The Tampa Bay Buccaneers take center stage in the NFL on Thursday night when they take on the 2-2 Cowboys at AT&T Stadum in Arlington, Texas. The Buccaneers are 0-4 for the first time in 13 years and are seeking their first win after four consecutive one-possession losses. Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels will make his second career start and his first on the road as the Bucs try to get their offense in a rhythm against a Dallas team that has scored 30.5 points per game but also allowed 28.0 per outing. To find out how to watch, listen and livestream the game, click here.
NFL analysts were impressed with the Cowboys’ performance in Week Four against Houston and expect Dak Prescott to remain red hot on Thursday night. One expert specifically predicted a 100-yard receiving night for CeeDee Lamb, against a Bucs defense that has yet to allow one of those in 2026. One analyst thinks the Buccaneers do have a chance if they can survive an early onslaught and then keep up with the high-scoring Dallas offense. One noted that the Dallas secondary has recently added a top performer in cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (trade with Pittsburgh) while the Bucs have recently lost one in safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (rib fracture).
While it’s hard to find an analyst who picks the Bucs as straight-up winners this week, there are some who can envision a tight battle for Thursday’s national audience. That’s true of Bleacher Report’s Kris Knox, who writes:
“I know the Buccaneers have no business keeping it close on a short week, in Dallas, and with an undrafted rookie at quarterback. Short-week games can be weird, though, and it’s already been a strange season. Really, this isn’t as much of a mismatch on paper as it might seem. Dallas’ defense is still quite bad and has struggled against both the run (31st) and the pass (24th). If Jalon Daniels can avoid turnovers and make the most of his scrambling ability, the Bucs might even make this one uncomfortably close for the Cowboys.”
The Buccaneers are 8.5-point underdogs on the road and NFL analysts are essentially united in their faith in the favorites. Here’s what some of them are predicting will occur on Thursday in Texas:
ESPN.com – For the second week in a row, ESPN’s Mighty 11 vote in unison against Tampa Bay
Sports Illustrated – It’s eight for eight on Dallas for the MMQB crew

Aaron Judge, who played as many innings for the New York Yankees as I did this postseason, sent the front office a clear message after Wednesday’s ALDS loss to the Tampa Bay Rays …
Fix it. Now.
I’m paraphrasing, of course, but I’m not far off.
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RAYS SWEEP YANKEES IN ALDS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL SPECTATOR INTERFERENCE DENIES ANTHONY VOLPE’S HOMER
For those who missed it, the Judge-less Yankees were swept by the Rays in a controversial Game 3 that saw Anthony Volpe’s game-tying home run get called back because of fan interference. New York would go on to lose, 4-3.
As for Judge … he couldn’t do anything about it. The Yankees superstar missed every postseason game with a right calf strain, and played just 66 games this season — a career-low, not counting the silly COVID season in 2020.
It was a lost season for Judge. A frustrating one. A contentious one, especially towards the end with manager Aaron Boone.
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And it all came to a head after Wednesday’s loss:
Yanks fans aren’t buying it
“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they [the front office] should go all-in and do what they need to do,” Judge said. “If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you’ve got to go out there and get it. That’s why I signed back here with the Yankees, to fight for a championship every single year. To go all in.”
Yeah, a pretty clear message to Brian Cashman and everyone in the front office from Aaron Judge.
Essentially, “Go fix it.”
Now, a couple things …
The Yankees have the best rotation in the American League, by a lot. They also have one of the top bullpens in the game.
The Yankees have the third-highest payroll in all of baseball. They spent a whopping $308 million this season. The Rays spent $95.6 million.
Judge himself costs $40 million. He alone costs nearly half of the entire Rays roster combined.
Again, Judge played 66 games this season and wasn’t even on the postseason roster.
YANKEES STAR AARON JUDGE HEADS BACK TO INJURED LIST WEEKS AFTER RETURNING FROM BROKEN RIB
Fan, by the way, were quick to point out that last one:
I could go on and on. It’s a bloodbath right now on Yankees social media. Everyone is miserable.
Fans are miserable. Players are, clearly, miserable.
We’ve already reached the “fire Aaron Boone!” portion of the offseason, and it’s not even 24 hours old yet.
