The defense of the Super Bowl got under way on a Thursday night in front of a sold-out Raymond James Stadium. Tom
Brady had four TD passes but it took a late drive and 36-yard FG from Ryan Succop with two seconds remaining for the
Bucs to come out on top as Dak Prescott passed for over 400 yards against an ineffective Tampa defense. The first half was
both teams trading scores on possessions as the NFL season opener was held in the stadium of the defending champions.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
BUCS: Fournette 9-32, Jones 4-14, Brown 1-6.
COWBOYS: Elliott 11-33, Pollard 3-14, Prescott 4-13.
PASSING
BUCS: Brady 50-32-379-2-4.
COWBOYS: Prescott 58-42-403-1-3.
RECEIVING
BUCS: Godwin 9-105, Gronkowski 8-90, Brown 5-121,
Fournette 5-27, Evans 3-24, Bernard 2-12.
COWBOYS: Cooper 13-139, Lamb 7-104, Schultz 6-45,
Gallup 4-36, Pollard 4-29, Wilson 3-24, Jarwin 3-20,
Elliott 2-6.
INTERCEPTIONS
BUCS: Davis 1-25.
COWBOYS: Lewis 1-66, Diggs 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
BUCS: Mickens 3-92.
COWBOYS: none.
PUNT RETURNS
BUCS: Mickens 2-21.
COWBOYS: Lamb 1-12, Wilson 1-2.
SACKS
BUCS: Barrett 1-12.
COWBOYS: none.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 Dallas Cowboys 29
Thursday 10 September 2021 at Raymond James Stadium
GAME SCORING
TB
7-0
5:23-1Q
Godwin 5 pass from Brady (Succop kick)
DAL
7-7
1:35-1Q
Lamb 22 pass from Prescott (Zuerlein)
TB
14-7
9:48-2Q
Gronkowski 2 pass from Brady (Succop)
DAL
14-13
4:20-2Q
Cooper 5 pass from Prescott (kick failed)
DAL
14-16
3:16-2Q
Zuerlein FG35
TB
21-16
2:38-2Q
Brown 47 pass from Brady (Succop kick)
DAL
21-19
9:15-3Q
Zuerlein FG21
TB
28-19
2:38-3Q
Gronkowski 11 pass from Brady (Succop)
DAL
28-26
0:33-3Q
Cooper 21 pass from Prescott (Zuerlein)
DAL
28-29
1:24-4Q
Zuerlein FG48
TB
31-30
0:02-4Q
Succop FG36
GAME REPORTS
Rick Stroud reports on the opening game of the 2021 NFL season
Rob Gronkowski shows his football IQ on his first of two scores
Ryan Succop’s son missed the game-winning kick
The defense had to dig deep because of injuries
The game was a ratings success for NBC
Scott Smith’s official game report
Click here for the play-by-play and the NFL gamebook
STARTERS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
LT
76 Smith
DE
93 Suh
LG
74 Marpet
DT
50 Vea
C
66 Jensen
DE
92 Gholston
RG
65 Cappa
LOLB
90 Pierre-Paul
RT
78 Wirfs
LILB
45 White
TE
87 Gronkowski
RILB
54 David
WR
81 Brown
ROLB
58 Barrett
WR
13 Evans
LB
9 Tryon-Shoyinka
WR
14 Godwin
LCB
24 Davis
QB
12 Brady
RCB
23 Murphy-Bunting
RB
7 Fournette
S
31 Winfield
PLAYED
3 Succop, 8 Pinion, 10 Miller, 18 Johnson, 25 Bernard, 26
Adams, 27 Jones, 30 Delaney, 32 Edwards, 35 Dean, 43
Cockrell, 48 Stuard, 51 Minter, 52 Britt, 56 Nunez-Roches,
72 Wells, 79 O’Connor, 80 Howard, 84 Brate, 85 Mickens,
96 McLendon, 97 Triner, 98 Nelson
DID NOT PLAY
11 Gabbert, 64 Stinnie, 70 Hainsey
INACTIVES
1 Darden, 2 Trask, 21 Vaughn, 33 Whitehead, 39 Cooper,
60 Leverett, 94 Davis
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Click on the boxes below to view the big plays
Chris Godwin recorded the first Buccaneer touchdown of the season
Tom Brady found Antonio Brown on a deep pass down the right sideline
Ryan Succop had the game winner with two seconds remaining
COMMENTARY CREW Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth
NFL RESULTS - WEEK 1
Tampa Bay 31 Dallas 29
Houston 37 Jacksonville 21
LA Chargers 20 Washington 16
Seattle 28 Indianapolis 16
Carolina 19 NY Jets 14
Cincinnati 27 Minnesota 24
Arizona 38 Tennessee 13
San Francisco 41 Detroit 33
Pittsburgh 22 Buffalo 16
Philadelphia 32 Atlanta 6
Kansas City 33 Cleveland 29
New Orleans 38 Green Bay 3
Denver 27 NY Giants 13
Miami 17 New England 16
LA Rams 34 Chicago 14
Las Vegas 33 Baltimore 27
