The Dallas Cowboys (9-6) are officially playoff-bound after a sloppy 27-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-10).

In a game where Tampa Bay outgained Dallas by 151 yards and possessed the ball nearly 10 minutes longer, it was Dallas' ability to take advantage of its turnover-opportunities that led to a playoff-clinching win.

The Cowboys offense struggled way more than it should have against Tampa Bay's 29th-ranked (by DVOA) defense, averaging just 4.6 yards per play and going 3 for 9 on third down.

Ezekiel Elliott performed admirably, racking up 85 rushing yards on 18 carries despite a noticeable limp, but for the second straight week, the offense largely ignored Amari Cooper -- who recorded just four catches for 20 yards. The offense suffered because of it.

After a tough week against the Indianapolis Colts, the Cowboys defense stepped up and made the plays necessary to carry the team to victory. Yes, the defense allowed 20 points and 383 total yards, but it also forced two turnovers and forced Tampa Bay to go 4 for 13 on third down. Forcing two turnovers and a 30 percent third-down conversion rate is going to get the job done most weeks in the NFL.

The Cowboys were able to secure the win at home, guaranteeing that Dallas will be back in AT&T for at least one more game this season. Without further ado, let's discuss a few things gleaned from the Cowboys' 27-20 win over the Buccaneers:

Dak Prescott's feet and tendency-breaking route combinations unlock Dallas' red zone offense

What's the best antidote for a Cowboys offense that struggles in the red zone? A Tampa Bay defense that struggles in the red zone. Entering Sunday's game, the Cowboys ranked 31st in red-zone touchdown percentage (44.19) while the Buccaneers ranked 32nd in red-zone touchdown percentage allowed (78.43).

The Cowboys' red-zone offense wasn't perfect Sunday, as it was forced to settle for a field goal in the third quarter. But it was much improved, tallying two touchdowns.

One of the biggest reasons for frustration surrounding Dallas' red-zone offense in recent weeks has been that it hasn't utilized Prescott's legs enough. That changed against Tampa Bay, as Prescott's legs scored on Dallas' first trip into the red zone:

Ain't nobody got time for redzone problems pic.twitter.com/6fP8IXkcP1 — RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) December 23, 2018

Here, the Cowboys are running an inside zone read -- the same play Dallas used to score in the red zone against Jacksonville -- with the Buccaneers' weak-side defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul, as the read-man. With Pierre-Paul crashing to stop Elliott on the inside zone, Prescott makes the proper decision to keep the ball at the mesh point.

From there, Michael Gallup is able to get just enough of the filling safety to allow Prescott to bounce outside and cut off Blake

block into the end zone.

Dallas actually ran the zone read again in the red zone, but Tampa Bay did a better job of sitting on Prescott's keeper, forcing Elliott to run into a clogged middle. Still, it was nice to see that Dallas hadn't forgotten about Prescott's ability as a runner near the goal line.

Despite not being blessed with a ton of speed, Prescott is still an extremely talented runner with the ball in his hands -- possessing impressive vision, balance

power to generate yards on the ground. In the playoffs, Dallas would be wise to

more heavily on Prescott's legs in the red zone, using a wider variety of concepts, such as QB draws, speed options and run-pass options, to get Prescott's legs involved more near the end zone.

On Dallas' second red-zone touchdown of the game, it wasn't Prescott's legs that secured six points, as a clever route combination allowed Gallup to get wide open for an easy touchdown.

The play was set up by the previous drive, where the Cowboys were in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers) with Ezekiel Elliott in the slot. On that play, Dallas ran mirrored slant-flat two-man route combinations, with the inside receiver running a flat route and the outside receiver running a slant route. The slant-flat route combination is a great concept to beat man coverage in short yardage situations because the flat route creates a natural pick for the receiver running the slant route.