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These comments from Judge seem to have struck a particular nerve, though. It’s one thing to make them after playing 150 games and performing in the postseason.
It’s another thing to say something when you’ve barely seen the field since June.
All rise!

Shaquille O’Neal is no stranger to having a lot of eyeballs on him, both literally and figuratively. For Indiana Fever star Kelsey Mitchell, it’s been an adjustment.
During the Fever’s end-of-season press conference on Saturday, Mitchell said that with the attention Caitlin Clark draws, she and her teammates get a lot of flak for being on the same team as Clark. O’Neal, having played in large and small markets next to superstars like Kobe Bryant throughout his career and dealt with criticism from fans, said Mitchell should take advantage of the attention.
“My advice is to take advantage of all the eyes that are. If the eyes are on one person and you’re next to that person, take advantage of them,” O’Neal told OutKick in a recent interview.
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O’Neal reflected on his journey and the different markets he played in throughout his illustrious career.
“(I went to) a small high school, still being the No. 1 player in the country, starting off in a small market, eventually going to a big market, but then returning back to a small market and win another championship,” O’Neal said.
Mitchell is a free agent at the end of the season and will be in high demand, as the 30-year-old has been an All-Star in each of the last four seasons and averaged a career-high 24.7 points per game this year. While Mitchell praised the organization, her comments drew speculation about whether she may leave the franchise with which she has spent the first nine seasons of her career.
O’Neal called Mitchell a “beautiful young lady and a fabulous young lady” and said he didn’t want to speak for her or about her to avoid breaking the athlete code, but he said he would advise her to stay in Clark’s orbit.
“I wish her well, but my advice if you’re playing next to somebody that has eyes that can bring you extra income, make sure you always stay next to that person,” O’Neal said.
Mitchell will enter free agency in late January, when the Fever will anxiously await her decision.
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Importance of an athlete’s brand
No athlete, current or former, may brand himself or herself better than O’Neal. The Basketball Hall of Famer wanted to make sure he surrounded himself with the right people when he began his career.
“I would say the first thing you do, you have to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you,” O’Neal said. “Fifty-two percent of all professional athletes went down and playing have nothing, so we maximized my potential. You know, learned a lot, did a lot, dreamed a lot, created a lot. I think in 1992, the way he marketed me and the way I marketed myself, a lot of a lot of athletes follow that even still to this day.”
O’Neal’s renowned brand manager, Leonard Armato, told OutKick that the epitome of having a successful brand as an athlete is to not only promote oneself but also to make good business decisions. In today’s day and age, Armato said athletes can be their own media companies.
With social media being born during O’Neal’s career, Armato said that the four-time NBA champion was the first to embrace social media and that technology can amplify an athlete’s capabilities. For O’Neal, it was paramount that no matter what he did, he stay true to himself.
“But you always have to be true to yourself. You know, we went first time with Leonard, we had a meeting with the image consulting firm and they tried to create a different image and he stopped the guy in the meeting. He says, ‘I know you’re an expert. I respect you what to do, but image is reality.’ So you definitely have to stay true to yourself,” O’Neal said.
“A lot of people who form characters that they can’t live up to. So, me for example, I am who I am. You know, my image is all about fun. I would love to be known as the ambassador of fun.”
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While O’Neal’s brand is strong, he said he has made many mistakes. After making those mistakes, he leaned into his core values and stayed true to himself.
“Every time I fail, I try to memorize what I did wrong and just create a new program. But I don’t like to say ‘You do this, you do this, you do that to each (mistake),’ but if you follow certain core values. To build relationships you have to stay true to yourself to learn from your failures and you have to do things the right in a consistent way, you could create a brand that will be known well beyond after your years of playing and you could be around forever,” O’Neal said.
Armato said a key mistake athletes make is surrounding themselves with the wrong people. Armato has a book coming out in November called “MAXIMIZE,” which details how to build and manage an athlete’s brand. O’Neal wrote the foreword to the book.

When it comes to tablets, only a few names are left standing: iPads, Galaxy Tabs, Surface and Fire. Amazon’s Fire tablets have acquired a bit of a cult following, thanks mostly to the value they deliver for their relatively low prices. So it’s a bit of a risky move for the company to announce today that it’s completely replacing that line with a new family of Alexa tablets. The good news is, you’ll still find the new 8-inch and 11-inch models fairly comparable to the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10. And the (probably) better news? The new Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro looks set to take on the iPad Pro.
