The Tampa Bay Buccaneers[10-8] defeat the Philadelphia Eagles[11-7] 32-9. The Eagles season is over and the Buccaneers travel to play the Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs.
1st Quarter: Buccaneers Kicker Chase McLaughlin kicks a 28-yard field goal. Buccaneers Quarterback Baker Mayfield throws a 44-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver David Moore.
2nd Quarter: Chase McLaughlin kicks a 54-yard field goal. Eagles Kicker Jake Elliott kicks a 47-yard field goal. Chase McLaughlin kicks a 48-yard field goal. Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts throws a 5-yard touchdown to Tight End Dallas Goedert(the 2-point conversion is unsuccessful). The Buccaneers lead at halftime 16-9.
3rd Quarter: An intentional grounding penalty in the endzone on Jalen Hurts results in a Safety for the Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield throws a 56-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Trey Palmer.
4th Quarter: Baker Mayfield throws a 23-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Chris Godwin. The Buccaneers win 32-9.
Eagles Notes:
This game, in my heart, went as expected. The gameplan was the same as every other game this season. The pass defense could not stop anyone. The only reason Mike Evans and Chris Godwin did not have good statistical games is because of the drops by Evans and lack of targets to Godwin. The run defense was dissapointing since the change to Patricia and this game saw no change. If there was any positive in this game it was the pass rush did not give up and got to Baker Mayfield, but too late in the game to make a difference. Nobody was tackling and it was the worst game of the season when it came to missed tackles. Buccaneers players under 6 feet tall and half the size of our defensive linemen were bouncing off of defenders and gaining extra yardage. This is one of the worst Eagles defensive performances from an effort perspective that I have seen in the last 15 seasons. On offense the opening series we saw running with D’Andre Swift but as expected we would not see much of that in the first half. Jalen Hurts did not play bad. Social Media and people not understanding of the impact of scheme believe that Hurts played terrible but he did exactly what he was supposed to do with what plays he was given. Proof is in the tape and the numbers. DeVonta Smith was the best player on the field for the game. He did not get the ball as much as I wanted him too but he did everything to keep the Eagles in the game in the first 3 quarters. Dallas Goedert was irrelevant in the gameplan. Julio Jones was very active in the first half until he got hurt with a concussion. Screen passes, players running routes into one another, four verticals, not running the ball with the running backs, and many other issues come with the coaching and scheme. Finally, Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox could have played their last games as Eagles. Brandon Graham said he would like to play one more “fairwell tour” for the 2024 Eagles season if they will have him. Lane Johnson said he still has a few more seasons left. Kelce, like every year for the past few seasons, hugged Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland and was emotional. There is a huge rumor Kelce is retiring but he went on his New Heights Podcast and said he has not made a decision yet. There has been no indication of Cox’s future in football or with the team.
My Eagles season recap video will be coming soon to talk more about what happened this season, what should change, and the future of the team.
-Jordan Burden