Eagles Bully the Bucs

For the third week in a row, the Eagles built a big lead. Unlike the previous two games, the Eagles didn’t let the opponent back in the game. The Bucs cut the lead from 25-3 to 25-11, but the Eagles ate up the final 9:22 and that was that.

Bully ball.

The Eagles ran for 201 yards against the #4 run defense in the league. They limited Tampa to 174 total yards. The Eagles had 78 plays to only 44 for the Bucs. Baker Mayfield was sacked twice and took some big hits. The Eagles defense came up with a pair of takeaways and added a safety.

You could see real progress from the offense. They had 7 plays of 24 or more yards. Jalen Hurts looked more comfortable in the pocket. His patience led to a couple of long plays. The run game continued to be explosive. D’Andre Swift had runs of 26 and 29 yards.

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Things were great until the offense got into the red zone. The Eagles went 1 for 5, which is the only way this game didn’t get out of hand. There are multiple issues to fix. The play-calling wasn’t ideal. Hurts wasn’t as precise as he needed to be. AJ Brown dropped a TD pass. And we do have to give the Bucs some credit. That defense is good. Get them into a compressed area where they can attack and it makes them that much better.

Swift finished the game 16-130. Some people wondered why he didn’t get more touches. Swift only has 2 games in his career with more than 16 touches. He’s not the guy you feed the ball to as a volume runner week after week. The Eagles were smart to mix in Kenny Gainwell in the 4th quarter. Gainwell was only 14-43, but the Eagles didn’t need explosive plays at that point. They were just working on the clock.

AJ Brown had his best game of the year, going 9-131. They tried to get him a TD several times, but just couldn’t get it done. Dallas Goedert was 5-41 and kept the chains moving. Olamide Zaccheaus was 2-58, including a 34-yard TD catch.

Jalen Hurts with a big-time throw under big pressure to Olamide Zaccheaus. Olamide Zacchaeus’ first two catches as an Eagle goes for 24 and 34 yards and a TD

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— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 26, 2023

None of this happens without a big game from the O-line. They were dominant in the run game. Swift had some huge holes to run through. Hurts was sacked once, but generally had time to throw.

This was easily the best showing of the year for the Eagles defense. Tampa had 17 runs for 41 yards. They got no movement against the Eagles DL. We’re used to seeing Eagles rushers fly off the edge, but this was about manhandling the line of scrimmage and taking away running lanes. Jordan Davis continues to be a force in the middle. Jalen Carter had half a sack and made an impressive hustle play.

Jalen Carter just punched the ball out and the Eagles are back in business. Eagles get their second turnover

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— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 26, 2023

I thought LBs Zach Cunningham and Nick Morrow played well. Morrow shot a gap and got the RB in the end zone for the safety. He finished the game with 2 TFLs.

Reed Blankenship returned from injury and made his presence known. He led the team with 7 total tackles. He had a TFL and an INT. The secondary kept Mike Evans under control for most of the night. He finished 5-60-1.

Eagles STs had a good night. Jake Elliott was 3 for 3 on FGs. New punter Braden Mann only had one punt. That went 38 yards, but wasn’t returned and it was inside the 20. That’s okay. Britain Covey had the best game of his young career. He had a 52-yard punt return. He had a 30-yard KOR.

This wasn’t some amazing game that we’ll talk about for years, but we saw real progress in all three phases. There are still issues to work on, but there is a lot to be happy about. The Eagles now have a short week to get ready for Washington. Thankfully that will be a 1pm game on Sunday.

I forgot you were allowed to have those.

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