Buccaneers vs Cowboys: Dallas' Biggest Winners & Losers from NFL Week 3

The Dallas Cowboys faced off against the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday in a game that featured 23 combined penalties, five turnovers and six sacks.

Yeah, it was that stomach turning.

Despite the Cowboys mistakes and errors, they were still able to best Tampa 16-10.

Before we get into a list of winners and losers, I have to be honest. There will not be many winners because Dallas looked so bad on offense.

The offensive line was flagged for eight false start penalties, and Romo was destroyed by Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett twice. After one hit, Romo was sprawled out on the turf with his eyes closed for a number of seconds before standing.

Dallas is now 2-1 and moves to face the Bears on Monday night at Cowboys stadium.

So here are a few winners and losers from their game against the Bucs, but mostly losers.

LOSER: Cowboys Offensive Line

If this is bottom for this unit, then the good news is that it happened very early in the season.

The offensive line jumped offsides eight times from my count with two coming from tight end Jason Witten, three from right tackle Doug Free and one from left tackle Tyron Smith.

Guard Mackenzy Bernadeau was beaten by Bucs lineman Gerald McCoy on one play that led to a sack and fumble.

McCoy should have been flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Romo as he hit him high, and Michael Bennett planted him in the mid section.

Romo lost the ball and Tampa recovered, but only to punt it back to Dallas.

Romo was sacked earlier by Bennett that caused another fumble recovered by Tampa. He was harassed all day, pressured many times and knockdown on multiple occasions.

This unit looks synthetic and amiss. There is no continuity, but I can't really blame them for that. Center Ryan Cook was thrown into the fire after Phil Costa went down with an injury. He's still learning, and they have only played together for three weeks.

Even so, they have to do a better job of protecting Romo, and he has to do a better job of protecting the ball.

WINNER: Miles Austin, WR

Austin led the team in receiving yards with 107 on five catches. He injured his ribs just before halftime but returned to have a pretty good game.

While the offense as a whole never seemed to kick into gear, Austin led the way with a 49-yard bomb from Romo that set a field goal up for Dan Bailey.

He's still struggling through injury, but Austin proved why the Cowboys place so much stock in his skill.

LOSER: Jason Witten, TE

I really don't want to place him on this list, but his performance warrants it.

He had three drops on the day and caught just two passes for eight yards and no touchdowns.

Simply put, Witten is struggling. He had the two false start penalties on top of the drops and was beaten for a sack as well.

Witten is still recovering from a spleen injury he suffered early in the preseason, and this may be contributing to his bad play as of late.

At this point, it is safe to wonder if the Cowboys would be better off playing John Phillips or rookie James Hanna.

Hopefully, Witten can get back on track next week, but as of right now he has a case of the dropsies, and his confidence isn't at the highest.

WINNER: Dez Bryant, WR

Bryant is part of the reason as to why the Cowboys were able to hang on to this victory. He returned a 49-yard Tampa Bay punt back for a 44-yard return that led to a Dan Bailey field goal.

His return was late in the game and just about placed the last nail in the Bucs coffin.

He also contributed on the receiving side with 62 yards on six catches.

Bryant has been AWOL for the first two weeks but returned to help his team when they needed him most on Sunday.

LOSER: Barry Church, S

Church is lost for the season, hence, the reason why he receives this title.

According to Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, Church tore his ACL against Tampa and will have season-ending knee surgery on Monday.

This is Church’s first season starting, and he looked to have a big impact for the Cowboys' new look defensive backfield.

With free safety Gerald Sensabaugh out with a calf strain, Dallas may be forced to sign a veteran or turn to rookie Mana Silva. 

WINNER: Tony Romo, QB

Romo accounted for three turnovers on Sunday, but no matter for him as he still led his team to victory.

His first one was an ill-timed throw that resulted in an interception. He tried to force the ball into Miles Austin and was picked off by Bucs corner Aqib Talib.

The next two, I will not completely fault him.

He was sacked by Bucs Michael Bennett, who was able to partially knock the ball loose. As the ball was coming out, Romo attempted to act as if he was trying to pass the ball to running back DeMarco Murray.

It was originally called an incomplete pass but after a Tampa challenge, the call was overturned and ruled a fumble.

On the next turnover, Romo was sandwiched between Gerald McCoy and Michael Bennett. The ball came out after Romo got his bell rung, and the Bucs recovered.

Even still, Romo engineered a late drive that resulted in a field goal that sealed the Cowboys victory.

He had no touchdown passes and had obvious issues with his offensive line at times. In the end, Dallas still will be marked as victors, and Romo's 283 passing yards were a big reason as to why.

LOSER: Replacement Refs

Between the missed call when Gerald McCoy banged helmets with Tony Romo to an official throwing his hat down in the end zone that made receiver Kevin Ogletree slip and fall, the replacement refs did not do a very good job on Sunday.

I will stop short of blaming them fully as I believe the NFL shoulders the lions share of what's happening between the hash marks.

But this needs to end soon. These refs are not NFL grade professional referees, and the product and players are suffering.

Player safety is being compromised, and the Cowboys may have scored a touchdown if not for Ogletree's slip and fall.

WINNER: Brandon Carr, CB

Carr shut down Bucs receiver Vincent Jackson. Most were concerned about Jackson’s size as he stands at 6’5”, and Carr is only six feet even.

It didn’t matter on Sunday as Jackson was held to just one catch and 29 yards receiving.

Carr had safety help over the top as the Cowboys made sure to take Jackson out of the game, but Carr did his job of shadowing Jackson and forcing him out of the gameplan.

As a whole, the Cowboys secondary held Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman to just 110 passing yards, a rating of 45.2 and only 10 completions.

Freeman averaged just a little over one yard per attempt until late in the fourth quarter when he completed a couple of long passes. 

LOSER: Josh Freeman, QB

Yeah, he's not a Cowboys player, but I have to shine the spotlight on his play. Freeman has a nasty habit of staring his receivers down, giving the Cowboys secondary an opportunity either a break on the ball or at least make a play on it.

He holds on to the ball for far too long, leading to two strip sacks by Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware.

Freeman never looked comfortable and his offensive coordinator didn't seem to do a lot to help him throughout the game.

I still believe that Freeman is a pretty good, young talent, but Sunday proved that he still has a lot of growing to do in this league.

WINNER: Cowboys Running Game

Here's why I say the Cowboys running game won on Sunday despite just 38 yards on the ground with a paltry 1.7 yards per carry.

The Cowboys offensive line opened just about no holes, and the Bucs line plugged up the few that were open.

But Garrett stuck with the run. Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray had 18 carries for just 38 yards, but he scored a touchdown, and Garrett stuck with him.

That shows that Garrett trusts Murray and believes in his big play ability.

There was a little balance as Romo chucked the ball 39 times, and Dallas ran the ball 23 times. Romo had four of those, but that accounts for scrambles and sacks.

Dallas had to pass to get their offense going, but Garrett continued to go to Murray even when it wasn't working.