Incredibly Fast Start Propels Bucs to Big Win Over Eagles The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense couldn't get into a groove in a disappointing Week Three loss to Denver. It practically couldn't be stopped in Week Four against Philadelphia, especially in the first half. The Buccaneers rushed out to a 24-0 start by midway through the second quarter on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, then held off a spirited Eagles rally to claim the 33-16 victory. The win improved Tampa Bay's record to 3-1 and gave them sole possession in the NFC South after the New Orleans Saints' last-minute loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles fell to 2-2 with the loss after playing an NFC South opponent for the third week in a row. "We wanted to start fast," said Todd Bowles. "They came out and they started out real fast. They were crisp, they were clicking and they got us an early lead." Baker Mayfield spread the ball around masterfully, throwing for 347 yards on 30-of-47 passing as the Bucs' offense rang up a season-high 445 yards of total offense. Mayfield also ran for his second touchdown of the year, scoring on a fourth-and-goal from the one. Tampa Bay scored touchdowns on its first two drives for the first time since December 5, 2021 against Atlanta. Mayfield completed passes to eight different players, and hit on touchdown throws to Mike Evans and Trey Palmer. Rookie RB Bucky Irving scored his first NFL touchdown on a one-yard sweep in the third quarter after the Eagles had pulled to within 10 points. "Obviously, we wanted to get that taste [from the Denver game] out of our mouths for sure," said Mayfield. "We started fast because the guys were just locked in. We came out with a hair-on-fire mentality. Everybody was locked into what the plan was, and that's why we executed that quickly. But that needs to be the case every week." Evans was Mayfield's favorite target after the veteran receiver had only three passes thrown his way against Denver. Mayfield threw 15 passes in his direction, resulting in eight receptions for 94 yards and a score. Evans caught an eight-yard pass on the first play of the game, then finished that opening drive with a two-yard touchdown catch, the 97th of his career. He now ranks 12th in league history in that category. Tampa Bay's defense came out of the gate hot, too, forcing three-and-outs on each of the Eagles' first three possessions. LB Lavonte David led the charge with a team-high eight tackles, two of which killed drives on third downs, 2.0 sacks, a pass defensed and a critical forced fumble in the third quarter. Anthony Nelson, Logan Hall, Vita Vea and Yaya Diaby all got to Eagles QB Jalen Hurts as well, as the defense racked up a season-best six sacks. "He's our warrior," said Bowles of David. "He's our captain over there. He gets things done." The combined fast starts by the Bucs' offense and defense put Philadelphia in a huge hole. Before the Eagles finally mounted a 70-yard touchdown drive shortly before halftime, the Buccaneers had gained an incredible total yardage edge of 254-0. Even after the Eagles rallied, they were still held to 227 yards and Hurts was limited to 158 yards on 18-of-30 passing. The Eagles' biggest chunk of yards came on 59-yard breakaway run by Saquon Barkley on the first play of the second half, which led to a Hurts one-yard touchdown run. That score narrowed the score to 24-14, but the Buccaneers grabbed the momentum back with a 70-yard drive that ended in Irving's touchdown run. The subsequent extra point attempt was blocked and returned for a two-point defensive conversion, resulting a three-point swing that kept the Eagles within two scores. The Eagles took the next drive down to the Bucs' red zone but David's strip sack resulted in a turnover and the Bucs took the resulting possession down the field for a field goal, the game's final score. "It was huge," said Bowles of the Bucs' ability to answer with a score after the Eagles' third-quarter touchdown. "We knew they weren't going to lay down and quit. [Barkley] got a big run, they scored on that [drive]. For our offense to answer, it took some of the air out of them and then we finished it out from there." The Eagles played without their top two receivers and starting right tackle, but the Buccaneers were banged up as well. Their injury report swelled to 20 players by the end of Week Four and such key figures as right tackle Luke Goedeke, All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and defensive linemen Calijah Kancey were unable to suit up. Both teams had to contend with