The final match of a busy Sunday in the opening week of the NFL 2022 season sees two of the best battling it out when the Dallas Cowboys play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first Sunday Night Football of the new campaign.
These two NFL giants will be looking to make a fast start to the season both to build some momentum for what is to come but also to lay a marker down with the eyes of the world on the pair of them.
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys made it to the play-offs courtesy of winning the NFC East division last season but they were dumped out in the Wild Card round by the San Francisco 49ers so a season which promised a lot ended in disappointment as most of the Cowboys’ campaigns in recent times have done. On the face of it, the Cowboys don’t look as strong in the marquee positions this season but they have tightened up in the less iconic spots and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
You would imagine if Dallas are going to win this match they will have to rely heavily on their secondary and their running game here. There is no Amari Cooper to support Ceedee Lamb so he is likely to be double teamed and taken out of the game. Anything Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard can pick up on the ground to open up some room for others will be welcomed. Dallas will know their pass defence is going to be tested to the full.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The title defence of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended one match on from when the Cowboys’ season came to an end. They ran into the eventual Super Bowl winners Los Angeles Rams and were taken down but it was a good defence of the Vince Lombardi, however they go into this season without the likes of Rob Gronkowski and with Tom Brady a year older and surely starting to decline as any 45-year-old would do.
Tampa Bay relied a lot on the pass last season and with Julio Jones added to the receiving options this season the signs are the ball is going to see a lot of air once again for the Buccaneers. That is assuming the offensive line can keep Brady upright for long enough, which with little quality in the run game isn’t actually a guarantee. The Tampa Bay pass rush leaked oil last season too and it will be interest to see if they have been coached up for this term.
Betting
This is a tricky Sunday Night Football to assess really because both teams are carrying plenty of injuries into the season in the offensive men in the ranks. We also don’t truly know how Tom Brady will play either so there has to be an element of caution when assessing this match until we have seen both the starting line ups and how both teams are functioning. My gut feel is that the point line is a little high but going against two decent passers of the ball isn’t a comfortable position.
There is one bet I like though and it revolves around the Dallas tight end Dalton Schultz who I think could see more action than maybe he might have done and Michael Gallup been fit. The Cowboys’ passing only really has Ceedee Lamb as top quality wide receivers but he could be double marked out of the game so it might be that Prescott looks for lengthier drives to keep the Bucs offense off the field and we get a lot of short passes and check downs to the tight end. He has a receiving line of 48.5 yards but the deeper down the field he goes he’ll be running into Antoine Winfield which isn’t a favourable matchup. Closer to the line of scrimmage he runs into linebackers who don’t play the pass as well so Dallas can get plenty of joy there. Rather than take the yards I’ll play Schultz to catch five or more passes as then any short gains don’t hinder us.
Tips
Back D.Schultz – 5 or more receptions for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
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