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In his most prosperous outing since rupturing his Achilles tendon more than a year ago, tight end O.J. Howard finished with six catches (on seven targets) for 49 yards and a touchdown. The six receptions were his most in a game since a five-catch day in a 28-11 win at Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 2019.
"Juice is getting better and better," Arians said. "He's stepped up every week, and this was by far his best game."
The TD reception, a two-yarder from Tom Brady that capped the game's opening drive, was Howard's first since catching a 28-yarder from Brady in the third quarter against the Chargers on Oct. 4, 2020. One quarter later in that same contest, Howard suffered his season-ending injury on a non-contact play during a Brady scoring throw to Ke'Shawn Vaughn.
Mostly a singular threat
While Eagles second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts had his moments Thursday night (including two short touchdown runs), he wasn't able to set a precedent against the Bucs with his feet. Hurts finished with 10 carries for 44 yards, meaning the Bucs still haven't allowed a quarterback to run for 50 yards or more in a game in the Arians era. The last to do so: Ravens dynamo Lamar Jackson (18 carries, 95 yards) in a 20-12 Baltimore victory on Dec. 16, 2018.
Hurts' consolation prize - respect from his opponents. "Jalen's a great quarterback, a great mobile quarterback," Bucs nose tackle Vita Vea said. "It's always tough facing guys like that. We could've done better in some aspects, but I think we did our best to keep him contained."
Joey Knight, The Tampa Times, published 15 October 2021
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