The 12-inch device starts at $499, with a more premium variant going up to $549. At that price, the latter version comes with 16GB of RAM and a texturized screen that the company calls a “nanomatte” display. It’s powered by a 4-nanometer 8-core processor by MediaTek (specifically, the Dimensity 8400) and has some powerhouse display specs. It can refresh at up to 120Hz, has a 3:2 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 280ppi. It also has four speakers onboard with Dolby Atmos support for a surround sound-like experience, along with a promised 16-hour battery life. And as its new name suggests, Alexa is deeply integrated into the tablet’s interface. I’ll get into how all that felt in person in a bit.
I was able to speak with Panos Panay, the company’s head of devices, Alexa and Leo this week, along with a couple of reporters. Acknowledging the Fire tablet’s popularity, Panay said millions of units have been sold, as “they’re fairly inexpensive and different.”
The Alexa tablets, he added, are the result of 2.5 years of work. He said it was rebuilt from the ground up to offer “the most premium experience we possibly could” at “an affordable price point.”
Panay said Amazon had three areas of focus when designing the Alexa tablets: All the apps users want (via, for the first time, the Google Play Store) and “Alexa intertwined throughout the entire OS.” The third one, which actually was the first one he mentioned, seems to be a mix of the redesign and hardware.
Panay then went on to say that his philosophy whenever building a product is “What’s the one thing?” This one thing is slightly different from those three things we mentioned earlier. It’s the one thing that, according to Panay, should not be compromised on, no matter what. And for the Alexa tablet, “the one thing on this product was we were going to go reinvent the screen. No matter what.”
The thing that differentiates Amazon from Apple in this case though, is Kindle mode. “We challenged the team, because of the nanomatte display and what we could do with it and how it feels when you put a pen on it,” Panay said. “Shouldn’t this be a Kindle? Shouldn’t it be a Kindle Scribe?”
As the story goes, the team delivered. Kindle Mode is available across the entire Amazon Alexa tablet lineup, and it’s basically a focused fullscreen reading environment that mutes notifications and reduces blue light. It also extends battery life to allow for 20 hours of reading. You can customize what contacts or apps can break through when you’re in this mode, and for now it appears the only app that works with Kindle mode is, well, the Kindle app.
Since Kindle Mode only kicks in when you launch the Kindle app, there’s not a lot of setup you have to do. There’s also a pleasant animation when you enter and exit the app that has colors fade in and out, serving as a visual indicator of which mode you’re in.
You can tweak the software to default to one of three color schemes in this view: Ink Paper, Color Paper and Standard. The first is a grayscale rendering, the second is a muted effect similar to newspaper comics and the third is somewhat like the glossy pages of a magazine. On the nanomatte model I tried, the effects were even more appealing. In that Color Paper option, something about the textured screen added a visual grit that scratched a nostalgic itch somewhere deep in the recesses of my almost-40-year-old brain.
With its page-turn animations and fullscreen two-page layout, it’s pretty easy to imagine Kindle mode on any other tablet, like the iPad Pro with nano-texture glass I’ve mentioned a few times. And sure, it feels like you can simply buy a Kindle for the privilege of reading on a gadget that won’t bother you with alerts. Even Panay conceded “You could argue that I’m challenging my own Kindle business by creating an Alexa tablet that does incredible Kindle work.”
“But I think it’s rad for the customer,” he said. I guess if you’re a person who mostly wants a tablet that can sometimes double as a pretty effective distraction-free Kindle, then the Alexa tablet could be right for you.
You can also use the company’s new Pro Pen with these tablets, which will cost an extra $90. It felt quite similar to the Kindle Scribe’s stylus in my brief experience doodling with it, but I need more time to fully evaluate it.
One of the most noteworthy additions to the Alexa tablets is the Google Play Store. Whereas the previous Fire tablets ran the company’s FireOS and could only install apps via its included App store, the new versions allow you to easily access the entire ecosystem of Android apps. Because you’re getting them via the Play Store, you’ll also benefit from the vetting and security policies of Google’s system.
