Todd Bowles: Bucs Were Still Growing in Week Three Eagles Game
To conclude the NFL’s “Super Wild Card Weekend,” the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. This means that the Buccaneers’ postseason run will begin with an in-season rematch for the third consecutive year. The Eagles visited Tampa in September as well, winning 25-11 to mark their first defeat of the season for the Bucs following a 2-0 start.
The Buccaneers hosted the Dallas Cowboys during Wild Card Week last year, a team they had defeated 19-3 in Texas during the season’s first game. The Cowboys advanced to the Divisional Round by winning the rematch 31–14. The Eagles were back in 2021 after Tampa Bay had defeated Philadelphia 28–22 in the middle of October. The
In 2020, the Buccaneers began a three-game road swing at FedExField with a 31-23 victory over Washington, their last postseason game that wasn’t a rematch of an early regular season matchup. Those four results don’t really follow any pattern, and that’s probably because a rematch doesn’t guarantee that both teams will be exactly the same as they were in the first game several months ago.
When facing a team for the first or second time, Head Coach Todd Bowles said, “It’s about the same for the most part.” We played the Eagles so early in the season, so it doesn’t compare. Both we and they were undoubtedly still expanding. You know, playoffs are different, it’s a one-and-done affair, everyone gets hurt and nicked up, it just comes down to who makes the most mistakes.”
Indeed, the final three games of the Buccaneers’ 2020 run to the Super Bowl XXXVII championship were also rematches of previous games played during the regular season: the Divisional Round matchup with New Orleans (twice), the Conference Championship Game against Green Bay, and the Super Bowl matchup with Kansas City. The Bucs had defeated the Packers in October, lost to the Chiefs in November, and lost to the Saints in both September and November. didn’t seem to matter too much because the Bucs won the Lombardi Trophy in January and February after sweeping all three games.
There have been some notable fluctuations in the win-loss column for both the Buccaneers and Eagles since their initial meeting in Week Three. The Buccaneers had a promising 3-1 start, but a 1-6 run put them in danger of missing out on the playoffs. They did, however, go on to win five of their final six games to win the NFC South title, and they appeared to finally find their offensive rhythm during a four-game winning streak. Although quarterback Baker Mayfield has been dealing with a painful rib injury, that hasn’t been the case over the past two weekends. Nevertheless, the Bucs think they have some answers on that side of the ball.
The Eagles began the season 10-1 and appeared to be on their way to the top overall seed in the NFC for the second year in a row. During this run, they defeated the Rams, Dolphins, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Bills, all of whom are currently in the playoffs. But in Week 13, the 49ers defeated the two best teams in the conference, 42-19, starting a run of games that saw the Eagles lose six of their previous seven. Philadelphia lost both games in Weeks 17 and 18, which put them on the road to begin the postseason. With wins over the Cardinals and Giants, Philadelphia could have won the NFC East.
“Well, I haven’t [delved] deep into them yet, but obviously they’re a talented team,” said Bowles on Monday. “They’ve had some injuries over the past few weeks, as well. Can’t really put a finger on it until I watch more film, but again they still won double-digit games. They’re a very talented team. They went to the Super Bowl last year. They’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
The Eagles rolled up 472 yards of offense and 27 first downs in that Week Three game in Tampa, compared to 174 and 12 for Tampa Bay. Those proved to be the Buccaneers’ lowest yardage and first down outputs of the season, and the Eagles’ advantage in the ground game was especially stark, with 201 yards to the home team’s 41. Tampa Bay finished the regular season with the 32nd ranked rushing attack but definitely showed signs of life in that category down the stretch. The Buccaneers hope that they will be on more of an even playing field offensively with the Eagles this time around, but to Bowles that’s not really the bottom line.
