The Bucs just learned the distance between destiny and desperation isn’t that far. Entering a game against the playoff-eliminated Cowboys and controlling its own fate, Tampa Bay saw its four-game winning streak snapped by a team that already knew it will be sitting home for the postseason four hours before kickoff.

The game is over. The fans have left. The lights are out. And the Cowboys still have a receiver open over the middle. Egad, that was ugly. The Bucs are in danger of squandering a postseason date because they were incapable of stopping the passing attack of a losing team with a backup quarterback in a 26-24 loss to the Cowboys Sunday night at AT&T Stadium.