As for the Alexa tablets’ interface, there’s a mostly familiar skeleton here that is based on Android. On top of it are some Alexa+ integrations, like a box in the top right corner of the home page that Amazon is calling the “Dynamic Tab.” Unlike the Dynamic Island in Apple’s products, this isn’t an area that expands and contracts depending on the activities running in the background. It’s just a 3-inch-wide box that’s almost 2 inches tall and stays that size no matter what you’re doing. In it are suggestions by Alexa+ based on your recent activity, whether that be the city you’re visiting, the last show you watched on Prime Video or a book you’re reading.
On the bottom right is a little rectangular cutout that houses the Alexa+ input bar with the A-shaped logo, the words “Ask Alexa” and a microphone button to start a voice chat. This is fairly straightforward – just tap the bar or microphone and start typing or saying what you need. A window will pop up to show your request and the assistant’s responses to you.
More interesting, however, is the systemwide gesture of dragging in from the bottom right. No matter what app you’re on, when you drag in from the bottom right, Alexa+ will detect what’s on your screen. A glowing blue halo appears along the screen’s edges to indicate it’s looking at your tablet, and then a window pops up to show you a handful of suggestions about what Alexa thinks you want to ask. You can either choose from one of the options or just initiate a conversation.
During my hands-on session, I tried this on TikTok videos and the Engadget website in Amazon’s Silk browser (which still comes preinstalled, though so does Chrome). In all those cases, the AI took a few seconds to analyze what I was looking at and generate suggested questions like “Get today’s top tech news headlines,” “Learn more about Nintendo Switch Sports Resort” and “Shop for Nintendo Switch accessories on Amazon.” That’s all in addition to the typical “Summarize this page” that most AI systems suggest when encountering any long-ish website.
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On TikTok videos of people clearing snow from their driveways, the assistant suggested “Check the weather for this afternoon,” “Find a snow removal service nearby” and “How do I clear snow from a driveway.” All of them felt almost relevant, and if I had clicked one of the options that suggested shopping on Amazon, the results included individual items with buttons to buy them or add them to my Amazon cart. Impulse buyers will definitely need to be careful with this one.
This gesture feels like the most baked into the OS that Alexa has been. It still exists to the left of your home screen (sometimes referred to as the “minus one” page) and surfaces your smart home controls, daily schedule and reminders, as well as news articles that might suit your interests. You’ll also find tweaked versions of Android 12L features here, like a taskbar with pinnable apps and the ability to launch apps in split screen view.
All this software is housed in an aluminum unibody that feels smooth and sturdy. I didn’t encounter any flex, though I wasn’t trying very hard to twist or bend it. And I was impressed by how responsive the device felt so far. The little bits of book-reading and watching Project Hail Mary I did during my time with the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro were convincing of its display’s quality so far.
I also made sure to type on the Pro Keyboard, an optional $149 accessory which had a surprisingly satisfying amount of travel and responsiveness for the super thin profile. The trackpad was not only capable of recognizing my taps and swipes, but picked up my two-finger gestures to scroll as well.
My main gripe with the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro so far is that it doesn’t come in the fun colors that the smaller models do. You can only get it in a boring graphite, while the others are available in greenish (Teal and Matcha) and burgundy-ish (Amethyst and Rosette) hues.
As for how the tablet holds up in the real world, and whether it measures up to the competition, we’ll have to wait till we can get units in for testing. For now though, at a starting price of $499, and even at $549 for the nanomatte model, the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is a very compelling package for the money.

Sometimes the NFL makes bad decisions on its primetime games. But there are other instances in which the league is just unlucky.
When the schedule came out in May, the Thursday night game for Week 5 was a reasonable choice. The Dallas Cowboys are always interesting and were an offseason darling. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers struggled in the second half of last season but they had plenty of stars and were the preseason favorite to win the NFC South. At the very least, Buccaneers at Cowboys should have held our interest.
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Nobody figured on the Bucs being this bad by Week 5.
