Eagles vs. Buccaneers Reaction
The Eagles fell to the Buccaneers Sunday in a 33-16 loss on the road. Frankly, the only way to describe the team that we currently see would be a glaring question mark. Seemingly expected at this point, the Eagles once again got off to a sluggish start on offense, scoring just seven points in the first half. The addition of running back Saquon Barkley is a massive reason Philadelphia has even managed to win two of the first four games. He had another breakaway 59-yard touchdown and gained 84 yards on the ground. He has been the best weapon in the offense to this point. In Week Three against the Saints, the Eagles had one of the best defensive outings in quite some time, shutting down New Orleans to 12 points. Fast forward to Week Four, and they followed it with a putrid performance in Tampa Bay. Poor scheme, questionable coverages, and another game of minimal pass rush allowed an average Tampa offense to score 33 points. For perspective, the defense collectively had 13 missed tackles. With a statistic like that, it’s merely impossible to win. Although Philadelphia stands at 2-2 heading into the bye week, there has been a great margin of warranted skepticism surrounding the team. Taking all areas of the game into consideration, let’s look at what went wrong for the Eagles, and what continues to hurt them through the early portion of the season.
Before quarterback Jalen Hurts receives the ridicule he deserves, it is worth noting that he was without wide receiver A.J. Brown and wide receiver DeVonta Smith. To this point in Jalen’s career, he has yet to show he can be effective without a star-studded supporting cast around him. Superstar quarterbacks prove they make the players around them better, but this has yet to be the case with Hurts. The flip side of course is many quarterbacks would regress without their two best options, but the reality is Hurts looked monumentally worse in yesterday’s game. His poor pocket awareness is evident in the numbers, as he had a costly fumble when they were driving late in the third quarter. Since 2023, Jalen has led the league in turnovers with 26. If the Eagles cannot rely on Hurts to take care of the football, the playbook will continue to look even more limited than it already has. Truthfully, this could possibly explain the Eagles’ obsession with calling short-yardage passes as it poses a low risk.
Regarding the franchise quarterback, his turnovers are far and away the biggest concern. The playcalling continues to reminisce much of last season, which is mind-boggling considering how stagnant the offense continues to look. There is no creativity, and no production from wide receiver Jahan Dotson, and Hurts continues to show regression in the pocket. He checks his first read, and then seemingly continues to panic against the blitz and waste crucial plays. It has unfortunately almost become routine while watching this offense, even going back to the second half of last season. Time will tell if Hurts looks different after the bye week concludes. With that being said, if this is the version of Jalen Hurts leading the Eagles for the entirety of the season, it is going to get ugly in Philadelphia quickly.
Focusing on the defense, there is yet to be an identity found. The pass rush is easily the highest cause of concern, as losing defensive end Haason Reddick has hurt the team. As the pass rush continues to be nonexistent, opposing offenses have cashed in for too many yards. Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield accumulated 347 passing yards, carving up the secondary all four quarters. Thought to be a free-agency splash, defensive end Bryce Huff has respectfully looked among the worst contracts in the league from this past offseason. Huff has failed to record a sack and has just one combined tackle. His lack of production is hurting the team in the pass rush and run defense mightily.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean also had a handful of key missed tackles yesterday, one on a crucial third down that gave Tampa Bay a first down. In the opportunities presented to him, Dean has not lived up to the expectations many in Philadelphia had for him so far. His poor angles and lack of open-field tackling hurt the defense substantially yesterday. Hopefully, Nakobe’s stock will rise as the season progresses, but he has not looked like the answer at linebacker to this point. In an absolutely brutal play on special teams, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers had a costly penalty, pushing a player into punt returner Cooper DeJean. This play gave Tampa Bay possession inside the red zone, ultimately scoring another touchdown. At this point of the game, the lack of discipline and poor coaching was on full display.
For Philadelphia, this has been a roller coaster of a season to start. With everything considered, they’ve somehow managed to break even with two wins going into the bye. The fundamentals and coaching need to be addressed and massively improved with some time off. Ideally, the Eagles will get the injured players on offense healthy, and let the outside noise settle a bit. Head coach Nick Sirianni has never been more scrutinized than now, and how he responds and rallies the team will determine his job status. The Eagles have a top-five roster in football with everyone a full go. They have a blend of veteran leadership and young talent that should be competent to perform how they are expected. The time to panic is certainly not now. All in all, it will be interesting to see how the Eagles can perform in the middle slate of the season, with a bye week coming at the best time possible.
