The early-season carnage continued in the Circa Sports Survivor Contest with the Dallas Cowboys’ upset loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.
- Cowboys were the most popular Circa Survivor pick this week.
- Buccaneers eliminated over 2,500 entries with victory in Dallas.
- Less than 3,500 entries remain entering Week 5’s Sunday slate.
The Cowboys were -9.5 favorites at home against a winless Buccaneers team starting an undrafted rookie quarterback, so if there was ever a time to take the 'Boys, it sure felt like this week.
At least that’s what 2,554 participants in the Circa Survivor Contest thought for Week 5.
#CircaSurvivor 2026 🏈🏆 Week 5 Selections 📄: https://t.co/q2ByoihwkJ https://t.co/CJfJ61PnfM
— Circa Sports (@CircaSports) October 11, 2026
The Cowboys went up 7-0 early, and then took a 10-7 lead into halftime. However, Tampa Bay scored 14 points in the third quarter and held off Dallas’ comeback attempt in the fourth quarter.
The Bucs even had a chance to take a three-score lead midway through the fourth quarter. While leading 24-10, Tampa Bay elected to go for the touchdown on 4th & goal from the one-yard line rather than kicking the field goal.
NOOOO 😭 The Bucs go for it on 4th and goal up two TDs and get stopped at the goal line The over is, once again, in trouble 📉 https://t.co/bUFvhS4vTY
— Covers.com Football (@Covers_Football) October 9, 2026
That gave the Cowboys some momentum, and they went the length of the field to make it a 24-16 game, but the 18-yard touchdown catch by George Pickens resulted in the last points that Dallas put on the board.
Dak Prescott threw his second interception of the game in the final minutes to secure the victory for Tampa Bay.
The Cowboys fell to 2-3 on the season and 1-2 at home with the upset loss. Dallas has the rest of the season to work out its issues, but the same can’t be said for the more than 2,500 people who selected the Cowboys this week. Nearly 43% of the field was eliminated on Thursday night.
There are now just 3,415 entries remaining entering the Sunday slate for Week 5.
The most popular selection on Sunday is the Houston Texans against the Tennessee Titans in a battle of winless teams. More than 1,200 contestants have selected the Texans, which made up one-fifth of the field entering this week, but is now more than 35% of the live entries.
The Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars are the next most popular selections at 624 and 573, respectively.
Grandissimo down to 15 entries
The Circa Sports Grandissimo, which carried a $100,00 entry fee, also saw a decent chunk of its remaining participants eliminated with the Cowboys loss.
Nine of the 24 entries this week had the Cowboys, leaving just 15 live entries heading into Sunday.
#CircaGrandissimo 2026 🏈🏆 Week 5 Selections 📄: https://t.co/r7kzMBc5ZL https://t.co/r9IowsrGdi
— Circa Sports (@CircaSports) October 11, 2026
Once again, the Texans, Jaguars, and Bengals are the popular selections this week with four each, and the remaining three entries are on the Detroit Lions.
