2021 NFL schedule release chatter: Bills at Buccaneers likely will be Kickoff Game; Cowboys-Bucs still possibility

The 2021 NFL regular season is scheduled to begin Thursday, Sept. 9, with the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers being the customary host of the Kickoff Game. The official schedule release is Wednesday and while these reports are not confirmed whatsoever, there is a LOT of online chatter that the Buffalo Bills will be the opponent for Tom Brady & Co. William Hill Sportsbook should release Week 1 game odds soon after the schedule is out.

Bills-Bucs wouldn't be a huge shock as it could be a Super Bowl 56 preview, although right after Super Bowl 55 ended, SportsLine oddsmakers favored it to be Cowboys-Bucs because previous Kickoff Games have mostly been teams facing off from the same conference and the Cowboys are incredibly popular. The last AFC vs. NFC Kickoff Game was Carolina at Denver to open 2016 after those teams had played in Super Bowl 50 the previous February (Peyton Manning's last game).

Former Bucs head coach and current NBC Sports NFL analyst Tony Dungy tweeted this about an hour ago: "Wow. I am too anxious to see this year's schedule. I was a day ahead of myself. It's not coming out until Wednesday. But I'm still betting on Buffalo at Tampa as our season opener on @SNFonNBC. We'll see if I'm right??" NBC Sports' Peter King speculated in his weekly column it would be either Buffalo or Dallas heading to Tampa.

Of course, Bills QB Josh Allen had a breakout 2020 season, finishing second for MVP, in leading Buffalo the AFC title game and is +1300 at William Hill to win MVP this season. Buffalo is also +1300 to win its first-ever Super Bowl. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is a +650 second favorite to repeat and has every single starter back from last year's team.

Brady, now a seven-time Super Bowl champion, absolutely owned Buffalo during his Patriots career, going 32-3 as a starter against the Bills. It would be the first Kickoff Game for both the Bills and Bucs.

Perhaps one reason why it won't be the Cowboys: In the past 15 straight openers, the defending Super Bowl champs have opened against a team that was .500 or better the previous year. Dallas was 6-10 in 2020.

All NFL teams are planning to have full capacity in their stadiums this season. 

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