Buccaneers overcome four turnovers to knock off Cowboys 31-29 in season opener

Despite four total turnovers by the defending Super Bowl champions, Tom Brady led the 40th fourth quarter comeback of his career to guide the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-29 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Brady finished 32/50 for 379 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. His counterpart Dak Prescott was 42/58 for 403 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.

The Bucs (1-0) turned the football over four times, including a dramatic fumble by Chris Godwin with 4:52 to play and Tampa Bay leading 28-26. Godwin was two yards from paydirt before coughing it up, and it allowed Prescott and the Cowboys (0-1) to drive the field for a 48-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein with 1:24 to play.

If that sounds like too much time for the 44-year-old GOAT of quarterbacks when he’s got two timeous, it was. Brady was 5-7 on the drive for 62 yards before throwing it out of bounds three consecutive times to kill more clock. That brought on Ryan Succop for a 36-yard field goal to seal it with :02 remaining.

Tampa Bay was a nine-point favorite at kickoff at DraftKings Sportsbook and the game went comfortably over the total of 52 points.

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott had just 11 carries for 33 yards, while wide receiver Amari Cooper had a monster day with 13 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns. CeeDee Lamb added seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut.

For the Bucs Antonio Brown proved once again to be one of Brady’s favorite targets, finishing with five receptions for 121 yards and a score. Godwin added nine catches for 105 yards with a touchdown, and Rob Gronkowski made fantasy owners thrilled with eight receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns.