The 2021 NFL regular season will officially kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on NBC between the Dallas Cowboys and the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers will be looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, which has not been done since the New England Patriots did it back in 2003 and 2004. Coincidentally, Tom Brady was the quarterback on those teams and will be leading the Buccaneers in his 22nd season. As for the Cowboys, they will look to improve off of a disappointing 6-10 finish last season with a healthy Dak Prescott under center.
Here, we’ll take a look at our picks for best bets for Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 NFL season opener.
Cowboys vs. Bucs Week 1 odds
Spread: Bucs -8.5
Point total: 51
Moneyline: Bucs -435, Cowboys +330
Our picks for Cowboys vs. Bucs
Pick against the spread: Bucs -8.5
The pick here will be Buccaneers -8.5, who have won eight-straight games dating back to last season. Tampa Bay returns everybody from last season’s Super Bowl team and should be able to make some noise this season, let alone tonight’s season opener. The Cowboys’ offensive line will be under a lot of pressure without Zack Martin to protect Dak Prescott, who did not take a single snap in the preseason.
There could be some rustiness with Dallas’ starting offense against a Tampa Bay defense, which has an incredible pass rush. I also think Tom Brady and the Bucs’ offense should be able to have some success against a Cowboys’ secondary that gave up big plays last year.
Over/under X points: Under 51.5
I know a lot of people will want to take the over here, but I’m going to roll with the under to open up the season. We saw in the first week of the preseason and college football that the under was very profitable. It could be the same story here as this will be the first time that the starters are playing a full game. However, we could easily find ourselves watching 34-21 type game, especially with the Buccaneers’ offense.
Preferred player prop: Tony Pollard over 17.5 rushing yards (-115)
There will be a lot of attention on the Buccaneers tonight, but the Cowboys will need to do something to keep the pressure off of Prescott. One way to slow down Tampa Bay’s tough pass rush is to run the football. Starting running back Ezekiel Elliott has a favorable player prop at O/U 53.5 rushing yards. However, we are going to go with Tony Pollard’s rushing yards prop. Last season, Pollard went over this number in 7 out of 16 games backing up Elliott. The 24-year-old running back figures to play a considerable role in the team’s offense this year.
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