Brady and the Bucs Rally Against Dak and the Cowboys for an Opening Night Win
What do Tom Brady and wine have in common? They get better with age. There has not been an athlete that has done what the seven-time Super Bowl champion has done and he is not slowing down. On opening night, Brady and the Buccaneers edged out a win against the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 31-29. Let us dive into the details of this game, some key moments, and what is next for the two squads.
Game Details
In the win, Brady tossed 4 touchdowns for 379 yards in 32/50 passing. His leading receiver was Antonio Brown, who caught five balls for 121 yards and a 47-yard touchdown. Chris Godwin also had over 100 yards and a touchdown, while TE Rob Gronkowski chipped in two trips to the endzone as well. WR Mike Evans had a quiet day, catching just three balls on six targets for 24 yards in the win. As for the rushing attack, it never quite got going. Ronald Jones II and Leonard Fournette combined for 46 yards on 13 carries. Defensively, CB Carlton Davis led the way with an interception and three passes defensed. LB’s Devon White and Lavonte David both had over 10 total tackles in the win as well.
Throughout the entire game, the Dallas Cowboys committed to an air raid and stuck with it. RB Ezekiel Elliott managed just 11 carries on the day for 33 yards due to the pass-heavy attack. QB Dak Prescott, threw 3 TDs on 403 yards, completing 73% of his passes. WR Amari Cooper exploded for 13 catches, 139 yards, and 2 TD’s and had a game-high 16 targets. Second-year WR CeeDee Lamb showed out as well, catching seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. TE Dalton Schultz chipped in six catches as well. Eight different pass catchers had multiple receptions in this game. On defense, CB’s Trevon Diggs, and Jourdan Lewis both had an interception. DE Demarcus Lawrence and S Damontae Kazee each forced fumbles as well.
Dak’s Return
One of the biggest storylines of this game was the return of Dak Prescott. Prescott, fresh off a massive contract extension, suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 against the New York Giants last season. In Week 1, Prescott did more than enough to prove his health. While they did not win the game, Prescott had his team in a position to knock off the Super Bowl champs on the road. Brady just had too much time to get down the field and win the game. Regardless, Dak’s efforts in this game proved he is healthy right now and will now look to start translating that into wins.
Brady’s Game-Winning Drive
After Greg Zuerlein knocked through a go-ahead field goal to make the score 29-28 Dallas, Tom Brady got the ball back with 1:24 left. On the drive, Brady drove 62 yards down the field to put Ryan Succop in field goal range to knock in the game-winning kick. Brady completed a 20-yard pass to Gronkowski to move the chains and followed it up with a pinpoint back-shoulder throw to Chris Godwin for 24 yards, putting Succop on the Dallas 18-yard line for a chip shot field goal.
Early Season Rust
Despite the win, the Buccaneers, and the Cowboys as well, showed a bit of rust in the season opener. The game included five turnovers and a few dropped passes by both teams. Of the five turnovers, four were on the Buccaneers, with one coming on a Hail Mary pass. The other three were a Ronald Jones fumble, a Leonard Fournette dropped screen turned into an interception, and a critical fumble by Chris Godwin as he was going into the endzone to seal the deal on the game. Godwin also dropped what would have been a long touchdown early in the fourth quarter. For Dallas, WR CeeDee Lamb had a couple of drops, in which one produced an interception. On the kicking side, K Greg Zuerlein had a rough day, missing two field goals and one extra point. Thankfully, for both teams, there is a lot of football to be played, and will have three extra days to clean out some of the rust that occurred in Week 1.
Looking Ahead
Both teams will get a couple of days extra to prepare for their next game, in which both teams will be playing Sunday. The Buccaneers will host their division rival Atlanta Falcons at 4:05 PM for their Week 2 matchup, while Dallas will travel to Los Angeles to take on Justin Herbert and the Chargers at 4:25 PM.
Stats from profootballreference.com
Writer
-By: Richie Dordas