Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Dallas Cowboys, Week 1

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Dallas Cowboys game later tonight marks the official start of the NFL season.

With the retirement of Tom Brady, the un-retirement of Tom Brady, the retirement of Ali Marpet, the departure of key veteran free agents, the hiring of Todd Bowles to replace Bruce Arians as he moves into an advisor role, the retirement of Gronk, and more drama surrounding Tom Brady (leaks of his plans to join the Dolphins and then his absence from the team which now appears to be due to persuasion),

But here we are, with football returning.

Last year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Dallas Cowboys opened the season, and it was a nail-biter in the first game, with us barely edging the Cowboys 31-29. Dak Prescott threw for over 400 yards in last year’s version of this game, and Tampa Bay will need to control their passing game this year.

The loss of Amari Cooper, who was their team’s leading receiver in last year’s game against us and was second on their team for the year, is a big difference for the Cowboys this year. Cooper’s trade to the Browns was a questionable move because it removes a dynamic playmaker from their team, but they believe CeeDee Lamb, their leading receiver last year, will continue to carry the load alongside Michael Gallup and rookie Jalbert Tolbert.

Dak Prescott’s efficiency will help them out, as he had the fourth-highest completion percentage in the league last season, which should make his receivers look better.

To give our line more time to get pressure on Dak, our corners will need to be aggressive at the line and throw their receivers off their routes. This should result in less accurate passes. With this Dallas offense that likes to pass the ball a lot, Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean, and Sean Murphy-Bunting will all be very busy!

Even with the loss of Ndamakong Suh, our run defense should be very effective this year, as we still have Vita Vea in the middle and one of the best linebacker groups in the game.

We need to know where Micah Parsons is lining up on every single play in our offense. Parsons is a game changer who can easily get after the passer, drop back into coverage, and sniff out ball carriers before they even reach the line of scrimmage. This guy is aggressive and has a big impact on the game, so we need to make sure he’s taken care of.

Last year, the Cowboys defense forced more turnovers than any other team in the league, including four (two fumbles and two interceptions) the last time we played them, so ball security will be critical this time around. Trevon Diggs, the Dallas cornerback who led the league in interceptions last season, is a big part of that. However, while Diggs forces a lot of turnovers, he also gives up a TON of yards, giving up over a thousand yards by himself last year, making him a high risk, high reward player. Diggs picked off Brady last year, so it will be up to Tom and his receivers to limit Diggs’ risk and reward this year.

Another critical component of success on Sunday night will be to attack the Cowboys with a balanced attack. Last year, Tampa ranked seventh in the league in rushing yards, and if we can make Dallas respect the threat of the run, it should slow down their lethal pass rush and relieve some of the pressure on our offensive line to hold their blocks for as long as possible. In terms of opposing yards per carry, the Cowboys’ rush defense is tied for eighth worst in the league, and Leonard Fournette will need to capitalize on this to truly impact the game this year.