NFL Week 1: Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The NFL season will start in Tampa Bay, where the previous one ended. We’ll see the Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys in a spectacle that everyone awaited for so long, with Tom Brady starting another quest for the NFL title. If he manages to win one more ring, TB will break numerous records and definitely put an end to all the debates about him being the best ever player in the history of this sport. Meanwhile, the Cowboys fans are eager to see Dak Prescott after a long pause. He holds the keys to Dallas’ future and will be in the middle of attention in every single match this franchise plays.

Preview

Dallas Cowboys (+305) are… that is the biggest question here, what are they? Contenders? Pretenders? Overrated? This team has arguably the best offense in the league, with one of the top 5 QBs, the best running back, and an unreal receiving corps.

But then again, this team produces results that aren’t in correlation with its quality. Even with Dak in the lineup, the Cowboys were bad last year. Head coach Mike McCarthy is under a heavy pressure, and he has no room for making mistakes.

The situation is not good for the former Packers’ HC, because Prescott struggled with a shoulder injury before this event, even missing a solid part of the preseason. Will McCarthy take some risk and put Dak in the lineup, and sacrifice a game that was pretty much lost anyway? We’ll see.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-370) kept all of their starters from the previous season, with the note that we now anticipate seeing Antonio Brown in much better condition than before. We’ve seen flashes of the old AB throughout the playoffs and the latter part of the regular season, and now anything below 10 TDs and 1,000 yards would be considered as a disappointment. From our humble point of view.

The hosts will have to OLs out, G Nick Leverett and Earl Watford, but to be honest, that is something that shouldn’t slow down Brady who is going to throw bombs all over the place. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are ready to roll, and unlike in 2021, 100% healthy.

When it comes to defense, the Bucs have enormous potential, and we saw these guys at the highest possible level in the big games. This one is most definitely important, so Barrett and the boys should be motivated to smoke the Cowboys’ offensive line.

Prediction

This situation with Dak got us thinking really hard. We know that McCarthy had some incredibly stupid calls in the past, especially with Aaron Rodgers, but we don’t believe that he will take any chances with Prescott here. Even if Dak plays, the risk of seeing him caught will be minimal, which means that the majority of snaps will end up in Elliot’s hands. And we all know how Bucs’ defenders handle the running game. Anything but an easy victory of the hosts would be a big, big surprise, so we propose betting on Tampa Bay to record an easy triumph.

Pick: Tampa Bay wins -370