On September 11, Tom Brady became the oldest quarterback in NFL history to start a game. This Sunday night football battle between Tampa and Dallas showed why Brady is still playing at age 45.
Brady and the Buccaneers controlled the game from start to finish, with Tampa reaching the red zone in their first five drives of the game. However, the Cowboys defense, led by reigning NFL Rookie of The Year Micah Parsons, came to play and allowed only 12 points in those five drives as Tampa kicker Ryan Succop nailed four out of five field goal attempts in the first half of the game.
In the second half of the game, Brady and the Bucs were finally able to score a touchdown on a strike from Brady to All-Pro wideout Mike Evans who made an incredible one-handed snag in the endzone.
One hand was all Mike Evans needed.
Bucs look DANGEROUS. pic.twitter.com/CDQBflVdEE
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 12, 2022
Evans finished the game with five catches on seven targets for 71 yards and one touchdown. Brady had a solid 23rd season debut as he completed 18 passes on 27 attempts and threw for a total of 212 yards, along with the touchdown to Evans and an interception. Bucs running back Leonard Fournette, aka Lombardi Lenny, had a fantastic game rushing for over 100 yards in a dominating effort. Newcomer Julio Jones also had a great game, including some vintage moments from the legendary receiver in his first outing as a Buc.
JULIO. JONES.
📺: #TBvsDAL on NBC pic.twitter.com/A10FxvXXhq
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 12, 2022
As for the other side of the ball for the Bucs, their defensive unit showed that they are still arguably the best defense in all of football with a manhandling performance from beginning to end with a lot of big stops coming from the superstar linebacking duo of Lavonte David and Devin White, along with a fantastic outing by young star safety Antoine Winfield Jr. who picked off Dak Prescott and had six tackles in the game as well. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vita Vea also showed that he is still one of the best players in the game, with a couple of QB hits and a sack of his own.
📺: #TBvsDAL on NBC pic.twitter.com/wHkGUvTMG1
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 12, 2022
As for Jerry Jones’ squad, their offense looked abysmal out there, which should come as no surprise after Dallas, for some reason, destroyed their wide receiver room and offensive line from last season’s NFC East winning team by getting rid of Amari Cooper, who was Dak Prescott’s favorite target as well as another wide receiver in Cedrick Wilson Jr. who had a sudden emergence last season with Dallas. In the offensive line, they let go of Connor Williams and La’el Collins who had been consistent staples in that line for Dallas in the last couple of seasons, especially Williams who rarely allows pressures from opposing defensive linemen.
Dallas finished the game with 71 yards on the ground from their talented running back tandem in Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 134 yards and got sacked twice on the day while throwing an interception as well, and the worse moment of the game for Dallas game when Prescott took a hit to his throwing hand and ended up leaving the game with an undisclosed hand injury that later ended up being reported as a thumb injury that is reportedly going to keep the team leader out for at least 6 to 8 weeks.
Here’s how Dak Prescott injured his hand pic.twitter.com/UVhn4nMkUk
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 12, 2022
With that being said, Brady and the Bucs showed that they are still Super Bowl contenders, while on the other hand, Dallas showed that they are not ready to compete anytime soon.
The question now becomes, will Dallas stick with backup QB Cooper Rush as their starter going forward with Prescott out? Or will they try to trade for another QB? Two names that come to mind as possible trade candidates are 49ers backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo and Dolphins backup QB Teddy Bridgewater.
Let us know what you think about Brady, the Bucs, or Dallas by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
