DALLAS, Tex. — After an offseason that saw the retirement and un-retirement of quarterback Tom Brady, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers regular season finally kicks off Sunday night when they travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys.
It's the second straight season the Buccaneers have opened against the Cowboys, with the Bucs using a game-winning drive led by Brady last year to beat Dallas, 31-29.
Both teams went to the playoffs last season and return their star quarterbacks in Brady and Dak Prescott. But, both are also going to look quite different along the offensive line and in their receiving corps.
The Bucs lost Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen on the second day of training camp and lost both starting guards from last year's team. In their place, the Bucs added a former New England Patriot at guard (Shaq Mason), a second-year center (Robert Hainsey), and a rookie left guard (Luke Goedeke).
Mason should fortify the right side of the line with superstar tackle Tristan Wirfs. On the left side, the Bucs return veteran left tackle Donovan Smith who will provide valuable experience to help Goedeke.
But much of the season will come down to how well Hainsey can handle the starting center job. The Buccaneers have been confident in his ability and haven't sought out a veteran free agent to fill the role with Jensen out.
On the other side, Dallas will have new faces along the offensive line as well. The Cowboys lost star left tackle Tyron Smith and will have a rookie (Tyler Smith) starting in his place. The Cowboys also have to replace La'El Collins at right tackle and guard Connor Williams.
Tampa's Brady may be able to combat any offensive line issues with a lightning-fast release of the ball while Prescott is mobile enough that he may be able to get out of trouble if the line starts to struggle.
Past the offensive line, the wide receiving corps looks completely different for Dallas while Tampa added a potential X factor to their receiver room during free agency.
Amari Cooper was released by the Cowboys for salary cap purposes and then Cedrick Wilson left in free agency for Miami. Combined with Michael Gallup still not full recovered from an injury, and the Cowboys have just one proven receiver, CeeDee Lamb.
In two seasons in Dallas, Lamb has pulled down 153 catches for 2,037 yards and 11 touchdowns. But past Lamb, none of the players are known commodities and Dallas may turn to rookie Jalen Tolbert to help.
Conversely, the Bucs will have arguably the best wide receiver corps in the National Football League.
The Bucs already had stars at receiver with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin (who is expected to be fully recovered from surgery by Week 1). The team then went out and added Russell Gage and former Pro Bowl receiver Julio Jones.
If Jones can play at even half of his former level, adding him in will be one of the shrewdest moves the team has pulled off since Brady signed with the team two years ago.
Evans, Jones, Gage, and Godwin give Brady a potentially lethal four-wide set. The Bucs also added Kyle Rudolph at tight end to help fill the gap left by the retirement of Rob Gronkowski.
If you're looking for an X factor in the game, it could be Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons. He played phenomenally as a rookie and is expected to keep that high level of play as he starts his second season.
Brady will have to make sure he knows where Parsons is at all times and how to counter him for the Bucs to leave Dallas with a victory.
The Buccaneers and Cowboys are scheduled to kickoff a little after 8:20 ET in Dallas.
