The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened their Super Bowl title defense with a close 31-29 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday at Raymond James Stadium. The Buccaneers needed quarterback Tom Brady to engineer a game-winning 11-play, 54-yard drive with 1:22 remaining in the game that kicker Ryan Succop capped with a 36-yard field goal. On his Instagram account on Monday, the 44-year-old Brady celebrated the win with a video message, which he always does since his latter years with the New England Patriots.
“Hey what’s up? Hope you guys had a great weekend.
Football is officially back and it’s great to be 1-0,” Brady said in the video. Brady said the Buccaneers have a big week ahead when they go up against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, stressing they have a lot to improve on. “We got a big week ahead. The marathon is just getting started. We’ve got a lot to improve on. I’m excited for this week. Let’s go,” said Brady, who completed 32 of 50 passes for 379 yards and 4 touchdowns with two interceptions to remain unbeaten in six career games against the Cowboys.
Bucs overwhelming favorite over Falcons
On Sunday, the Buccaneers will face the Falcons, who lost their season opener to the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-6, in a game they failed to score a touchdown.
According to Chinmay Vaidya of DraftKings.com, due to the Falcons’ poor Week 1 performance, the Buccaneers have been initially installed as a 13-point favorite over Atlanta. The Buccaneers are expected to win over the Falcons, but based on their hard-earned win over the Cowboys, they’re not expected to cover the point spread.
Last season, the Buccaneers swept their season series against the Falcons. They beat the Falcons twice as part of their four-game winning streak in the latter part of the regular season to make it to the playoffs as a Wild Card with an 11-5 mark. The Buccaneers went on to win four more games in the postseason, including a 31-9 manhandling of the then-defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, to win their first Lombardi Trophy since 2002.
Bucs promote safety to active roster
The Buccaneers have promoted safety Andrew Adams from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster, per Luke Easterling of USA Today. Adams played for the Buccaneers for two seasons before he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason. However, the Buccaneers got a chance to snatch Adams after the Eagles waived him before Week 1. Adams was elevated to the active roster against the Cowboys with starting safety Jordan Whitehead out with an injury. He made one of the biggest plays when he made open-field tackle on Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott to keep him out of the end zone and force a field goal. The injury to cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting was also part of the Buccaneers’ decision to elevate Adams to the active roster. Murphy-Bunting suffered a dislocated elbow in the first quarter against the Cowboys and could be out for several weeks.
