The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 of the NFL regular season on Sunday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 0-3 during the preseason after losing to Indianapolis, Tennessee, and Miami. Tom Brady is back for Tampa Bay at the quarterback position, but didn’t get a ton of reps in the preseason after being away from the team. Leonard Fournette will be starting at running back, while Mike Evans and Chris Godwin will be the lead wide receivers. Tampa Bay had a very good defense last season and it is expected to be just as good this year. The Buccaneers may need some time to get the offense going, but Tom Brady should be able to do this faster than the average quarterback.
The Dallas Cowboys were 2-1 this preseason after defeating the Seahawks and the Chargers, while losing to the Broncos. Dak Prescott is the quarterback once again for the Cowboys. Ezekiel Elliot is the starting running back, while CeeDee Lamb will lead the receiving corps for Dallas. The Dallas defense was very good at taking the ball away last season and will look to continue that in 2022. The Dallas offense was one of the best units in the regular season last year, but can they perform that well for a whole season, including the playoffs?
Tampa Bay is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against the NFC and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Week 1 games. The over is 5-1 in Tampa Bay’s last 6 Week 1 games. Dallas is 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games against the NFC and 16-6 ATS in their last 22 games. The under is 7-2 in Dallas’ last 9 games against the NFC. The under is 5-1 in these two teams last 6 head to head meetings.
Dallas comes into this season looking to continue their offensive success that they had last year. Tampa Bay will be traveling to Dallas and may need some time to get Tom Brady back into the swing of things. I like Dallas in this game at home and expect their offense to have a good night. It is never easy going against Tom Brady, but I am taking the Cowboys here.