Editors’ Roundtable: Best Bets for Buccaneers vs. Cowboys on Thursday Night

Thursday Night Football will kick off the 2021 NFL season when the Dallas Cowboys head to Tampa Bay to play Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Dallas has a healthy Dak Prescott back in the lineup, but it will face a tough task against a Bucs team that returns all 22 starters from last season’s title team. 

Brady and the Bucs offense is ready to go in Year 2, and Mike Evans thinks they could be even better this season, which is a bad sign for a porous Cowboys’ defense. 

Still Prescott was on pace for a historic season throwing the ball in 2020 before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury, so Dallas might be able to keep pace in Week 1.

Here are our editors’ best bets with all odds coming via WynnBET Sportsbook:

Cowboys vs. Buccaneers UNDER 51.5 Points (-110)

I can count on one hand the number of times in my 33 years that I've felt sorry for Cowboys fans, but taking on the Buccaneers in Raymond James Stadium on ring and banner night may be one of them.

The matchup is a disaster for Dallas. If they think Ezekiel Elliott will help carry Dak Prescott as he gets settled in from an ankle and shoulder injury, think again. Tampa Bay was the best team in football against the run last year, as well as rushing yards allowed. The Bucs gave up over 100 yards just four times in 16 games.

Plus, in case the image from Super Bowl 55 of Patrick Mahomes running for his life isn't fresh in your head, the Cowboys announced earlier this week that Zack Martin, their best player on the offensive line is out. Yeesh.

Despite ALL of that, I still think the Bucs at -8 is too inflated by public bettors. I picked them as my survivor team to win, but if everyone and their mother is on Tampa to cover the eight points, that's an ideal time to go the other way. Instead, I'll take the under 51.5 at WynnBET with the Cowboys likely struggling on offense, and Tampa taking its foot of the gas in the second half. -- Ben Heisler

WynnBET ‘s Triple the Spread Offer: Cowboys +22.5 (+100)

The Buccaneers are better than Dallas, but by 23 or more points on opening night? I just don’t see it. 

The Dallas defense is going to have problems with Tom Brady, and I also like the over on his passing touchdowns prop, but taking Dallas to cover the 22.5-point spread on WynnBET’s special "Triple the Spread" offer is just too easy. 

Last season, Dallas only lost two games by more than 22.5 points and that was with Ben DiNucci, Andy Dalton and Garrett Gilbert under center for the majority of the season. The Bucs had their fair share of big wins, but in their 20 games (counting postseason), they only won four times by more than 22.5 points. 

Dak Prescott is going to at least keep Dallas competitive, and while I don’t think it will win, I think the Cowboys can keep this game within three scores. Rather than taking the eight-point spread at -110 odds, I’d grab the 22.5-point one for +100 odds for a better value, and more room to play with. -- Peter Dewey

Cowboys vs. Buccaneers OVER 51.5 Points (-110)

I’ve been back-and-forth with this game since the line was released in the middle of the summer. It opened at 6.5 at WynnBET, and if it was still there I’d probably be on the Bucs, but now that it’s up over the magic number of seven, I’m going to stay away from the spread.

Instead, let’s root for points. The Bucs offense should have no problem torching a Cowboys secondary 7.1 yards per pass attempt and 2.1 passing touchdowns per game in 2020. With that being said, the Dallas offense should be able to move the ball as well.

After only scoring 17 points in Week 1 last season, the Cowboys followed it up by scoring 40, 31, 38, and then 37 in the game against the Giants when Dak Prescott suffered his season-ending injury. -- Iain MacMillan

Antonio Brown OVER 4.5 Receptions (-104)

Antonio Brown is the best No. 3 receiver in the league and I’m putting my trust in him to go over his 4.5 receptions prop. WynnBET has him favored (-130 to -104) to hit the under rather than the over. 

That’s a beautiful invitation and I’m happy to accept.

Brown is one of Brady’s favorite targets and will get a lot of looks when Brady goes into his “dink-and-dunk” mode. In the eight games Brown played in last year, he had at least five catches in five of those games. Five catches isn’t a crazy ask of him; it is actually quite normal.

I’m going with AB all day. -- Donnavan Smoot

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