heat and humidity that created feels-like temperatures approaching 110. "They played hard," said Todd Bowles. "I mean, they played hard. A lot of guys sucked it up and played hard. Some of these guys are still nicked up; it will probably be like that all year. But they came through, they studied, they played like professionals and they showed up for each other." Mayfield was impressed with how his teammates handled the conditions in key moments in the second half. "Yeah, that was a big drive, too, stopping the momentum they had, keeping the lead what it was," he said of the third-quarter touchdown drive. "For us to go back out there and execute…I can't say enough about the whole team. That was one of the hotter games I've ever played in, and for everybody to be locked in that much. A few penalties here and there, but for the most part everybody dialed in…to answer like that was huge." The Buccaneers completely dominated the first half, taking a 24-7 lead into the intermission and winning the yardage battle 287 to 69. Philadelphia didn't get its initial first down until fewer than seven minutes were left in the opening half. The only blips for the Buccaneers were a third-down sack near midfield that killed their first-down possession and a dropped pass by rookie WR Kameron Johnson in the end zone that forced the team to settle for a field goal. Philadelphia deftly bounced the opening kickoff into the front of the landing zone and were able to run Trey Palmer out of bounds at the 21. The offense got off to a swift start, as Mayfield hit Evans on an eight-yard curl on the right sideline and White broke his first run over left tackle for 17 more. Two plays later, Mayfield tossed a swing route to Irving for six yards to make it third-and-one at the Philly 45. A quick play-action out to Godwin converted the third down, but Mayfield's next pass was incomplete. A tunnel screen to Palmer made it third-and-two at the 30. The Bucs converted that one, too, with a little bit of luck involved. LB Zack Baun leaped to deflect Mayfield's pass but White still caught it, then tip-toed down the sideline to the Eagles' eight. After a screen to Godwin got the ball to the two, Mayfield threw a back-corner fade to Evans in the left side of the end zone. The Tampa Bay defense also started out hot, forcing a three-and-out on Philadelphia's first possession. Hurts was chased into a first-down incompletion, Barkley was stopped for no gain and Lavonte David stopped TE Dallas Goedert three yards shy of the sticks. The resulting punt put the ball back at the Bucs' 20. Mayfield started the Bucs' second drive with a 16-yard play-action strike to TE Cade Otton up the left seam. Otton then took a swing pass to the right and somehow got past a tackler who met him as the ball arrived, finding a lane down the sideline for a gain of 28. Mayfield kept throwing, this time tossing a dart to Evans on a corner route for 19 more. Two plays later, Mayfield threaded the needle between multiple Eagle defenders and Palmer made a remarkable catch for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Hurts got a lob over the defense to Goedert on the next play from scrimmage but the standout tight end bobbled and dropped the ball. Barkley gained just three yards on second down, and on third down Hurts couldn't get away from Vea, who dropped him for a 10-yard sack. Palmer spun out of several tackles on his punt return to get the ball back to the Bucs' 27. After a five-yard encroachment penalty on the Eagles, White bounced his next carry around right end and got to the corner for a run of 13 to the Bucs' 45. After a six-yard Otton catch and a Bucs timeout, the home team ran into its first blip, as Brandon Graham had a free run at Mayfield for an 11-yard sack. Mayfield eluded the rush on the next play and fired a strike to Otton but the tight end couldn't hang on after taking a hard hit from behind. Trenton Gill's first punt as a Buccaneer went 42 yards and was muffed by return man Cooper DeJean, with Russell recovering the ball at the Eagles' 22. The officials initially threw a penalty flag on Josh Hayes for fair catch interference but the flag was picked up when the officials ruled that Hayes had been blocked into the returner. Irving took a handoff right on first down and made two sharp cuts to get through a line of defenders all the way to the Eagles' seven. The first quarter came to an end on a four-yard Otton catch. Irving surged out of a near-tackle at the line of scrimmage on second down and was able to lunge to the one. Another attempted fade to Evans didn't work on third down but