National Football League

Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge Dallas Cowboys as NFL season begins with a thriller

Updated Sep. 10, 2021 7:07 p.m. ET

The NFL kicked off its largest season (literally, each team will play 17 games) in league history on Thursday night, a marquee matchup between Tom Brady and the champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.

And it was a great matchup, with both teams trading blows throughout the night. Ultimately, the Buccaneers came out on top, holding off Dallas in a 31-29 thriller.

Whichever team you were rooting for, everyone can agree on one thing:

Here are the top moments from the season-opener.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Dallas Cowboys 29

The atmosphere was electric early on Thursday at Raymond James Stadium.

Prescott, who got his first real action tonight for the first time in 11 months, opened things up with a beautiful 28-yarder to Amari Cooper to move the Cowboys down the field.

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The Buccaneers were the first on the board, as Brady connected with Chris Godwin in the end zone midway through the first – and just like that, the first touchdown of the season belonged to Tampa Bay.

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But the Cowboys weren't far behind, and as the final minutes of the first quarter ticked down, Prescott found CeeDee Lamb to knot things up at 7.

In the second quarter, Rob Gronkowski grabbed this short pass from Brady to put the Bucs up 14-7.

This marks Gronkowski's ninth career receiving TD on opening weekend, tied with Willie Frazier for the most all-time by a tight end.

The first turnover of the season came when Ronald Jones lost the ball on this drive, courtesy of a big-time punch from DeMarcus Lawrence.

The fumble set up an easy touchdown pass between Prescott and Cooper, and the Cowboys came knocking on Tampa Bay's door, 14-13.

Just as quickly as the Buccaneers got the ball back, they lost it again.

Brady's pass intended for Leonard Fournette was intercepted by Trevon Diggs, and Dallas took advantage of the short field, kicking a field goal to go up 16-14 with a few minutes left before the half.

But TB12 & Co. wasn't going down without a fight, connecting with Antonio Brown on a 47-yard bomb, putting the Buccaneers up 21-16 heading into the break.

With his third touchdown pass of the night, Brady surpassed Drew Brees (41) with the most passing TDs in season openers in NFL history with 42.

And with a combined 437 passing yards and five touchdowns, Brady and Prescott are the first quarterback duo to combine for either 400+ passing yards or more than five passing TDs in the first half of a Kickoff game since its inception in 2002.

To start the second half, the Cowboys' Greg Zuerlein narrowly made a field goal – after missing two and an extra point in the first half – to keep the Bucs within arm's reach at 21-19.

That was too close for comfort for Tampa Bay, however, and midway through the frame, the Bucs struck back. Prescott's pass went in-and-out of the hands of Lamb and into the arms of Carlton Davis …

… Which set up another touchdown connection between Brady and Gronkowski, making the pair just the second duo in NFL history to reach 100 passing/receiving TD's as a tandem (behind only Peyton Manning-Marvin Harrison, who have 114).

With 33 seconds left in the third, Prescott found Cooper once again, making it a two-point game at 28-26 heading into the final frame.

With about five minutes to play, the Bucs were knocking on the door, looking for a chance to potentially ice the game. But Godwin fumbled into the end zone, and the Cowboys had new life.

Prescott-to-Lamb continued to be a dangerous combination as the Cowboys drove down the field.

The drive stalled when the Bucs' Vita Vea drew a holding penalty on a play similar to this one.

But Zuerlein nailed a 48-yard field goal to give Dallas a 29-28 lead.

Of course, one should never bet against Brady, and the living legend quickly drove Tampa Bay down the field.

That play set up Ryan Succop for the game-winner.

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