Tampa Got Step Up Performances All Over The Roster
Jan 15, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs (78) reacts after a victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 2024 NFC wild card game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Eagles’ season, in addition to Jason Kelce’s career in the NFL, ended last night at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 32-9. Tampa will move on to the divisional round, where they will face the Detroit Lions in Detroit.
Here are our top takeaways from the game.
Baker Mayfield Is A Leader
The Bake Show was in full effect on Monday night, despite the concerns regarding his rib and ankle injuries.
“He gutted it out,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “If you looked at him during the week, he was limping around, he wasn’t practicing, he was getting a little better day… He came back from that, he stayed with the plan, he never flinched, he made play after play after play.”
He did exactly what he needed to against a bad Eagles secondary, completing 22 of his 36 passes for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns, with his TDs going for 44, 56, and 23 yards, respectively. His first touchdown was a deep pass to David Moore where Moore zig zagged his way through the secondary to find the end zone.
GENE DECKERHOFF CALLS BAKER MAYFIELD'S 45 YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS TO DAVID MOORE pic.twitter.com/qXF7qdugKS
— Bucs Rays Bolts (@BucsRaysBoltsYT) January 16, 2024
The second one was to Trey Palmer, who used his blazing speed to evade defenders in a catch and run play.
TREY. PALMER. IS. GONE.
📺: #PHIvsTB on ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/gInWkEMxB9
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 16, 2024
His third TD was to Chris Godwin up the middle in garbage time, which sealed the win for the Buccaneers and put the game too far out of reach for Philadelphia, who came into the game as favorites. Like he is prone to doing, Baker Mayfield embraced his underdog role going into the playoffs.
“It’s always fun to be counted out,” Mayfield said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. “Obviously, I’m pretty comfortable in it, but our team has completely embraced that.”
A cause for concern, however, is that Mayfield was sacked four times in the Wild Card round. It’s a tough stat, especially considering they have to go up against Aidan Hutchinson, who had 11.5 sacks in 2023, and the Detroit Lions’ defensive line in the divisional round.
The defense stepped up, but it only gets harder from here
Upon the Philadelphia Eagles’ one touchdown, the Eagles lined up on the one yard line and attempted to use the tush push to help them convert it. The Bucs’ d-line, particularly anchored by Vita Vea on this play, did the unthinkable:
THE TUSH PUSH FAILED WOW!!!!!!pic.twitter.com/WHlnezUPvK
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) January 16, 2024
It’s quite the astounding feat, as of the 41 attempts of the tush push by the Eagles this season, that was only the fourth time that the Eagles were unsuccessful in converting it.
Tampa Bay did a remarkable job at limiting Jalen Hurts’ explosive style of play. Despite the fact that Hurts threw for 250 passing yards, he only had one rush for five yards, and even had to deal with the Tampa defensive line in their failed attempt to Brotherly Shove their way into a two point conversion. They also contained the Eagles offense as a whole; other than DeVonta Smith, who had 148 receiving yards, not a single skill player for Philadelphia had more than 34 yards from scrimmage.
The Bucs’ defense certainly needed to build momentum ahead of their matchup against Detroit, who boast the NFC’s third highest scoring offense. They have a two-headed monster at running back in the reliable David Montgomery and the shifty Jahmyr Gibbs, and a Pro Bowl wide receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The receiver corps showed it doesn’t need to overly lean on Evans and Godwin
Baker Mayfield had one of his best games of the season last night, and he did so without too much help from Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. While they will always be major contributors, Mayfield spread the ball around enough to his other receivers.
One major contributor was Cade Otton, who not only was the Bucs’ leading receiver, but he also set career highs in receptions and receiving yards.
Cade Otton up to eight catches for 89 yards, both resetting his career highs.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 16, 2024
In addition, his first two touchdowns were to David Moore and Trey Palmer. While they only combined for three catches, they made the most of them, as those three catches went for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bucs will once again have a prime opportunity against a mediocre pass defense in Detroit – they’ve allowed the fourth most passing yards (4,562) and the sixth most passing touchdowns (28). Baker will have to be careful with the ball, however, as Detroit has picked off 16 passes on the year, and they are ranked in the top ten in terms of opposing completion percentage.
Mayfield took care of the ball on Monday night, and it is now on him to continue his and the Bucs’ hot streak against the Lions on Sunday at 3pm.
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