The new NFL season kicks off on Thursday evening at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will welcome the Dallas Cowboys.
Cowboys vs Buccaneers on September 9
Being the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Buccaneers are seen as major favorites. In fact, most online sportsbooks have set the spread to eight points. Can the boys from Dallas prove everyone wrong? Let’s see!
Cowboys vs Buccaneers: When and WhereDate: September 9, 2021Time: 8:20 PM EDTPlace: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FLWatch: NBC, FuboTV, Hulu, Sling TV, YouTube TVCowboys vs Buccaneers Betting OddsOdds to Win
MarketOddsDallas Cowboys +290Tampa Bay Buccaneers -360
Spread Odds
MarketOddsDallas Cowboys +7.5-110Tampa Bay Buccaneers -7.5-110
Over/Under Odds
MarketOddsOver 51.5-110Under 51.5-110
Dak Prescott Returns after 11 Months
Since arriving in Dallas as their fourth-round pick in the 2016 Draft, Dak Prescott has turned himself into their crucial player. In his first year in the NFL, the talented quarterback was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year. The same year, he also got an invite to Pro Bowl, something that also happened in 2018.
He was also superb in 2019 when he set his career record for passing yards with 4,902 in 16 regular-season games. It seemed Prescott was going to do even better in 2020, but the guy suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 5.
Fast-forward some 11 months and his ankle has healed completely. However, Prescott hasn’t played a single game in all this time, even missing all of Dallas’ four preseason games due to a shoulder injury.
Full go for Week 1. @dak
📺: #Kickoff2021 — Thursday, Sept. 9 at 8:20pm ET on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app pic.twitter.com/89oFC5NYGL— NFL (@NFL) September 3, 2021
Still, as confirmed by the man himself, Prescott will start against Tampa. Whether we’ll see him playing at his pre-injury level of performance remains to be seen. The good news is that despite being their key player, Prescott isn’t the only superstar in Dallas’ locker room.
This team has a pretty decent roster this season, especially in the offense. In fact, the core of their offensive team from 2020 is still there. And those guys were able to score 395 points in 16 games last season, even though their starting signal-caller missed 11 of those.
The Bucs Want to Start Their 2021 Campaign with a Big Win
The Super Bowl is the game for which teams prepare the most, while the season opener is probably in second place. This goes especially for the reigning champions, who usually end up winning their Week 1 games. In fact, Super Bowl winners didn’t win their NFL Kickoff Games only on three occasions since the start of the 21st century.
Not only is Tampa favored to win this game, but this team is also the main favorite to win the NFC, as well as the second favorite for winning another Super Bowl.
The main reason behind all this is that the Bucs have managed to keep all of their Super Bowl-winners on the roster. Literally, all of the 22 starters in the NFL Championship game against Kansas City in February are still playing for this team.
First team to return all 22 Super Bowl starters since 1977…
We BACK back. 😏 pic.twitter.com/5HV9iWUXEz
— Tampa Bay Buccan 7BALL eers (@Buccaneers) April 5, 2021
This, of course, includes their biggest star, quarterback Tom Brady. Despite being 44, the guy seems to have no plans to back down. In fact, you can be certain he’s going to produce another top-level performance in the NFL Kickoff Game.
The offense isn’t what Tampa’s fans should be worried about. The key to beating Dallas lies in doing well defensively. So, can they stop Prescott and his buddies? Sure they can! After all, the Bucs defense was good enough to stop Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