Tampa Bay started to pick up on that tendency, and Dallas did an excellent job of breaking that tendency to help get Gallup open in the red zone for the touchdown:

Impressive how open Michael Gallup was able to get against Brent Grimes



(Via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/kRJNcWgaba — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 23, 2018

The only difference between the formation on this play and the one on the previous drive mentioned above is that Blake Jarwin is aligned slightly wider and in a traditional receiver stance.

Instead of running mirrored slant-flat combinations, the Cowboys run a mirrored flat-fade route combination, where Elliott sprints to the flats, alerting Tampa Bay to a possible slant-flat route combination, as Gallup runs a fade route toward the back pylon.

Gallup did an excellent job of selling a potential slant route with his stem, using a skip release while leaning inside to open up the requisite space to get open on the fade route. Because Tampa Bay cornerback Brent Grimes expected the slant route, Gallup was able to catch him flat-footed, making it easy for the rookie receiver to create the separation for the touchdown.

Randy Gregory steps up as Robin to DeMarcus Lawrence's Batman

It was obvious from the moment Tampa Bay took the field that it wasn't going to let DeMarcus Lawrence beat them.

The Buccaneers weren't going to allow Lawrence to feast on right tackle Demar Dotson off the edge, as Lawrence had to deal with a steady diet of chip blocks and double-teams against Tampa Bay. The fact that Lawrence was able to come away with three tackles and a sack despite all the extra attention is incredibly impressive and just goes to show how skilled of a player he is on the edge.

With Lawrence receiving a ton of extra attention, the Cowboys needed another defensive lineman to step up and make big plays for the defense. Tyrone Crawford had been the guy to do that at times this season, but he left the game with a neck injury, setting the stage for another Cowboys defensive end to make some impactful plays.

Fighting through more questionable penalties attributed to him, Gregory was the guy who was able to step up and make the plays necessary. Gregory had a major hand in both Tampa Bay turnovers, which led to 14 Cowboys points.

In the first quarter, it was a Gregory sack-fumble that led to Dallas' first defensive touchdown of the season:

Randy Gregory and Jaylon Smith coming up with one of the defense’s biggest plays of the season pic.twitter.com/BTCI5wVCWK — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 23, 2018

Here, Gregory is attempting to utilize a speed rush to apply pressure on Jameis Winston; however, left tackle Donovan Smith does an excellent job of pushing Gregory beyond the pocket.

From there, Gregory shows off his effort, as he was able to loop around the pocket and hit Winston from behind to record the sack and force the fumble. With the ball tumbling on the turf, Smith is in perfect position to scoop-and-score.

In the third quarter, Gregory took advantage of a Bobo Wilson fumble on a jet sweep to put Dallas in prime position to go up by two scores.

In a game where Tampa Bay did everything it could to prevent Lawrence from disrupting their offense, it was Gregory who wrecked the Buccaneers offense, which is incredible given what Gregory has had to overcome in his short career.

After missing the better part of two seasons, Gregory has recorded six sacks, proving to be a valuable member of the Cowboys defense, while showing steady improvement throughout the season.

Lack of turnovers is key to Cowboys winning in the playoffs

With the victory Sunday, the Cowboys improved to 7-0 this season in games where they don't turn the ball over, meaning they are 2-6 in games where they turn the ball over at least once.

The Cowboys offense struggled mightily for many stretches versus Tampa Bay, but it took care of the ball and didn't turn the ball over, which has proven to be enough for the Cowboys as currently constructed. As long as they aren't hampered by having to constantly defend short fields, the Cowboys defense has proven capable to keep games close even when the Cowboys offense is struggling.

And this season, the Cowboys have finished well in close scoring games, going 4-2 in contests decided by seven points or less. On top of that, Prescott entered Sunday's action ranking third among quarterbacks in game-winning drives (four) this season.

While there are many things the Cowboys must do to be successful in the playoffs, the most important is to take care of the ball and eliminate turnover opportunities for the opposing defense. If they can do that, the team will be in position to win in the playoffs, which is about as much as one can ask given the circumstances.

Twitter: @JohnOwning