Dak Prescott shared a brief hug with star running back Ezekiel Elliott after the Dallas quarterback kneeled twice to wrap up their second NFC East title in three seasons together.The postgame celebration was equally muted after Prescott accounted for two touchdowns and聽Jaylon Smith returned a fumble 69 yards for a score聽in a 27-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.Now it’s on to something Prescott and Elliott couldn’t do after an NFC-best 13 victories during their remarkable rookie year together in 2016: win a playoff game.“We’ve got a lot more work to do John Lynch Jersey ,” Prescott said after running for Dallas’ first touchdown and throwing a 4-yard pass to Michael Gallup for the last. “This is something that we set out, wanted to do way back in the offseason, and this is giving us a chance to go and get the greater goal.”Smith’s long return came after a scrambling Jameis Winston lost the ball on a blind-side sack by Randy Gregory, who also recovered a fumble to set up a touchdown for a 14-point lead late in the third quarter.The Cowboys (9-6) clinched their third division title in five seasons a week after failing in their first chance with their first shutout loss in 15 years, 23-0 at Indianapolis.It was a moment of redemption for Elliott, whose six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations last year came just as the Cowboys were playing their best. The ensuing three-game losing streak ultimately kept them out of the playoffs.“We can’t get comfortable,” said Elliott, who had 85 yards rushing. “We can’t afford to take a week off next week. We’ve got to keep working and make sure we’re ready for the playoffs.”Winston threw for 336 yards in another prolific passing game for the Buccaneers (5-10), who outgained the Cowboys 383 yards to 232 but hurt themselves with turnovers and holding penalties. Tampa Bay’s third straight loss clinched the franchise’s fifth season of at least 10 losses in the past six years, a week after the Bucs were eliminated from postseason contention.“It’s frustrating to move the ball like that and not get touchdowns,” coach Dirk Koetter said. “Against good teams, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”Smith’s fumble return and Gregory’s recovery at the Tampa Bay 4 helped a Dallas offense that wasn’t sharp for a second straight week. Prescott was 20 of 25 but for just 161 yards.Prescott ran 7 yards聽to cap the only lengthy Dallas touchdown drive, a 75-yarder. His toss to the rookie Gallup came after Gregory’s recovery, which resulted from a botched exchange between Winston and receiver Bobo Wilson.A play before that bad exchange in a seven-point game, Peyton Barber‘s 33-yard run was wiped out by one of four holding penalties against the Bucs.Smith gave the Cowboys a 14-3 lead in the second quarter, scooping up the loose ball after Gregory hit Winston from behind and outrunning the Tampa Bay quarterback down the sideline for his first career touchdown.The sprint was one of the best illustrations of Smith getting his speed back after the devastating knee injury in his final game at Notre Dame that sidelined him as a rookie with the Cowboys in 2016. For the first time this season, he’s playing without a brace designed to offset nerve damage.“I’ve been known as a sideline-to-sideline fast linebacker and athlete,” Smith said. “Had I run the 40 (at the NFL combine), I would have been somewhere in the 4.4s and all that good stuff. But it feels good to be able to open up like that again at the highest level.”Winston’s聽7-yard pass to Mike Evans got the Bucs聽within a touchdown with 2:05 remaining, but Dallas linebacker Leighton Vander Esch recovered the onside kick. Evans had six catches for 90 yards, and Adam Humphries had 10 grabs for 79 yards.With a chance to get within a touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter, Winston was stopped about half a yard short of the first down at the Dallas 1 on a fourth-down scramble.TAKING CARE OF BUSINESSThe Cowboys could have clinched the division with a Philadelphia loss at home against Houston. The issue was already settled by the time Jake Elliott hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired to give the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles a 32-30 win. “I think it was mandatory for us to go out there and take care of it ourselves,” Elliott said. “Honestly, it just feels better.”RUSHING RACEElliott Mike Evans Jersey , the NFL rushing leader by 98 yards over Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams coming in, is at 1,434 yards with what could be seen as a meaningless game at the Giants to finish the regular season. In a similar situation two years ago, Elliott didn’t play at Philadelphia. His final carry Sunday was an 11-yarder for a first down that allowed Prescott to run out the clock.CRAWFORD SCAREDallas defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford went to a hospital to have a neck injury evaluated after getting hurt on the second play of the game. Crawford’s neck was stabilized on a stretcher with his facemask removed. The seventh-year player was moving his arms and legs before he was taken off the field.The Cowboys