The heat didn’t beat us, the Bucs did…soundly.
I suppose we had this coming to us. We’ve been a little cocky around here lately, whistling past the graveyard despite obvious talent shortages in active personnel. Thought we could shuffle our way past the Bucs, did we?
That would be a no. First off, in the opening minutes of the game, we lost Jay Ajayi with back spasms (for the rest of the first half), Mike Wallace with an ankle issue, and Jason Peters with some kind of lower body problem.
Peters’ loss was probably the most impactful. Big V tried to fill in for him but was manhandled by the Bucs’ right defensive line rotation. That caused a ripple effect of failure all across the Eagles’ offensive line. Poor Nick Foles was pressured relentlessly the rest of the game. At one point I unofficially counted 15 times Nick was knocked to his ass or ate turf at the end of a pass play. I stopped counting after that.
Then there was one offensive penalty after another by the Eagles. Tripping, block-to-the-back, false start…it was unnerving to watch, but worse it DENIED some early nice gains by Foles and company.
Those were big gains that were sorely needed because the Birds were trying to answer the initial shot fired by the Bucs —a 75-yard post-pattern bomb for a TD to our old friend DeSean “Peanut” Jackson.
Oh yeah, about that play and some subsequent big pass plays against us—our defensive secondary was awful in coverage. I don’t understand why, because we had tape on Ryan Fitzpatrick and his receivers from the previous week. The Bucs basically ran the exact same pass patterns against us which they had run against New Orleans last week.
We also whiffed on some key tackles downfield which if made could have changed the percentages of a comeback in our favor. As it was, we kept digging ourselves deeper and deeper clock-wise. It’s hard enough to win on the road without missing tackles to compound a deficit.
“Blown assignments, poor execution and surprisingly conservative play-calling from coach Doug Pederson hurt the Eagles in the first half. A normally stingy Eagles D yielded two TD passes of 75 yards, and the Nick Foles-led offense hasn’t been able to keep up. Much to fix to erase Tampa’s 20-7 lead.”— That was Tim McManus’ halftime report.
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns for the second straight week, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 27-21 victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Filling in for suspended quarterback Jameis Winston, the 35-year-old Fitzpatrick completed 27 of 32 passes for 402 yards and has the suddenly explosive Bucs off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2010.
DeSean Jackson scored on a 75-yard reception on the first play of the game. O.J. Howard also had a 75-yard TD catch in the first half for Tampa Bay, which stunned New Orleans 48-40 on the road in its season opener.
Nick Foles threw for 338 yards for the Eagles (1-1), who rallied from a 20-point, third-quarter deficit. The Super Bowl MVP’s 2-yard TD right corner of the end-zone fade pass to Nelson Agholor on fourth down trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 27-21 with 2:46 remaining. The Bucs didn’t give the Eagles’ injury-decimated offense a chance to finish the comeback. Fitzpatrick, a 14-year veteran and one of four players in NFL history to throw TD passes for seven franchises, produced a couple first downs on Tampa Bay’s ensuing possession to drain all but 19 seconds off the clock.
Chris Godwin and Mike Evans had TD receptions of 8 and 4 yards, respectively, for the Bucs. Jackson, who had two TD receptions before leaving the season opener with a concussion, finished with four catches for 129 yards.
The Eagles drove 78 yards in 13 plays to pull even with Tampa Bay in the second quarter, only to watch Howard turn a short pass into another long TD by eluding two defenders and turning up the left sideline. Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby was unable to chase down the 6-foot-6, 251-pound tight end.
Foles finished 34 of 46 with no interceptions. Corey Clement scored on a 15-yard run in the first half, and Jay Ajayi‘s 2-yard TD run began Philadelphia’s rally from a 27-7 deficit.
INJURIES:
Eagles: The Eagles were already without receiver Alshon Jeffery and running back Darren Sproles, and Foles’ job got tougher when running back Jay Ajayi (back), receiver Mike Wallace (ankle) and tackle Jason Peters (quad) left in the first half. Ajayi returned at the start of the second half.
Buccaneers: With Brent Grimes (groin) missing his second straight game and Vernon Hargreaves III (shoulder) on injured reserve after getting hurt at New Orleans, the Bucs played without both starting cornerbacks. Defensive tackle Beau Allen (foot) and safety Chris Conte (knee) left the game in the second half.
UP NEXT—Eagles host Indianapolis next Sunday.
| Matchup |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 24 | 18 |
| Passing 1st downs | 14 | 17 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 8 | 1 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 2 | 0 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 5-15 | 4-10 |
| 4th down efficiency | 3-5 | 0-0 |
| Total Plays | 75 | 58 |
| Total Yards | 412 | 436 |
| Total Drives | 13 | 13 |
| Yards per Play | 5.5 | 7.5 |
| Passing | 321 | 393 |
| Comp-Att | 35-48 | 27-33 |
| Yards per pass | 6.3 | 11.2 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 3-13 | 2-9 |
| Rushing | 91 | 43 |
| Rushing Attempts | 24 | 23 |
| Yards per rush | 3.8 | 1.9 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 3-3 | 2-2 |
| Penalties | 6-55 | 4-44 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 1 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 0 | 0 |
| Possession | 35:39 | 24:21 |
Game Leaders
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