Who plays on Sunday Night Football tonight? Breaking down Buccaneers vs. Cowboys in Week 16

Posted by author December 22, 2024 Football

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Week 16’s “Sunday Night Football” clash between two NFC teams has big implications for one side and almost no implications for the other.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently hold the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoff bracket but have a lead of only one game in the NFC South division title race. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys have been all but mathematically eliminated from postseason contention and, essentially, can only hope to play spoiler.

Both teams are entering Week 16 fresh off of a win. Tampa Bay won in dominant fashion over the Los Angeles Chargers for its fourth straight victory. Dallas’ Week 15 defeat of the Carolina Panthers gave it three wins in its last four games.

Here’s everything to know about the Sunday Night Football game this week:

Who plays on Sunday Night Football tonight?

What time is the NFL game tonight?

Time: 8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT
Date: Sunday, Dec. 22

“Sunday Night Football” will kick off at its standard start time, 8:20 p.m. ET.

Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties during the game, with Cris Collinsworth providing color commentary and Melissa Stark reporting from the sidelines.

NBC’s weekly “Football Night in America” pregame show will begin at 7 p.m. ET and feature insight from a panel of analysts, including Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett, Chris Simms, Mike Florio, Devin McCourty, Tony Dungy, and more.

How to watch ‘SNF’ tonight? TV channel, streaming info

Stream ‘Sunday Night Football’ all season with a Peacock subscription

For the 2024 NFL season, NBC will broadcast “Sunday Night Football” weekly.

Fans who prefer to stream football games can watch “Sunday Night Football” with a Peacock subscription or with Fubo.

Sunday Night Football preview: Buccaneers vs. Cowboys

The Buccaneers will be looking to keep their offense hot in both facets – running and passing – after four straight games scoring more than 25 points. Last week, they scored 40 points on a team that boasted the NFL’s top scoring defense entering Week 15.

Veteran wide receiver Mike Evans has remained within striking distance of an 11th straight 1,000-yard season despite missing three and a half games with a hamstring injury. He caught fire against Los Angeles last week with nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Rookie running back Bucky Irving has also been a revelation for the Bucs. He has two 100-yard outings in his last three games and has a chance to exploit a Dallas defense that ranks 30th in rush EPA allowed since Week 10.

For the Cowboys, the key will be figuring out how to crack a tough Buccaneers run defense. Starting running back Rico Dowdle has been on fire since Week 12, when he rushed for 86 yards on 19 carries against the Washington Commanders. He had more than 100 rushing yards in each of the three games since.

If Dallas can’t get Dowdle and its run game going, it will be up to quarterback Cooper Rush to boost the passing offense. That’s no small challenge since the Cowboys struggled to find success in the air even before starter Dak Prescott got hurt – their EPA on dropbacks sat at -0.052 through the first nine weeks. In the six weeks since, they’ve been even worse, with a dropback EPA of -0.117.

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