Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Preview, Odds and Overview

Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Preview, Odds and Overview

It seems like it’s been forever since we’ve gotten meaningful NFL football. That ends on Thursday when the Cowboys travel to Tampa Bay to take on the defending Super Bowl champs to open the NFL season.

There are, once again, massive expectations in Tampa Bay. Following last season, it seemed unlikely they would be able to bring the team back with so many pending free agents. But, they managed to keep almost every impactful player, leading to them being the second favorite to win the Super Bowl this year, behind Kansas City.

As for the Cowboys, expectations are also sky high in Dallas. Sure, they’ve only won three playoff games since 1997, but that doesn’t stop them from proudly calling themselves America’s team each season before eventually imploding.

In their defense, there is good reason to be optimistic on the offensive side of the ball, but they’ll need to improve drastically on defense if they’re going to win an NFC East crown, as the latest odds favor them to do.

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Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Date: Thursday, September 9

Time: 8:20 PM ET

Location: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL)

Dallas Cowboys Record: 0-0

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Record: 0-0

Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview

It’s difficult to really predict what we’re going to see from these teams come Thursday night, but it’s especially tricky to foresee how the Cowboys will look.

When it comes to Dallas, they spent last season relying on Ben DiNucci, who is probably the worst QB on an NFL roster. I’m not even entirely sure he’d be the starting QB at some college Power 5 programs. The Dak Prescott injury was awful, as he was in the middle of what looked to be a record-breaking season.

The Dallas defense was historically bad early in the year, but at least turned it around a little toward the end of the year. In the end, they finished 23rd in the NFL in defensive DVOA.

How did Dallas respond to having such a porous defensive unit? They had six picks in the first 115 of this year’s NFL Draft and used every single one of them on defensive players, including taking LB Micah Parsons No. 12 overall.

Despite the improvement that Dallas has made, Tampa returns basically the exact same team that won a Super Bowl last season and put an exclamation point on the season by dominating Kansas City in the Super Bowl.

Is Tom Brady another year older? Yes, he’s now a preposterous 44-years old and still starting. Does that matter? Probably not, as it seems Brady made a deal with the devil or found the fountain of youth and refuses to start declining.

Tampa Bay’s defense was fifth overall in DVOA, the offense ranked third in DVOA and the team was No. 2 overall in total DVOA. They didn’t just win the Super Bowl, they were statistically dominant while doing so.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Odds

The latest Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers odds clearly favor the defending champs on both the moneyline and the point spread.

Last season, Tampa Bay was one of the best teams in the league against the spread. In their 16 regular season games, the Buccaneers put up a 9-7 record ATS, tied for the sixth-best mark in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys were dead last in the NFL when it came to their record ATS, finishing at 5-11.

Right now, according to the latest Cowboys vs. Buccaneers odds, TB is -335 on the moneyline and favored by 7.5 points. The Cowboys’ moneyline odds sit at +300.

Complete Cowboys vs. Buccaneers odds

Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting

We know how the oddsmakers see this one playing out, but what is the betting public expecting come Thursday night when the Cowboys and Buccaneers meet?

To almost no one’s surprise, the public is backing the defending Super Bowl champs. In the last month, 68% of all moneyline bets on this game are backing the Buccaneers and just 32% have backed the Cowboys.