went up early thanks to a solid first drive, followed by a defensive touchdown courtesy of linebacker Jaylon Smith. Even so, they went into the half up by just four points. They put another 10 points on the board in the third quarter — with seven of those again being credited to the defense as a Randy Gregory fumble set them up with a short field.

Still, Dallas fought them off and even held off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt. After the Bucs scored a touchdown with just over two minutes to go, Tampa Bay tried an onside kick which was grabbed by linebacker Leighton Vander Esch.

Ezekiel Elliott then ran a first down after the two-minute warning, which allowed them to run the clock out. In the end, they walked away with the win and they can now rest in Week 17 as there’s nothing for them to play for.

We now take a look back at the win with our three big takeaways for the NFC East champions.

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