Mayfield ran an RPO with White to perfection, keeping the ball and dashing around right end to extend the ball over the goal line. After a touchback, Hurts tried to hit Goedert downfield again but he was well-covered by David. Hall tipped an attempted screen pass to Barkley for an incompletion and Hurts' third-down pass was incomplete, leading to another punt, which went all the way to the opposite end zone for a touchback. A first-down run by Sean Tucker and a batted pass quickly put the Bucs in a third-and-seven on the ensuing drive but the drive was extended by a pass-interference call on S Reed Blankenship for an early hit on Evans. Mayfield got off a quick pass under pressure to Tucker on the next snap and he found room to rumble for 14 yards, getting the ball back into Eagles territory. Godwin gave the Bucs another first down at the 37 with a remarkable pluck of a hard pass in traffic. Two plays later, Evans took a short pass and stepped out of the initial tackle to gain 13 yards to the 23. An illegal snap penalty pushed the ball back five yards, but two plays later WR Sterling Shepard got wide open on the left side and Mayfield found him for a gain of 18 to the six. Two plays later, Mayfield dropped a snap but was able to fall on it at the three-yard line. Rookie WR Kameron Johnson had a shot at his first touchdown catch but was unable to hold onto it as he hit the ground. The Bucs sent out Chase McLaughlin to make it 24-0 with 7:18 left in the first half. Hurts got his second completion of the game to start the next drive, hitting WR Parris Campbell for four yards, but CB Jamel Dean poked the ball away from WR Johnny Wilson on second down. Hurts scrambled for the first time on third down and was able to get the ball across the 40 for Philadelphia's initial first down of the game. Barkley got 10 yards combined on his next two drives and Vea got flagged for holding to put the ball at Tampa Bay's 44. Two plays later, Barkley took a handoff up the middle and got to the 35 to make it third-and-one. The Eagles' patented tush push worked as it usually does, getting a first down at the 33, and Hurts threw on the run to Goedert to put the ball at the 24. Goedert caught another pass on the next play, stepping out of bounds at the six, and Barkley bashed it down to the one. His next carry was bottled up back at the two to make it third-and-goal and the Eagles called a timeout at the 2:37 mark. Barkley got it again on third down but was stopped dead in his tracks by LB K.J. Britt. The Eagles understandably went for it on fourth down after the two-minute warning and got on the scoreboard with Hurts' touchdown pass to Campbell. After a touchback, Mayfield started the next drive with a quick zip to Evans on a slant that was good for 13 yards. After two incompletions, Mayfield threw down the middle of the field but Evans and Otton cut off their routes as they converted on each other and the ball hit the ground. The ensuing punt was fair caught at the Eagles' 20 with 1:14 left on the clock. Diaby got a hit on Hurts on first down and the pass sailed out of bounds. After another incompletion, the Bucs sent a big blitz from the left side and Hurts threw that way to Campbell but David was there to wrap him up well short of the line to gain. The resulting punt went out of bounds at the Bucs' 30 with 55 seconds left. Evans bobbled a pass on a crossing route and an Eagles defender nearly made a diving interception. Mayfield went right back to him on a dig from the right side and that was good for 13 an a first down. An incompletion in Godwin's direction stopped the clock at the 29-second mark. Otton couldn't hang on to the next pass, making it third-and-10, and completion to Otton only gained four. The Eagles used their second timeout with 17 seconds left, and Gill's punt went to the Philly 21. Hurts kneeled to take the game to halftime. The Eagles got the ball first an immediately got into scoring territory, as Barkley burst over right tackle and got free for a 59-yard dash. S Jordan Whitehead eventually ran him down at the Bucs' 11. A quick pass to Goedert took it down to the two but Izien dropped RB Kenneth Gainwell for no gain on the next play. On third-and-one, the tush push came out again and Hurts just got the first down. The Eagles used the same tactic to bash it into the end zone and cut the Bucs' lead to 10 points. The Bucs started their first drive of the half with a quick out to Shepard that only gained three yards. Mayfield and Evans just missed hooking up on a downfield shot but Mayfield kept the drive going with a third-down scramble that