ARLINGTON, Texas - Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving delivered the best rushing performance of his NFL career Thursday night, carrying 21 times for a career-best 165 yards and two touchdowns to lift the 0-4 Buccaneers past the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thursday Night Football.
Irving finished with 175 yards from scrimmage - third-most of his career - adding two receptions for 10 yards and a receiving touchdown to his rushing score. It marked the first time in his career he recorded both a rushing and receiving touchdown in a single game, and his fourth career 100-yard rushing performance. The outing also pushed Irving past the 2,000-yard rushing milestone for his career.
The signature moment came on the first play of the second half, with Tampa Bay trailing 10-7. Irving broke free on a 72-yard run - the longest of his NFL career - that set up a touchdown and swung momentum decisively to the Buccaneers. Assistant Tight Ends Coach Jeff Kastl said the play unraveled from its original design before Irving improvised his way to a game-altering gain.
“It was an open-side zone,” Kastl said. “Tristan [Wirfs] pushed out and blocked six. We were going to bypass with the wide receivers and based on the look, we sent the motion in order to move people where we wanted. Ted ends up blocking the corner, Tristan pushed out and Ben [Bredeson] is soloed up and we brought everybody to the party. Cade was going to insert to block 53 and so as you look at it, we had interference and they tried to run the backer through and Graham did a good job of just getting enough of him to move him out of the way and Cade had to negotiate and get his way through and ended up playing harder for longer to create chaos. From there, Bucky was just being Bucky. He ended up finding a way through somehow and got to the second level.”
Midway through the third quarter, with Tampa Bay up 14-10 and facing first and goal, Irving punched in a one-yard counter gap touchdown to extend the lead to 21-10. Guard Cody Mauch and tight end Payne Durham served as pullers on the play - a scheme Irving ran frequently at Oregon and that proved effective for the Buccaneers in 2024. Kastl said the play unfolded largely as drawn up, a rarity at the NFL level.
“Based on their match, you can see them come across, talking to each other, so as we looked at it, we ran counter, a gap scheme play so everybody on the play side was going to secure their inside gap to the second-level defender,” Kastl said. “That one actually happened as we anticipated.”
The Buccaneers return to Tampa Bay for their next home game as they look to build on the momentum of their first win of the season.