NFL Week 1 Picks: Cowboys defense ready for Brady and Bucs in season opener

Ahead of the NFL kickoff, Voch Lombardi previews Raiders @ Chargers and Bucs @ Cowboys.

Video Transcript

VOCH LOMBARDI: What's up, y'all? It's Voch Lombardi. Watch every second of the NFL season, when and where you want it, only on "The Zone."

[ENERGETIC MUSIC]

VOCH LOMBARDI: Now, we've got our weekly segment-- the games I'm watching this week. And I'm not going to lie, man00 some of these games look pretty cool, but the rest of them look horrific. It is what it is. I'm only going to pick three of them.

The first one is for Thursday Night Football-- the Buffalo Bills versus the LA Rams. The LA Rams are the defending Super Bowl champions. And like I said earlier, their way is the way that matters. Matt Stafford has-- we've been hearing about some elbow stuff going on this offseason-- of his throwing elbow, on his throwing arm. So that's going to be interesting to see how that turns out.

Can these guys make another run? Will they have a Super Bowl hangover? I think they brought back most of their players. They'll be fine.

But the Buffalo Bills, man-- Josh Allen is ready to roll. And if I had to pick one of these guys, it should be a high scoring game-- if I had to pick one, let's go Buffalo Bills. I think they're hungry. I think they got the better defense. Even though the Rams got the stars on defense, I think that the Bills are a better coach, a more efficient defense all together. They really get after guys. And I think there's something to Matt Stafford's elbow being a little jacked up. I'm going Buffalo Bills in that W on Thursday Night Football. Be sure to watch that on "The Zone."

Raiders versus Chargers-- now, this game is interesting because of the idea of what the Raiders are supposed to be now. There is this new thing in the National Football League where-- hey, a wide receiver needs a new home. Let's just sign him with his college quarterback. Davante Adams-- pardon me, he's going to be playing with Derek Carr.

And I've never thought that Derek Carr was an amazing player. I never thought he was a great quarterback. But hey, we're in the AFC West. This division is supposed to be the best. And I'm ready to see what Josh McDaniels is going to do with this Raiders team. Let's see if he can be a little better than Gruden.

But on the other side, you have the Justin Herbert-led LA Chargers, and I think this team is going to be fantastic. I think they're going to put up big numbers on offense. And they signed JC Jackson and Khalil Mack to go play defense in this offseason.

I think the Chargers are the more complete team. I think they got the better quarterback. Quarterback matters. I'm going to go with the Chargers in this game.

And then you got the Bucs versus my beloved Dallas Cowboys. This is going to be the Sunday Tonight Football game, the big primetime game. Watch on "The Zone."

And, hey, listen, man, I don't want to be a homer here, and I'm probably going to pick Cowboys every single game. But I think there's something to the game being close last year, and it was more of an offensive shootout. I think it's going to be a little different this year. I think the game, on both sides-- both offense are going to be a little more methodical in how they try to move the ball and go up and down the field. But what I'm most excited about is the Cowboys defense.

We can hear all this noise about the players that the Cowboys lost, and they haven't made any improvements. But I believe in the dudes you have already got better. I believe in that kind of improvement-- the college football archetype, right?

So yeah, we didn't sign any-- and I say, we, as a Cowboy fan-- pardon my bias. The Cowboys got better-- pardon me, they didn't get better in any offseason acquisitions. But I think that defense in the second year of Dan Quinn-- and Micah Parsons is going to be ready. I just think that the Cowboys are going to try to get after Tom Brady and that Bucs offense.

Julio Jones is there, but he's 2022 Julio Jones. He's not prime Julio Jones. Maybe a lower scoring-- scoring affair. And I think I may be sounding biased, but who cares? I'm going my Cowboys over the Tampa Bay Bucs.