was good for 10 yards. The Bucs were back in a third-and-11 after another missed downfield shot, this time to Shepard. This time, Mayfield scrambled right away from pressure and sidearmed a hard pass to Godwin in traffic for a first down at the Eagles' 43. Irving made a great one-handed catch of a backward pass and dashed for eight yards, then got seven more on a pitch around left end. Mayfield rolled right on the next snap and found Evans for a 21-yard gain to the seven. Irving ran it down to the two, and Irving plunged to within inches of the goal line. The play was initially ruled a touchdown, then reviewed and replaced short of the end zone. Irving took a pitch left on the next play and this time got in. The Bucs were not able to push their lead back to 17 points, however, as the Eagles Isaiah Rodgers blocked the kick on the extra point and Kelee Ringo recovered it and ran it all the way to the opposite end zone for two points. After that, the Eagles got the ball back at their own 27 on the kickoff and started out with an RPO run by Hurts for four yards. Hurts then escaped a collapsing pocket and found Barkley on the sideline, with the bruising back fighting through a tackle and getting to the Bucs' 42. After getting nine yards on the next two plays the Eagles tush pushed for two more and a first down at the 31. An out to Goedert got eight and Hurts took another RPO left for a first down at the 19. That's when David came up with his huge play, blitzing and looping behind Hurts to jump on just as he was starting to throw. The result was a fumble recovered by Stille at the Bucs' 24 with 2:36 left in the third quarter. Two plays into the ensuing drive, Mayfield pump-faked and then threw deep down the left side to Shepard, who made a leaping reception for 30 yards. After a two-yard loss by White and a two-yard sack by Josh Sweat, the Bucs faced a long third down on the midfield stripe but saw the drive extended on a defensive holding call as the third quarter came to an end. A long-developing screen to White worked for 13 yards when the back was able to get pas the first defender in his face. Mayfield tried to get the ball to Evans on a deep fly but it was incomplete. A holding call erased a good gain by White and made it second-and-20 back at the Eagles' 42. The Bucs couldn't overcome that and ended up sending out Chase McLaughlin for a 52-yard field goal try. He made it to push the Bucs' lead back to 17 points. Gill's subsequent kickoff bounced at the one and went into the end zone for a touchback, which meant the Eagles' drive started at their own 20. After 11 yards and a first down on the first two plays, the Eagles got a bigger chunk when Hurts found TE Grant Calcaterra down the left numbers for 25. A deep shot attempt to John Ross was well defended by Jamel Dean. David got to Hurts again for a nine-yard sack and a long scramble came back on a holding call. On third-and-19, Diaby swiped the ball out of Hurts hands for another sack, pushing the ball back to the Eagles' 28 and resulting in a punt. Johnson returned a 62-yard boot 10 yards to the Bucs' 20. Mayfield started the drive with a quick pass out left to Otton, who powered through not one defender but two to pick up 14 yards. However, the drive fizzled at that point and the Bucs had to punt it back with just under eight minutes left in regulation. Gill's kick was fair caught at the Eagles' 23. Hurts was chased out of the pocket before throwing an incompletion on the drive's first play, but the Eagles got a first down on a nine-yard run by Gainwell on third-and-three. David nearly intercepted Hurts' next pass and S Tykee Smith flipped TE Jack Stoll after a gain of five. Hurts converted the third-and-five with a quick pass to Dotson, which put the ball on the 50-yard line. Hall broke through for a five-yard sack on first down and then Dean appeared to make a diving interception near the left sideline. The play was overturned on a replay review, however, making it third-and-15. A screen pass to Dotson was good for just four but the Eagles had to go with it as the clock ticked down towards four minutes. Hurts never got a chance to throw for the first down, however, as another big blitz resulted in Nelson sacking him for a loss of seven. That turned the ball over on downs at the Eagles' 42. A quick pass down the line to Evans let him run for six yards and White took a handoff around right end, sliding to stay inbounds at the 29. Three more White runs produced another first down and allowed the Buccaneers to kneel out the clock. Scott Smith, Buccaneers.com, published 30 September 2024