The National Football League started the 2021 season strong with a great matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The long awaited game between two star quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Tom Brady was finally here, which helped to lure the most viewers of an NFL opening game since 2015. The Bucs beat the Cowboys 31-29 after Tom Brady’s late fourth-quarter drive which led to the game-winning field goal. Both quarterbacks played exceptionally well with Brady throwing for 379 yards and four touchdowns while Dak Prescott threw for 403 yards and three touchdowns. The Bucs overcame four turnovers for the win despite taking the ball away from the Cowboys just once on defense. Prescott was sacked just once while Brady wasn’t sacked at all.
According to the LA Times, “From the moment quarterback Tom Brady whipped the hometown crowd into a froth with his jugular-bulging hype video before kickoff, Buccaneers fans made little use of their seats.”
NBC stated that its 2021 NFL opener between the defending Super Bowl champions and the Cowboys averaged 26 million on all platforms, and it was also reported that NBC TV peaked at 25.4 million viewers between 9:45 p.m and 10 p.m. ET. These numbers represent a 20% increase from the 2020 NFL kickoff game which averaged 19.3 million viewers. NBC also said the 2021 contest averaged 24.4 million viewers on TV and was the most-watched kickoff game since the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots opener in 2015. That game also featured Brady and attracted 27.4 million viewers. CEO Kevin Krim stated via email, “Last night’s opening game was great news for NFL advertisers, NFL broadcast partners, and the league. We saw strong year-over-year performance with top search scores significantly higher than last year’s opener.”
If you had any of the Tampa Bay starters on your fantasy football team, you had a great chance of winning as Tom Brady accumulated 27.16 points, tight end Rob Gronkowski totaled 29 points, wide receiver Antonio Brown had 23.7 points, and wide receiver Chris Godwin had 23.5 points. The Cowboys starters also had an exceptional night with Prescott getting 27.42 points, Amari Cooper having an outstanding 38.9 points, and Ceedee Lamb with 23.4 points.
The Bucs, however, already have their first significant injury concern of the season. Their starting cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting suffered a gruesome elbow injury in the first half after getting beat by CeeDee Lamb for a touchdown. Murphy-Bunting collided with teammate Antoine Winfield Jr. and headed to the locker room before being ruled out for the rest of the game. His injury report showed that he dislocated his elbow and would be out anywhere from four weeks till the end of the season. The first NFL game of the season lived up to its expectations as shown by the viewership numbers and the passing yards the two star quarterbacks were able to put up.
