Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles,who looked ahead to the Sept. 16 contest with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers very likely considered it a probable, if not easy win. After all, fans probably figured Carson Wentz would be fully recovered from his knee surgery by then, right? Moreover, the Bucs had gone 5-11 last season, finishing last in their division. Tampa Bay simply didn’t have the weapons to keep pace with the Eagles.
“Worse for the Bucs,” these deep thinkers surely figured, Tampa’s quarterback last season was Jameis Winston, and he managed to get himself suspended for the first three games of the season for groping an Uber driver. The Bucs would be using veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had played his whole career for really lousy teams, the 2015 New York Jets sort of notwithstanding.
A walk in the park for the Eagles seemed predictable.
Philadelphia Eagles Defense Not Up To Handling Tampa Bay Buccaneers Weapons
However, by Wednesday before Sunday’s game, most such assumptions had already proved iffy at best. Wentz was not yet cleared medically to play, and Fitzpatrick had led the Bucs to a 48-40 win the previous Sunday against New Orleans, throwing for 417 yards, four touchdowns, and winning Offensive Player of the Week honors. Suddenly, Fitzpatrick deserved the first listing under notes on “Tampa Bay Weapons.”
The Eagles looked mostly awful offensively in their season-opening win, and they and their fans had to hope Nick Foles would find a rhythm in Tampa.
Doug Pederson’s Press Conference
At Eagles coach Doug Pederson’s press conference, which was broadcasted on radio Wednesday, when he announced Foles would start his second game in a row, there were a number of questions about Tampa’s speedy veteran receiver DeSean Jackson, a former Eagle. As veteran Eagles writer Les Bowen tweeted, more or less, this seemed silly since Jackson was concussed and likely wouldn’t play. A few hours later Bowen reported Alshon Jeffery was warming up in practice with his teammates “for the first time since the Super Bowl.” So, not all the developments from the Eagles perspective seemed sub-optimal with four days until kickoff.
In general, Pederson seemed testy for a second week in a row since he had to dance around questions about Wentz’s eventual return to game action once again.
Wednesday night brought the news that Bucs cornerback Brent Grimes was questionable for the coming contest, and this was added to the ESPN crawler news during MLB baseball a bit earlier that another Tampa corner, Vernon Hargreaves, had been moved to the injured reserve list. This meant that the Bucs would go up against largely untested defensive backs in M.J. Stewart and Carlton Davis.
Philly Missing Weapons
By game day it seemed clear that one story would be whether or not Nick Foles would find the rhythm he was lacking in Week one. He would have to do it without Darren Sproles as a swing-pass target and running back, and Jeffery was also unavailable.
One of Tampa Bay’s weapons would be available, however. DeSean Jackson suited up and played for the Bucs on Sunday.
Eagles Secondary
The other story was the Eagles defense against Tampa Bay’s weapons, principally Jackson and Mike Evans, but other receivers as well. Jackson and Evans combined for 12 catches, 293 yards and three touchdowns against New Orleans. Jackson is the speed guy, Evans the jump-ball artist.
The Philadelphia secondary, especially cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby, simply weren’t up to the task. Darby did have an interception that bounced off tight end O.J. Howard, but altogether, neither corner could contrain Jackson, Evans, Howard, or Chris Godwin.
Jackson literally started the game after the touchback kickoff with a 75-yard touchdown reception. Lined up wide right, he juked out, cut in, and left Mills in the dust. Fitzpatrick, however, maintained his first listing among Tampa Bay weapons, throwing again for over 400 yards and four touchdowns.
Part of the problem may have been with Philadelphia’s decision to play off the imposing Bucs receivers, which didn’t work out at all.
Last Word
The Eagles did make a furious push near the end, and Nick Foles threw a brilliant touchdown pass to Agholor in the back-right corner of the end zone to bring his team closer before the Eagles last possession.
Overall, however, Foles had found his rhythm too late, and Tampa Bay’s weapons were the real story.
Jameis Winston now has to be a little nervous, and Eagles fans have to be hoping reports that Wentz will be cleared for Philly’s game against the Indianapolis Colts next week come true.
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