At 8-6, the Buccaneers are still very much in the hunt for a place in the postseason out of the NFC. With the team's recent success, they have had three late-season games flexed; the Bucs' Week 14 and 16 games against the Saints were moved from 1 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. and the team's Week 15 matchup with the Cowboys was flexed to primetime.
A behind-the-scenes look at the Buccaneers' game against the Cowboys.
Bucs vs. Cowboys
Bucs vs. Cowboys
93 DT Gerald McCoy
Bucs vs. Cowboys
Bucs vs. Cowboys
Bucs vs. Cowboys
28 CB Vernon Hargreaves
Bucs fans
Bucs fan
3 QB Jameis Winston
Bucs fans
28 CB Vernon Hargreaves
Bucs fans
Bucs fans
Bucs fans
28 CB Vernon Hargreaves
29 DB Ryan Smith
Bucs fans
3 QB Jameis Winston
45 TE Alan Cross and #84 TE Cameron Brate
58 LB Kwon Alexander
Bucs vs. Cowboys
28 CB Vernon Hargreaves, and #45 TE Alan Cross
3 QB Jameis Winston
Head Coach Dirk Koetter
Bucs vs. Cowboys
22 RB Doug Martin
54 LB Lavonte David
93 DT Gerald McCoy
93 DT Gerald McCoy
74 G Ali Marpet
3 QB Jameis Winston
89 WR Russell Shepard
37 S Keith Tandy
28 CB Vernon Hargreaves
89 WR Russell Shepard
76 OT Donovan Smith
Bucs vs. Cowboys
93 DT Gerald McCoy, #37 S Keith Tandy, and #30 S Bradley McDougald
37 S Keith Tandy
52 LB Cameron Lynch and #3 QB Jameis Winston
Bucs vs. Cowboys
Bucs vs. Cowboys
30 S Bradley McDougald
3 QB Jameis Winston
Bucs vs. Cowboys
Head Coach Dirk Koetter
37 S Keith Tandy
3 QB Jameis Winston and Head Coach Dirk Koetter
Special Teams Coordinator Nate Kaczor
58 LB Kwon Alexander and #92 DE William Gholston
22 RB Doug Martin
Bucs vs. Cowboys
Head Coach Dirk Koetter
22 RB Doug Martin
3 QB Jameis Winston
11 WR Adam Humphries
11 WR Adam Humphries
3 QB Jameis Winston
84 TE Cameron Brate
54 LB Lavonte David
Head Coach Dirk Koetter
3 QB Jameis Winston
29 DB Ryan Smith
93 DT Gerald McCoy
When the Buccaneers took on the NFC-leading Cowboys in Week 15, Tampa Bay and Dallas drew one of the largest audiences of any Sunday Night Football game this season.
In total, NBC reported that the game averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 24.3 million viewers, which is the second-highest audience for a Sunday Night Football game all season, trailing only the Cowboys' Week 14 game against the Giants. The game peaked at 25.3 million viewers between 11 and 11:15 p.m.
The Total Audience Delivery number reflects impressions across all of NBC's platforms. There were 24.2 million viewers who watched the game strictly on TV, which is the third-highest Week 15 primetime rating since 1995. The Bucs' game against Dallas saw a 34 percent increase from last year's Week 15 primetime game when Arizona met Philadelphia.
While the Buccaneers fell, 26-20, in the final minutes of the game, Tampa Bay's up-and-coming team is certainly drawing national interest. NBC expects the game to be the most-viewed primetime TV show of the week when the final numbers are released.
