Clarence Hill: 5 Things the Dallas Cowboys need to do to beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ever since the clock ran out on quarterback Dak Prescott in the bitter 23-17 wildcard loss to San Francisco 49ers before a shocked fan base at AT&T Stadium last year, the Dallas Cowboys have been motivated by redemption.

Throughout the off season and training camp they focused on getting an opportunity to make amends.

Coach Mike McCarthy compared them to a heard of Buffalo who run through the storm not away from it.

One year later, the moment of truth is here for Prescott and the Cowboys when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday in the NFC wildcard game.

They achieved the initial goal of returning the playoffs, fashioning a 12-5 record.

It marks the first time Cowboys have made the playoffs in back-to-back years since 2006-2007 and the first time have had back-to-back 12-win seasons since 1995-1996.

The Cowboys still have the bitter pain of last year on their minds. The disappointment of last week’s 26-6 loss to the Washington Commanders put more fuel on the fire as a reminder of what can happen when you don’t play your best.

“Damn right. Damn right,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Obviously after a game like last week, it helps remind you how precious these moments are. You don’t get these opportunities, you don’t get a lot of opportunities to play this game in general, but to be in the playoffs, have the team that we have and knowing we’ve got to make sure it counts now.”

Said receiver CeeDee Lamb: “It’s the last reason we went home. The reason the whole season ended. It’s win or go home. If you win you keep going in. If you lose, your ass be at home. I don’t want to go home.”

Because they had not made the playoffs in back-to-back years in recent memory means that no team had opportunity to channel that frustration into anything of substance.

That’s not the case this time. It’s fresh in their memory and has been a driving force all season.

“That’s huge,’’ Prescott said. “That’s the biggest point when you talk about not hiding your scars and using your pain as your motivation or your purpose however you want to say it. It’s that there’s a majority of these guys were here last year and felt that and felt how close we thought we were, but realized the things that we didn’t take care of and to be able to have those uncomfortable conversations and grow from that. And not only that, just to have all of the coaches intact. That’s as big as anything as well. You’re talking about culture. You’re talking about trust and belief.

“I think that speaks not only obviously to the success we’ve had this year, but the way we’re going to handle the postseason.’’It got them through regular season.

The only thing that matters is what they do now.

“We did what we needed to do to get to this point,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “Now, it’s all about winning these next games one game at a time. This is obviously the biggest game of the year. Who cares about having a good regular season. We all want the big hardware. We all know what we have to do at this time of the year.”

5 Things the Cowboys need to do to beat the Buccaneers:

The time is now for Mike McCarthy

When the Cowboys hired Mike McCarthy before the 2020 season it was with the hope that the veteran coach with a Super Bowl title on his resume could the franchise back having postseason success again.

The Cowboys have just four playoff wins since their last Super Bowl title in 1995 and had just two wildcard wins in 10 years under coach Jason Garrett.

McCarthy was brought in to better than Garrett not duplicate Garrett.

So after losing in the wildcard playoffs last year, there are natural questions about McCarthy’s future if the Cowboys don’t beat the Buccaneers on Monday.

Three days after owner Jerry Jones said the outcome against Tampa Bay would have no impact on McCarthy’s job status, vice president Stephen Jones punted when asked to answer a similar question.

“Yeah, you know, I’ve got interest — we’re totally focused on the Buccaneers 110%,” Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan. “I know everybody on our team is, I know our coaching staff is, I know our organization is. That’s what we’re focused on.”

Can Cowboys overcome presence, dominance of Tom Brady?

Stop if you heard this more than a few times before: Tom Brady is undefeated in his career against the Dallas Cowboys.

He was 5-0 against them with the New England Patriots. And he is now 2-0 in the series as quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And while he has never faced the Cowboys in the playoffs, his mastery and dominance are huge talking points heading into Monday’s wildcard game.

For the Cowboys, it’s about embracing the challenge while also understanding that they are facing the Buccaneers, not just one player.

“I mean obviously you give the guy respect,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “He’s won as much as anybody has in this league so you’ve got to give him the respect there but understanding that this is a team game and obviously knowing that, knowing how good and talented our defense is, trusting those guys that they’re going to go out there and do their job and handle that side of the ball. If we get up, not giving them a chance.

“And if it’s a close game, understanding what they’re capable of doing, the way they’ve won a lot of their games throughout this season in the last couple of minutes. Just knowing that we’ve got to take care of our business and can’t leave it in his hands.”