The Buccaneers were 0-3 when they lost Baker Mayfield to a dislocated right thumb. They had a curious backup quarterback plan for the season, going with undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels. When Mayfield went down, Daniels became the first undrafted rookie quarterback since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 to start a game in Week 4 or earlier. And the results were predictable, with Daniels playing well considering the circumstances but Tampa Bay still losing 17-14 to the Green Bay Packers to fall to 0-4. The Buccaneers are 2-11 in their last 13 games. Head coach Todd Bowles might be on the hot seat.
And while anything can happen in the NFL, facing a winless Buccaneers team with an undrafted rookie at quarterback is clearly a fortunate break for the Cowboys. Dallas rallied last week to beat the Houston Texans 34-30. That bumped Dallas’ record back to 2-2, which is not bad shape considering the rest of the NFC East has issues. The Cowboys have their own issues too. The Cowboys defense is 31st in EPA (expected points added) allowed per play, ahead of only the Detroit Lions. The offense has been good, as expected. The defense hasn’t shown much improvement from last season, when it gave up the most points in franchise history.
The good news for the Cowboys is the Buccaneers, in their current status, are one of the few teams that might not be able to exploit that defense.
Who needs it more?
It depends if you think the Buccaneers’ season is over at 0-4. It might be. Perhaps Baker Mayfield can return as early as Week 6, and if so, 1-4 in the NFC South isn’t completely out of the race. No team in NFL history has made the playoffs after starting 0-5 though. Considering the Buccaneers have shown so few signs of life, the game probably means more to the Cowboys. They’re 2-2 and trailing only the New York Giants, who are without quarterback Jaxson Dart for the rest of the season, in the NFC East. A loss to Jalon Daniels and the Buccaneers wouldn’t just be bad in the NFC East, it would cause a firestorm that would last for 10 days until Dallas plays again.
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Key player: Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb
Lamb has been an elite receiver for many years, and he’s on pace to smash his career highs. Lamb is averaging an NFL-best 124.5 yards per game, which is well ahead of his former career best of 102.9 yards. He also is averaging 9.3 receptions per game, and he has never been above eight per game. Last week’s monster game, with 17 catches for 189 yards and a game-winning touchdown, was an extension of his hot streak. It was Lamb’s third straight 100-yard game. The Buccaneers’ pass defense has been solid. It hasn’t allowed more than 245 passing yards in a game this season. But it will be a challenge to slow down Lamb, the hottest receiver in the NFL.
Betting market watch, by Ben Fawkes
This game was Cowboys -3.5 and it was -9.5 on the lookahead, due to how bad Tampa Bay has looked (and Baker Mayfield’s injury), along with the potency of Dallas’ offense. The Bucs are 0-4 both straight up and against the spread, and the Jalon Daniels-led offense only put up 134 passing yards and 14 points against Green Bay. While Daniels should be able to throw on the Cowboys D, it’s hard to see Tampa Bay matching points here. A raucous Cowboys Stadium in primetime is also very different than a 1 p.m. ET start at home on a Sunday. This line has come down a bit, but ranges from Cowboys -7.5 to -8.5 in the market. I expect Dallas to cover — as do public bettors loading up on them.
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The Cowboys are expected to roll over Tampa Bay in the Week 5 opener, but you know what they say in this league, Any Given Thursday. Here are three fantasy themes to track as you watch the game.
1. Will Jalon Daniels be improved in his second start? Daniels was put in a difficult position last week, an undrafted rookie asked to start a month into his NFL career. Predictably, he produced just 148 passing yards and no one in the Buccaneers’ offense got past 40 yards receiving. We’re pulling for Daniels, in part so we can squeeze some value from the Tampa Bay receiving room.
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2. What’s the distribution in the Dallas passing game? CeeDee Lamb went bonkers in the win at Houston last week, a 17-189-1 detonation on 21 targets. Meanwhile, George Pickens was limited to just three targets, though he did produce 75 yards and drew two defensive penalties. Lamb has clearly reestablished himself as the alpha in Dallas, but the Cowboys know it’s important to keep Pickens engaged, too.
3. What will Bucky Irving’s usage look like? Although Irving had a credible 16-61-0 rushing line last week, teammates stole from his bottom line — Sean Tucker punched in a short touchdown run, and Kenneth Gainwell had a touchdown catch. Perhaps more concerning for Irving managers, he wasn’t targeted in the passing game. Irving had seven catches in the season opener at Cincinnati — that feels like a year ago.