After a crushing and embarrassing loss to the Denver Broncos last week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bounced back against the Eagles. Out of the gate, the Bucs were in control of this one. Tampa scored twenty-four unanswered points to start the game on Sunday, only allowing one touchdown at the end of the first half. This was a crucial game for the Bucs, as many people were afraid that this team might have been overrated, and the Broncos game was the first sign of that. For now, they're still at the top of their division and are continuing to have a strong year.
Though Sunday's win was impressive, it may have resulted from severe problems in Philadelphia. Hurts struggled mightly in this game, and the Eagles were down many of their stars, including AJ Brown. Not to say Tampa wasn't facing their own injury problems, but the Eagles may have been hurt more by missing their guys. Regardless, this was an excellent win for Tampa Bay, and they'll hope to propel this moment into their first divisional game this Thursday.
Fly Baker Fly
Baker Mayfield returned after a mediocre performance last weekend and put out a dominant stat line against the Eagles. Mayfield threw the ball a staggering forty-seven times. He completed thirty of those attempts and totaled 347 yards through the air. Combine this with his three total touchdowns, and you have another MVP stat line for Mayfield. The Bucs exposed the Eagle's pass defense by having veteran wideouts dominate against their corners. The Buccaneers legend Mike Evans racked it up on Sunday. He had eight catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown was a two-yard pass at the corner of the endzone to open the game. His grab in the first quarter set the tone for what this offense was about to do this whole game. Later in the first quarter, Mayfield found Trey Palmer in the endzone. This was probably Baker's best throw of the day as he rifled the ball right down the middle of the field between two Eagle defenders. You couldn't place the ball any better, and Palmer made a great catch to give the Bucs a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Mayfields next score would come at the beginning of the second quarter. Tampa was at the one-yard line when Mayfield pulled the ball on a read option and powered his way into the endzone, running over an Eagle defensive back. It was great to see the Bucs bring back the designed quarterback runs this week after not having them last week. Mayfield is a legit threat with the ball in his hands and can make this offense much more dynamic. He finished the game with four carries and only ten yards but took one of the carries to the house. Mayfield scored no more touchdowns the rest of the game, but those three first-half scores put the nail in the coffin for the Eagles. On the day, Mayfield completed at least one pass to eight different players and had four receivers end the game with over fifty receiving yards. This offense flows through Baker Mayfield, and if he continues to perform at this level, there's no telling how high this team can fly.
Attack the Quarterback
The Buccaneers defense responded big time this weekend. After getting shoved around by the Broncos, the Bucs flipped that performance on its head by sacking Jalen Hurts six times. Everyone was pressuring Hurts, including veteran linebacker Lavonte David. David led the Bucs in sacks with two, including one strip sack. He looked like a young rookie blitzing through the middle last Sunday. In the middle of the third quarter, the Eagles had the ball in the red zone and had the opportunity to bring the game to one possession with a touchdown on this drive. On first and ten on the nineteen-yard line, David blitzed right down the throat of the Eagle's offense. He ran right past the offensive linemen and right over the Eagles running back. Then, when Hurts stepped up in the pocket, David slapped the ball out of Hurts' hand as he was about to pass. The Buccaneers recovered the ball, preventing the Eagles from getting any points on that possession. The lifelong Buccaneer added to his performance by being the second player in franchise history to eclipse 1,500 career tackles with the squad. David joins Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks as the only player to accomplish this feat with the Buccaneers. David is undoubtedly on his way to the Hall himself, and he added another classic performance to his portfolio today.
Vita Vea returned from injury and played like he never left. Vea was his typical Vea-self. He was bulldozing offensive linemen and exploding plays before they could even start. Vea finished with one sack, two tackles for loss, and a QB hit. He was one of the most exciting defensive linemen to watch because of his size and incredible strength. On his solo sack, Vea ran to the left and then clubbed the Eagle's right guard with his right hand, propelling the defender to Vea's left and leaving him with a clear path to the quarterback. When healthy, Vea is one of the best interior linemen in the NFL, and he showcased this fact again on Sunday. We also saw a bounce-back game for YaYa Diaby. Diaby had a sack this week against the Eagles and a lot of pressure. Diaby is fifth in the NFL in QB pressures through four games with twenty-one. Diaby utilized the great bend on his sack to get past the tackle and stretched to knock the ball out of Hurts' hand. Three other players also ended the game with sacks, bringing the total to five different defenders getting to the quarterback. This is the performance the Bucs missed last week, and it's one they'll need to replicate going forward.
Pound the Rock
The Buccaneers had a solid rushing attack against the Eagles, rushing for over 100 yards. It was pretty balanced on the day between the two backs, and I think they both played well. After only averaging about two yards per attempt on the year, Rachaad White had a few explosive runs against the Eagles. On his first carry of the day, he took a run for seventeen yards, then on his next carry, he ran for another fifteen his next attempt. White ended the game with ten rushes for forty-nine yards and two catches for thirty-five yards. He is still the primary back, but Bucky Irving saw much more playing time in this game. Irving also received ten rush attempts and, like White, had forty-nine yards rushing. Having two running backs averaging five yards per carry is a huge plus to any offense. The Bucs will take that average from both guys every day of the week. Irving, however, took one of his carries into the endzone on a toss play from the one-yard line. He still isn't utilized as much as a receiving threat, only adding one catch for six yards.
Though we saw White improve this week and rush for the same stat line as Irving, I still believe Irving is the guy going in the future. It has been trending that way weekly as the Bucs slowly hand the keys to Bucky. He adds a level of explosiveness and twitchiness that not many back, let alone Rachaad White. On Irving's touchdown run, Mayfield tossed him the ball, and he made a fantastic play to get into the endzone. As Irving caught the ball, he sprung straight upfield and squeezed between two Eagle defenders to get into the endzone. It looked like he had a turbo button, but the other players didn't. That's a rare level of explosiveness, especially at the NFL level.
Bucky Irving is even a tremendous passing-catching option. Even though he only had one reception, that one reception was a one-handed grab. I think any opportunity to give him the ball is a good idea, as it usually results in a positive result. I don't think it's entirely time to call it quits on White's receiving reps, but I think the Bucs would benefit from passing Irving the ball more, as well.
Up Next: The Atlanta Falcons
The Bucs will be on the road next week and playing in their first divisional game of the season. The Atlanta Falcons have changed a lot since their last matchup. During the offseason, the Atlanta Falcons hired a new head coach, Raheem Morris. Morris was the head coach of the Bucs fifteen years ago and an assistant coach during the Buc's first Super Bowl win. Besides Morris, the other massive addition for the Falcons in the offseason was their brand new quarterback, Kirk Cousins. Cousins is a long-time NFL vet but hasn't been too sharp this season. He already has four interceptions on the year and only four touchdown passes. The Falcons are 2-2 but will have home-field advantage against the Bucs. All eyes will be on the Falcons and Bucs because they'll be playing in prime time on Thursday night.
Final Score: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33, Philadelphia 16
Bastable's Three Stars
1st Star: Baker Mayfield (347 Passing Yards, 3 Total TDs)
2nd Star: Lavonte David (8 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 1 Pass Deflection)
3rd Star: Mike Evans (8 Rec, 94 Yards, 1 TD)
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