WildCard match-up discussion Eagles @ Bucs

[Dread]

The 2022 NFL playoffs are here!! Our 13-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers battled injuries all season long in addition to some other adversity to earn the 2nd seed in the NFL playoffs.

The opening game will be Wild Card weekend this Sunday @ 1pm vs the 7th seed Eagles who finished 9-8.

This is game is a rematch from a Thursday Night game earlier in the season where Gronk didn't play and the Bucs jumped out to a 28-7 lead before the Eagles found an identity with their rushing offense in the 2nd half of that game that carried on to be the #1 rushing offense in the NFL this season. Pretty impressive given their leading rusher is QB Jalen Hurts with around 750yds. So it's very much a committee approach on the ground.

Offensively the Eagles are a rushing and short passing team. Rookie speedster Devonte Smith and underrated TE Dallas Goedert are their best weapons in the passing game. Getting LVD back for the Bucs defense will be huge from a match-up perspective imo b/c if Minter has to play the Eagles will look to isolate him in coverage on either a RB or Goedert, both are bad for the Bucs. Devin White has been playing pretty bad also down the stretch, but at least has the athleticism to keep up in coverage.

The Eagles Oline is pretty solid anchored by their bookend Tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson along with savvy veteran Center Jason Kelce.

The recipe for the Bucs Defense has to be stop the run and and keep Hurts behind the chains where he can't dink and dunk or scramble all night. I expect alot of JTS as a spy on 3rd downs. Maybe even Devin White if JTS can't get it done.

As for the Philly defense, they have a solid Dline with aging superstar Fletcher Cox and fireplug Javon Hargrave inside at DT. Philly's front 4 couldn't pressure Brady in the early season match up and if Philly wants to win this game their defensive front will have to make more of an impact.

In the back 7 they have All Pro Darius Slay at CB to match up with Evans, although Philly plays a ton of zone defense so the Bucs should be able to move Mike around and get favorable match-ups.

Given all the zone Philly plays the underneath/checkdown game is usually open so we'll likely see alot of short passing to the RBs and TEs for the Bucs offense. We should also be able to run pretty efficiently vs the Eagles front 7.

All in all the Eagles have only defeated one team all season that ended with a winning record and even that was against a Saints team that was in a slump defensively at the time while playing without Kamara, Winston, or Taysom Hill due to injuries.

Anything can happen in the playoffs, but this is a game the Bucs should win unless alot goes bad on both sides of the ball for us.

[Defense5599]

In the early season matchup, the Bucs were blowing the doors off the Eagles early, then coasted late and eeked out a win. They can ill afford to do that this time around.

This team hasn't played a full four quarters of good football since the Bears game. That needs to stop right now.

[King Bootz]

Very anxious to see how well our brand of football works in the post season. When it's all said and done, we are a passing team. Threw it more than anybody. Ran it less than anybody except the Jets. And our defense is pretty suspect.

This isn't the brand of football that won us a championship last year but it's who we are right now. Let's see how far it gets us.

[BJJ34]

One of my Eagle buddies already messaged me this morning with the “don’t be surprised when they upset them, remember this text” talk.

Gonna be a fun week of trash talk.

[Dcbucsfan]

Does anyone know the injury status of the guys slated to return for the playoffs? Not having LVD is defintely impacting White and Fournette is a game changer in the backfield. Tyler Johnson and Perriman seem to be doing a decent job filling in for Godwin and AB at the moment but having Fournette back there will help a lot that situation a lot.

[Dread]

Very anxious to see how well our brand of football works in the post season. When it's all said and done, we are a passing team. Threw it more than anybody. Ran it less than anybody except the Jets. And our defense is pretty suspect.

This isn't the brand of football that won us a championship last year but it's who we are right now. Let's see how far it gets us.

I don't know that our brand will necessarily be what we see in the playoffs. Nobody knows what wins in the playoffs more than TB12, so we'll see how pass happy we are moving forward. If we are, it'll be b/c defenses are daring us to throw by loading the box.

The offense is more depleted at receiver than at any other time this season and with Brady playing at home we're going to get into whatever play he thinks will have the most success.

Just looking at this Eagles game, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Lenny with 25 touches or atleast the RBs (whoever plays) be the focal point with alot of rushes and catches on checkdowns.

I'm not very concerned about the offense tbh, certainly not for this game. I'm much more focused in on the Bucs defense b/c we're only going as far as they lead us. We should be as healthy on the defensive side of the ball as we've been since the first half of week 1.

[Dread]

Does anyone know the injury status of the guys slated to return for the playoffs? Not having LVD is definitely impacting White and Fournette is a game changer in the backfield. Tyler Johnson and Perriman seem to be doing a decent job filling in for Godwin and AB at the moment but having Fournette back there will help a lot that situation a lot.

Lenny and Shaq are very likely to be back.

Gio is a possibility since he was back out at practice last week off to the side.

LVD is the big ?. If he can go, he'll be out there. We'll see.

Rojo is another ?, although as long as Lenny is back idc since he can be the downhill runner if we need him to be. Gio/Vaughn/Leveon Bell can sub in as necessary.

[real bucs fan]

Playing the Eagles in the playoffs is nostalgic. Them and the Rams were the real Bucs rivals when I first started cheering for the Bucs in the late 90s and early 2000s. Hopefully we get a shot at revenge against the Rams as well.

[Sdbucs]

Lets come out and play some good defense.

[King Bootz]

Lets come out and play some good defense.

I'd love us to get back to staunch run D.

The Eagles kind of broke that door open in terms of being able to run on us. Bowles and his staff needs to really look at that tape and see what they did to exploit the run D. Turned a 28-7 lead into a 28-22 final.