said after the game that Crawford was released from the hospital and would be re-evaluated by the team’s medical staff Monday.UP NEXTBuccaneers: Finale at home against Atlanta next Sunday.Cowboys: Regular-season finale at the Giants next Sunday.Bucs’ strength found in unity amongst teammates If you’re reading this, then it’s safe to assume that not only are you a Bucs fan, but a football fan in general. Therefore, I don’t need to get into excruciating - and repetitive - detail about how football is the ultimate team sport, nor explain how important it is for a team to click. But when it comes to the Bucs, things are a bit different. There isn’t any other team in the league that plans to start off the season - barring injury - without their starting quarterback. Even Carson Wentz is looking like he’ll be ready to suit up on September 6th, after participating in team contact drills on Saturday and avoiding the PUP list during training camp.Winston’s suspension isn’t the only issue. If this team falls flat like they did in 2017 then you can bet that the entire staff, front office, and a lot of players will be looking for new homes next season. Several key areas of the team are in dire need of drastic improvement and if they don’t develop properly then it will be another long season. So where do the players find the inspiration and motivation to come out on top in 2018?It’s easy, within themselves and with each other. And that’s exactly what has shown up more consistently than any other theme so far in training camp - these players like each other and they want each other to succeed. We’ve seen the evidence from star players like Gerald McCoy lugging around pads and working with teammates after practice. We’ve seen it from Jameis Winston staying late after practice and working with the younger receivers. Gerald McCoy coaching rookie Vita Vea - credit Evan Winter, Bucs NationNow, we’re starting to hear about it too. “I thought I had seen and been through it all, but another year, another different situation. I think the biggest thing in all of this is just we’re all professionals and we’re just communicating as well,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said after Thursday’s practice, later adding, “I think leaning on plenty of that past experience not just on the field, but in how you treat guys or how you deal with guys whether it’s up front or receivers or the different personalities, that’s some of the good experience I have and why I still love playing the game.”For Fitzpatrick, it’s another season during a 13-year career that has seen multiple stops throughout the NFL, some successful and some not. Other players - like McCoy - haven’t tasted much success at all and he knows the onus is on not only the team Chris Godwin Jersey , but himself to get better. Fortunately for McCoy and the Bucs, they have plenty of help in the form of new teammates.“Well we brought in four new guys that have all played in a Super Bowl, and three of them have won it. That’s a lot of experience. Guys who know what to do and how to do it; do it the right way,” McCoy said at the podium. “We have a new D-line coach who played in three I believe, and had numerous opportunities to go back as a coach. Just the room overall is different, a lot of experience, and a lot of knowledge. Guys bouncing ideas off of each other, things you’ve never heard before, I’m helping him, they’re helping me. Its only just going to make us great in the long run. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.”McCoy has always held the reputation as a great teammate and leader, but this year he seems to be taking it up a notch. Then you have players like running back Peyton Barber, who finished last season as the team’s no. 1 back just to watch the Bucs draft Ronald Jones II in the second round out of USC. He’ll also have competition in veterans Jacquizz Rodgers and Charles Sims. That doesn’t phase Barber, however, he looks at it as a positive. “I get the best of both worlds,” he told me after practice as we walked off the field. “I get a vet to teach me everything and I get a rookie who I can teach things. But at the same time, both of them are going to push me.”This team-first, work-together attitude was something that was missing last season. This became clear with players such as Chris Baker. After kicking him out of the Bay, it’s safe to say that this year’s crop of free agents have a much different thought process.“It’s been great. We just keep creating chemistry out there. Everybody pass rushes differently; everybody plays the run different,” new defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said. “As veterans on the team, we’re teaching the young guys how to come up and how to do things correctly. We were all once in their position, so we are having great chemistry together. That’s a great start for us.”Without a doubt, this mindset is becoming a contagious attitude seen on both sides of the ball and it’s an attitude that is developing more and more every day. The more this team bonds and develops their chemistry, the better they will get and that could be the key to not only surviving - but succeeding in 2018.