Buccaneers & Cowboys Clash for the 2nd straight year in the season opener (9-9-22) 

By: Chris Gardner

Headline Photo Courtesy: Bucs Report

After a long and exciting offseason, the NFL is back.  While many NFL fans are excited about the various Week 1 one matchups this week, a game that stands out from the rest is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys. 

These two highly-favored NFC teams look to have more than explosive offenses this season. This matchup features two of the NFC’s best Quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Dak Prescott, who will not fail to disappoint the viewers of this game Sunday night; as they showed in their week one matchup last season, as the Buccaneers escaped in a 31-29 win over the Cowboys. 

This season, both teams return many players, while some important pieces also departed due to free agency. The Cowboys lost defensive end Randy Gregory, who was a vital part of the Dallas defense last season. The Cowboys will also be without Amari Cooper this season, who was acquired by the Cleveland Browns; Cooper’s contribution to the Cowboys will be missed this upcoming Sunday, as last year he put on a show against Tampa Bay, recording 139 receiving yards on 13 catches to go along with 2 touchdowns. 

However, Tampa Bay also had a long off-season that consisted of many departures. Players such as Rob Gronkowski, who decided to retire from football, and Antonio Brown, who was a key contributor in the Buccaneers’ 2021 Super Bowl run.  With these key players departing, the Buccaneers’ front office needed to bring in multiple pieces to replace the caliber of talent they lost. The Buccaneers acquired multiple NFL veterans who will immediately make an impact on their roster, with players such as 7-time pro bowl Julio Jones from Tennessee, along with Russell Gage from Atlanta and Kyle Rudolph from the Giants. These additions to the offense will give Brady even more options to choose from, while still having Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the outside. 

The Cowboys’ offense will also look to air the ball out throughout the season, as their young star wide receiver, Ceedee Lamb has embraced a WR1 role for the first time in his career. In addition, Dalton Schultz and Ezekiel Elliott headline this cowboy offense as they look to be primary contributors to an offense that will try to find its new identity this season. The Cowboys will also be relying on young running back Tony Pollard to accompany Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield to take such a heavy workload off Ezekiel Elliott. 

This early week one matchup will set the tone for both teams this upcoming season, as both teams will look to score early and often, while also having a dawning presence on defense.