Protection Will Be Decider In Bucs/Eagles
Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
For the fourth consecutive season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be playing playoff football. They will be squaring off against last year’s NFC champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, who have surprisingly lost five out of their last six.
Here are our keys to a Bucs victory.
Keep Baker Mayfield upright
Per Ian Rapoport, despite dealing with ankle and rib injuries over the past couple weeks, Baker Mayfield is expected to play tonight against the Eagles.
From @GMFB: #Bucs QB Baker Mayfield (ribs, ankle) and #Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (finger) are both expected to play today, while Philly WR AJ Brown (knee sprain) could play next week if they advance. pic.twitter.com/OZ5TPQqCIO
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2024
This is certainly welcome news for the Bucs as they enter their playoff run, though the Bucs must approach this game with caution. It’s paramount to make sure that the Eagles’ front seven, who have totaled 43 sacks on the year, can’t take him out of the game with one hit.
Having the full arsenal of Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin will be crucial against an Eagles secondary that has severely underperformed this year. They have allowed 35 passing touchdowns (2nd most in the NFL), 4,551 passing yards (5th most in the NFL), and have only picked off nine passes (T-7th fewest in the NFL).
While safety Sydney Brown will be inactive for the Eagles due to a knee injury, Philly’s secondary will get a major boost, as cornerback Darius Slay will be returning from a four game absence due to knee surgery.
“We’re obviously excited to get (Slay) out there in play,” said Eagles senior defensive assistant and chief pencil-in-ear guy Matt Patricia.
Assuming both quarterbacks stay healthy for all four quarters, this game will likely have an awful lot of passing. If that is the case, the Bucs will need to keep Mayfield, who topped 4,000 passing yards for the first time in his career and threw all but two of the Bucs’ pass attempts in 2023, upright and healthy.
Contain every aspect of Jalen Hurts’ game
At his best, Jalen Hurts is a game changing quarterback. He can take over any game with both his throwing arm and his running legs. He’s an MVP-caliber player. Unfortunately for Hurts, he will not have his full arsenal of weapons in Tampa on Monday night.
Bad News: #Eagles AJ Brown is down and in pain, holding his knee.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 7, 2024
AJ Brown, whose production had dipped since his early season tear, has been ruled out due to his knee injury. It’s tough news for an Eagles’ offense who may already be hampered by Jalen Hurts’ finger injury, though Hurts will be good to go for the wild card matchup.
The Bucs have had secondary struggles of their own; they’ve given up the third most passing yards in the NFL in 2023. With Brown set to miss his first game of the season, Hurts will now have to rely on a receiver corps led by DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.
One big part of containing Jalen Hurts’ game is preventing the one-yard-to-go situations for Brotherly Shove related reasons.
it feels like nothing is working for the Eagles anymore- but at least they have the tush push.
Here's how valuable the play has been this szn:
PHI avgd 4.2 points per drive on possessions w/ a successful tush push, more than twice the NFL avg on points per drive (1.97)
(1/8)— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) January 15, 2024
The tush push, which would be definitively more beloved if it was called the tushie pushie, is next to impossible to contain if Jalen Hurts is on the other side of the trenches. The best, or possibly even the only way, to contain the Brotherly Shove is to prevent the Eagles from being able to get in those short yardage situations to begin with.
The Eagles are reeling. Capitalize on that.
The Eagles started the 2023 season as a real Super Bowl threat, as they began the season with a 10-1 record, while the Bucs started off with a 4-7 record. They even squared off in Week 3, with Philadelphia taking home a 25-11 Monday Night victory.
Since then, their momentum has slid completely, as they’ve lost five of their last six games. Their only win over the last six games was against a Giants team that beat the brakes off of them merely two weeks later with Tyrod Taylor under center.
https://twitter.com/TomIgnudo/status/1744424330291732890?s=20
With their defense in limbo under Matt Patricia, it is a prime opportunity for Baker Mayfield (assuming he stays healthy) to cook. Mike Evans, the 2023 NFL touchdown co-leader, will be lining up against an Eagles pass defense that allowed 35 TDs in the regular season.
The Eagles are also currently a banged up team. AJ Brown, who torched Tampa for 9 receptions and 131 yards in Week 3, is out with a knee injury. In addition, Jalen Hurts is coming off of a dislocated finger, and safeties Sydney Brown and Reed Blankenship are out and questionable, respectively.
Like Week 3, the Bucs will be facing the Eagles in a Monday Night matchup at Raymond James Stadium. However, the momentum for both teams have shifted completely since their early season matchup, and Tampa Bay has a golden opportunity to be the final nail in the Eagles’ 2023 coffin.
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