Gameday is always a whirlwind when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys. What we think will happen is rarely what actually happens. What actually happens goes by in a blur. And when all is said and done, there's a new week's worth of aftermath to sort out, good or bad. The DallasCowboys.com staff is always there to cover every aspect.
Every Monday this season Under Review will give a chance to catch your breath and look back at what actually happened. What did we think going in? What happened? And what does it all mean ?
The Warm Up:
- On Wednesday's Player's Lounge, Danny McCray said he wasn't sure he trusted "either of the Connor's" against the Tampa Bay defensive line. Was he right? [Watch the Player’s Lounge season preview]
- On Pregame Live, Dani Sureck explained that for Ezekiel Elliott, the season opener was all about "redeeming" himself. Did he do enough Thursday night to accomplish that? [Watch all of Pregame Live]
- Coming into Thursday's game, Amari Cooper said he believed that he was the best receiver in the NFL but he knew he had to prove it to everyone else. With 139 yards and two touchdowns against Tampa Bay, he certainly did some proving [Read about Cooper’s mindset coming into the year]
- Rob Phillips had the right prediction for the Cowboys' first game: "The biggest key is whether the Bucs can get to Prescott without having to blitz, as they did against Patrick Mahomes all night long in Super Bowl LV," Phillps wrote. "This will be a competitive, tight game in the second half because there's a lot of talent on both teams, but I'll take Tampa at home in this one." [Read all of the DC.com staff’s Gut Feelings coming in]
Game Time:
- It had been nearly a year since Amari Cooper caught a pass from Dak Prescott, but their chemistry was as sharp as ever Thursday night [Watch the flawless pass and catch of Cooper’s second TD]
- Everyone was anticipating a second-year star turn for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and he gave fans a taste of how he can eat up yards on Thursday [Watch CeeDee catch and spin for a 31-yard gain]
- If you missed Thursday's game, DallasCowboys.com had a full recap. "Sure, the Cowboys lost to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final seconds, 31-29, but the game was exciting from start to finish and the Dallas quarterback was nearly flawless." [Read the first Game Recap of the season]
- The heartbreaking loss didn't disappoint in terms of delivering highlight plays [Watch all the top plays from the Cowboys’ season opener against the Buccaneers]
What now?
- As great as Dak Prescott was, in the end, Tom Brady was too much, leading the Bucs to a last-second field goal and a 31-29 win. Check out Kurt Daniels’ game recap on the Week 1 loss.
- As soon as the game ended, Isaiah Stanback, Barry Church, Nate Newton, and Kyle Youmans were on hand to break down the team's performance and offer up a little perspective [Watch Cowboys Game Night try to make sense of what to be disappointed with and what to be excited about]
- In a game as tight as the Cowboys' season opener, every play matters. So you might have already forgotten about the plays that mattered even more than you realized [Nick Eatman breaks down five plays that you might have cost the Cowboys a victory]
- Greg Zuerlein knocked in a field goal that could have won the game in the fourth quarter, but previous misses were costly. "If I do my job, we win the game," the veteran admitted. [Rob Phillips on Zuerlein’s performance and confidence going forward]
