FRISCO, TX – The time has finally come and the NFL season is about to commence. The Dallas Cowboys will take the stage against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their season opener in AT&T Stadium for the second year in a row.
Last season, America’s team came up short to Tom Brady and Co. in a 31-29 loss after a 36-yard field goal with two seconds left in the game solidified the victory for the Bucs. The last time Dallas hosted Tampa Bay was in 2018 where the Cowboys took a 27-20 win. America’s team has won seven of the last nine matchups against the Bucs. The Cowboys are looking to redeem themselves from last season and start off in the win column.
Who and what to look out for in this first game of the season for this young Dallas team. The Cowboys are the third youngest team in the NFL but they are by no means lacking confidence in any department.
Dak Prescott:
Dak Prescott is as healthy as he has ever been and is ready to get a win against Tom Brady. In 2019 Prescott set a club record for passing yards in a season opener with 405 total yards thrown to bring his team to a victory over the N.Y. Giants. He almost broke that record in 2021 against Tom Brady with 403 yards thrown in a season opener.
“I still feel the best I’ve felt in a very long time. It’s not even comparable to where I was last year going into this game. I’m honestly just excited and ready for Sunday.” Prescott said after practice on Thursday.
Since being in the NFL, Prescott has averaged 289 yards per game in six season openers, which ranks fifth in quarterbacks in that span.
Ezekiel Elliott:
Mike McCarthy has talked for a while now during the off season about the importance of the run game this season due to the lack of depth at wide receiver. Currently Dallas only has one receiver that has caught an NFL touchdown, that being the obvious CeeDee Lamb. Dallas is going to rely heavily on the run game against the Bucs simply because Elliott has more skin in the game.
Elliott told us after practice yesterday that the Cowboys have opened up the offense with more packages for him and Tony Pollard to be able to be on the field at the same time.
Looking ahead to Tampa Bay, Elliott is expecting tight boxes. The Bucs want Prescott to be forced to throw the ball instead of relying on the run game.
Tyler Smith:
Tyler Smith will most likely be starting left tackle on Sunday night after Tyron Smith went down with a hamstring injury and will not return to the Cowboys until December. Smith took all 67 snaps in preseason at left guard and spent the entire training camp perfecting left guard behind Connor McGovern.
Dak Prescott trusts that Smith will protect his blindside and with Tampa Bay blitzing the quarterback more than any other team Smith is going to have to step up to the table and take on that role quickly.
“Yeah I mean he played tackle in college so I mean you can tell that’s home for him and he’s continuing to get better, picking up all of the things.” Prescott said. “He’s getting better day in and day out and that’s all we can ask.”
Micah Parsons:
Micah Parsons and this Cowboys secondary is ready to go against this Tampa Bay offense. Parsons has addressed all week that he is ready to face the best quarterback in the league.
Trevon Diggs thinks this Cowboy’s defense is super fast and has the ability to be extremely good this season.
“I think we are fast. Really fast. I think Micah (Parsons) is really fast. I think I’m pretty fast. I think a lot of people in the secondary is really fast. AB is pretty fast. Linebackers really fast.I think we are pretty fast.” Diggs said.
Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans said, “They definitely improved in 2020 and in 2021. They got way better (Trevon) Diggs got way better. They’ve got a really great pass rush and the DB’s know that. So (we need to) hold them up front and run good routes also.”
These two teams will go head to head on Sunday night football at 7:20 PM at AT&T Stadium.
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