THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR BOOT OFF THEIR THROAT!
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the “City of Brotherly Love” with hateful intentions Thursday night, and it sure looked that way in the first half of this game. Unfortunately, the second half was a different story, and the Bucs almost let the Eagles fly back to make a game of it. Tampa Bay survived an ugly fourth quarter and pulled out a 28-22 win on the road to get to 5-1 for the season.
This game started out amazingly with the offense marching on and on and the defense making stop after stop. It was a thing of beauty. I thought this was going to be a fun article to write, with all the “good” that had happened. And then came the second half, which was the exact opposite of the first half. That’s when the “bad” and “ugly” stuff started happening. And that’s when the article stopped being fun to write. So here is what I came up with for my “Good, Bad & Ugly” from the Bucs vs Eagles game.
THE GOOD
The First Half
With the exception of the first Eagles drive, the first half couldn’t have gone much better for the Bucs. They outplayed Philadelphia in every way, including total yards (233-73), first downs (16-5), plays in the opponent’s territory (19-1), and time of possession (21:05 to 8:55). The results were a 21-7 halftime lead that seemed as though it would only keep getting worse for the Eagles. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
The Juice
With Rob Gronkowski still sidelined with the rib injury, the Bucs needed one of their other tight ends to step it up a notch, and OJ Howard answered the call. He finished this game with 6 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. That’s more catches than he had in the first five games combined. Whether the Bucs are trying to build up some trade bait for him or he’s just finally healthy enough to be more involved in the offense, it’s nice to see him playing the way we expected him to when he was drafted in the first round a few years ago.
Lenny
Leonard Fournette once again showed that he can be the feature back of this team, finishing this game with 22 carries for 81 yards, 6 catches for 46 yards, and 2 touchdowns. I like Ronald Jones and everything, but Bruce Arians is going to keep playing the “hot hand” and riding with “Lombardi Lenny“.
Jamel Dean
He lands on my list for the second straight week by finishing with an interception and 4 passes defensed against the Eagles. The Bucs were already down Carlton Davis AND Sean Murphy-Bunting for this game, then they lost Richard Sherman early in the first quarter. Dean was thrust into the #1 cornerback role and stepped up to the challenge. With the exception of his 45-yard pass interference call in the first quarter, he really played a solid game considering the circumstances.
The D
No Lavonte David. No Carlton Davis. No Sean Murphy-Bunting. No Antoine Winfield Jr. And no Richard Sherman for most of the game. Yet this Bucs defense was able to hold the Eagles offense to just 213 total yards (113 passing, 100 rushing) on 47 plays. Philly was 3 of 10 on third down and had just over 20 minutes in time of possession. They got 95 yards and 14 points from two pass interference calls on Jamel Dean and Mike Edwards. At one point, those two penalties (95) accounted for more yards than the 25 offensive plays (77) the Eagles had run. Other than that, the defense played really well and kept the Eagles RPO offense with Jalen Hurts in check.
THE BAD
The Second Half
Not the entire second half, but with 5:47 left in the third period on, was terrible. After halftime, the Bucs defense was able to stop Philly with a quick three and out, and the offense marched down and scored again with a 12 play/79-yard drive that had 6 first downs, took nearly 8 minutes off the clock, and made it a 28-7 score.
It was all downhill from there.
After the score and kickoff, the Bucs starting defensive line stayed on the sidelines. JPP, Shaq, Vita, and Suh were all on the bench. Maybe getting a breather? Maybe giving the reserves some live snaps? Maybe they thought the game was out of reach? I don’t know—but I’d like to know. The subsequent drive-by Philly started with a questionable 50-yard “pass interference” call on Mike Edwards that looked an awful lot like incidental contact to me. They went from their own 25-yard line to the Bucs 25 yard line in one play and eventually scored six plays later, making it a 28-14 game.
Then the Bucs got overly cautious on their next possession and got out of their offense subsequently, going three and out. The next drive wasn’t much better, with them running just seven plays before being stopped on fourth and short giving the Eagles the ball at midfield. Philly went 54 yards in 7 plays with 5 first downs to score again, which included back-to-back rushes of 23 and 14 yards by Myles Sanders (which NEVER happens to the Bucs defense). The touchdown plus the two-point conversion made it 28-22 and a one-score game with 5:54 left in the fourth.
The Coaching Decisions
As I touched on before, things happened in this game that was a little baffling to me. Why was the starting defensive line sitting out? Why did Mr. “No Risk It, No Biscuit” take his foot off the gas with a 28-7 lead? Why go for it on 4th & 3 from the Eagles 46-yard line instead of punting and playing the field position game? Why? Why? Why? I guess I won’t question the coaches with all the knowledge and experience. I just don’t understand the thinking behind the decisions.
The PI Penalties
I’ve touched on them before, and for good reason. They were both HUGE. They both led to big gains. They both led to scores. The one on Jamel Dean for 45 yards that put Philly on the Bucs 1 yard line was pretty legit. The one on Mike Edwards for 50 yards that put them on the Bucs 25 yard line was questionable at best and probably should’ve been incidental contact. Either way, both happened, and both of them hurt.
The Injury Bug
Already dealing with a plethora of injuries, the Bucs lost another key player early on in this game. Recently signed Richard Sherman pulled up with a hamstring early in the first quarter and never returned. He will not play on Sunday versus the Bears, and I would assume that he won’t return until Week 10 after the bye. That means the Bucs secondary will probably be without Sherman, Davis, and Murphy-Bunting for the next two games and that Jamel Dean, Pierre Desir, Ross Cockrell, and Dee Delaney will have to step up big in those games.
THE UGLY
The Drop
With 12:51 left in the fourth quarter, Jalen Hurts attempted a swing pass to Myles Sanders in the flat. Ross Cockrell played it perfectly and stepped in front of the pass but dropped what potentially could have been an easy pick-six and a game-sealing play. It literally hit him in both hands. The Eagles didn’t come away with any points on that drive because they missed the field goal. However, had Cockrell made that pick, the Bucs would’ve gone up 35-14 in the fourth quarter, and the game likely would’ve been over. I’m not trying to pick on Ross here. He’s actually played pretty well since being thrown into the spotlight due to injuries. But that was a gift that he just flat out didn’t accept.
THE SUMMARY
What started out as a Philadelphia beat down ended up as a tighter game than it ever should’ve been. Sure, statistically, they dominated this game. Sure, the Bucs won an NFC game, on the road, for their third win in 12 days. Sure, the win got them to 5-1, matching their best start in franchise history (1997, 2002, 2005), which all ended up as 10-win seasons and trips to the playoffs. And sure, the Bucs are still in first place in the NFC South now with a two-game lead on the Saints and Panthers. However, they need to get their shit together and start playing consistent football, or they won’t have a chance at repeating.
Next up are the 3-3 Chicago Bears, who are struggling with their identity, especially at quarterback. The most points they’ve scored this season is 24 against the Detroit Lions, and their defense has been even more inconsistent than the Buccaneers allowing 34, 17, 26, 14, 9, and 24 points in their six games. The Bucs will get a little boost with Antoine Winfield Jr. returning to the lineup, and there’s a possibility that Rob Gronkowski could make his return as well, so both of them would help quite a bit. The Bears’ offense doesn’t have enough firepower to put enough points up against the Bucs’ defense, and I don’t think the Bears’ defense can contain the Bucs’ offense enough in this game to pull out a win. This should be a repeat of the Dolphin game, which will be quite entertaining for the home crowd in Raymond James Stadium.
Until then, as always, GO BUCS!!!