It’s Brady’s late game success that has the Cowboys concerned.

“He owns the moment,” safety Jayron Kearse said. “I just believe throughout the course of his long, long career he’s done a great job of own that moment every time.”

He is also owns the Cowboys.

“It’s 2023. He ain’t beat us this year. That is all I’m worried about,” Kearse said.

Linebacker Micah Parsons, who had two sacks in the season opener against Tampa Bay, is excited about the opportunity.

“It’s always cool going against Brady because none of us know when his last game is,” Parsons said. “So hopefully we get the win and get to be known for being the last. If not we’ll probably see him again next year, we know how he is. But he’s just like any other quarterback. He bleeds the same way. He throws. He’s just a better quarterback than most. So the challenge is higher.”

Would you like to retire him?

“I’m not going to say nothing like that,” Parsons said. “I admire his game and what he brings to the game. I believe he can play as long as he wants. He can be 60 still playing. It’s just him.”

Prescott just wants to beat him

“For sure. I mean obviously in a playoff game, as I just said, a guy that’s won as much as anybody else has,” Prescott said. “But it will be special just to get this road win with these guys in this locker room.”

Parsons ready to become a legend

Parsons didn’t finish the 2022 season like he wanted to statistically.

He led the Cowboys with 13.5 sacks, good enough to finish seventh in the league. He was named a starter to Pro Bowl and earned first-team All-Pro.

But Parsons only had 1.5 sacks the last six games as he battled a hand injury and the toll of being focal point of the opposing team’s blocking schemes, which including double teams, triple teams and chips.

“Is Everything going to be great? No. I mean you’ve got to play with what you got,” Parsons said. “You drop some food off the table, you going to eat it or you going to starve? OK, eat it then. You’ve got to deal with some things. Deal with certain conditions. I’ve dealt with things all my life. Why stop now? I feel like I’m going to be the most prepared I have all year in terms of how I’m preparing and how I want to bring into this game.

But Parsons is ready to take his game to the next level in the playoffs.

“Honestly, I feel like as far as we go, these are going to be my best games,” Parsons said. “That’s just because I want it. Regular season is cool. You guys get all hyped up. But this is where legends are made.”

Xavier Rhodes to the rescue at cornerback?

A huge issue for the Cowboys going against Tom Brady and Buccaneers passing attack is what are they going to do at the cornerback spot opposite Trevon Diggs.

It’s been a problem since Anthony Brown suffered a season-ending torn Achilles. Kelvin Joseph was a disappointment and Nahshon Wright and Treyvon Mullen have struggled at the position.

The Cowboys signed 10-year veteran Xavier Rhodes last week and he may be option in short notice.

Rhodes played in just two games with the Bills this season before being cut but he has picked up the defense fast and brings experience that the other options don’t have.

“Can I go? If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here,” Rhodes said. “I feel great.”

Rhodes is here because the former first round pick of the Vikings and three-time Pro Bowler has some familiarity with Cowboys senior defensive assistant George Edwards, safety Jayron Kearse and four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr from thie time together in Minnesota.

So what does Rhodes bring to Cowboys?

“Veteran [mentality] — 10 years in,” Rhodes said. “I’ve seen a lot of things and been in a lot of situations throughout my NFL career. I’ve been to the NFC Championship and throughout the playoffs. You can name it all, I’ve probably been through it, and having that experience to teach the young guys what to expect in certain situations and what certain quarterbacks like to throw to; and who their favorite players are.

“I’ve been through a lot. I can definitely help teach them about situational football.”

Need to get back to run game

The foundation for the Cowboys success on offense all season has been a strong running game.

It has allowed them convert on third downs and created big plays in the passing game with play action.

There is no argument that the Cowboys struggled on the ground in recent weeks.

They must run the ball against the Buccaneers and it will help that center Tyler Biadasz will be back in the fold to stabilize the offense line after missing the past two games with a sprained ankle.

The Cowboys struggled with communication and defensive line stunts.

“It’s a little easier when you’ve got someone that’s started there for however many games Tyler’s started for us” Elliott said. “But we have enough guys to communicate and get the points down and figure all that stuff out.”

Tampa Bay ranks 14th in the league in run defense, giving up an average of 116.4 yards per game. But two of their last three outings including giving up 174 yards on the ground to the Atlanta Falcons and 121 to the Arizona Cardinals.

“We know our identity as a team,” Elliott said. “We know what we need to do as an offense to get going.”