[Dread]

The Eagles defense was the 31st ranked team in QB sacks and Sack %. If they can't hurry/pressure Brady, especially early it will be long day for them.

The games we've lost and/or struggled on offense this season has been when the opposing front 4 has been able to hit Brady early in games.

[mdb1958]

I got a feeling they are working on predictability and hopefully they address the keys and tells defenses are getting from us. The fast pace is lethal, using Scotty's speed was a smart idea. They need to figure out this doldrum the offense starts with or falls into - I think this is big. The lines need to get crazy and break bad, huge thing for a four game run. Master this and we won't be dictated to.

Come on Bucs be relentless making plays.


Feel free to throw this on twitter - I can't.

[Babeinbucland]

Playing the Eagles in the playoffs is nostalgic. Them and the Rams were the real Bucs rivals when I first started cheering for the Bucs in the late 90s and early 2000s. Hopefully we get a shot at revenge against the Rams as well.

Favorite Bucs/Eagles stat

We beat the Eagles in their last game to close down the Vet and send us to the super bowl.

Then the beginning of the next season -We were the first team they played in their new home at Lincoln stadium and we beat them again.

Still makes my heart happy

[Dread]

Lets come out and play some good defense.

I'd love us to get back to staunch run D.

The Eagles kind of broke that door open in terms of being able to run on us. Bowles and his staff needs to really look at that tape and see what they did to exploit the run D. Turned a 28-7 lead into a 28-22 final.

IIRC the Eagles (like many teams this season) abandoned the run completely in the first half against us. Found themselves in a 28-7 hole and then found themselves in that 2nd half.

Our run defense hasn't played to their own standard this season, but despite that we still have a top tier run defense when you look at run defense efficiency b/c we still generate a high rate of 'stops' against the run which are essentially runs that are for minimal gains at most which put the offense behind the chains creating 2nd or 3rd and long that offenses want to avoid (especially one like the Eagles).

Imo we're going to load the box vs Philly with a single high Safety and make Hurts beat us throwing outside the numbers. Not necessarily playing tight on the outside, so if Philly wants that 6yd out route on the sideline make Hurts and those WRs execute.

[Cheb]

Offense wins games, defense wins championships.

I echo the sentiments of my colleagues here. If our run defense shows up to play we should have a good day. If not, this could suck.

Get healthy Lavonte.

[King Bootz]

I'd love us to get back to staunch run D.

The Eagles kind of broke that door open in terms of being able to run on us. Bowles and his staff needs to really look at that tape and see what they did to exploit the run D. Turned a 28-7 lead into a 28-22 final.

IIRC the Eagles (like many teams this season) abandoned the run completely in the first half against us. Found themselves in a 28-7 hole and then found themselves in that 2nd half.

Our run defense hasn't played to their own standard this season, but despite that we still have a top tier run defense when you look at run defense efficiency b/c we still generate a high rate of 'stops' against the run which are essentially runs that are for minimal gains at most which put the offense behind the chains creating 2nd or 3rd and long that offenses want to avoid (especially one like the Eagles).

Imo we're going to load the box vs Philly with a single high Safety and make Hurts beat us throwing outside the numbers. Not necessarily playing tight on the outside, so if Philly wants that 6yd out route on the sideline make Hurts and those WRs execute.

What's concerning is we did that for basically the entire game, even when the Eagles were down and they still finished with 100 yards but only on 19 carries. 5.3 ypc.

Ironically we won that game by playing keep away. We had ~40 minutes TOP and ran the clock out after the Eagles scored their last TD.

That's in line with the pisspoor brand of defense they play that you mentioned.

I'm hoping we are able to do the same, albeit in a different way. AB had a great day. Evans didn't factor in much. Gronk didn't play. But I know the Eagles D is bad because the 2nd best day receiving belonged to OJ Howard. That's a bad defense if he's able to do work.

[Noles1724]

I got a feeling they are working on predictability and hopefully they address the keys and tells defenses are getting from us. The fast pace is lethal, using Scotty's speed was a smart idea. They need to figure out this doldrum the offense starts with or falls into - I think this is big. The lines need to get crazy and break bad, huge thing for a four game run. Master this and we won't be dictated to.

Come on Bucs be relentless making plays.


Feel free to throw this on twitter - I can't.

I can ensure you that no one will be taking one of your post and posting to another platform on your behalf.

could you imagine having an mdb post representing as your own? yikes

[King Bootz]

[ATrain]

Bruce said Lenny, Shaq and JPP all look good to go for the Eagles. LVD MIGHT miss but still looks good. Still waiting on Dean's injury severity.

[King Bootz]

Bruce said Lenny, Shaq and JPP all look good to go for the Eagles. LVD MIGHT miss but still looks good. Still waiting on Dean's injury severity.

We'll see on Wednesday. This year a "Looks good" from BA has turns into a 6 week absence.

[Dread]

One of the biggest mismatches going into this game is the Bucs Oline pass blocking vs the Eagles pass rush.

Bucs rank 1st in QB sack % where Brady gets sacked the least frequently of any QB while the Eagles pass rush is 31st (only better than the Falcons) in total sacks & sack %.

Given the Eagles scheme on defense (zone heavy) and Brady playing at home I feel that as long as Brady is protected he will figure out the defense at some point and get the offense in the endzone.

[BJJ34]

Bruce said Lenny, Shaq and JPP all look good to go for the Eagles. LVD MIGHT miss but still looks good. Still waiting on Dean's injury severity.

We'll see on Wednesday. This year a "Looks good" from BA has turns into a 6 week absence.

BA is not a medical doctor, and some of the information in medicine changes throughout a day, especially with treatment. Sometimes blood pushing through can make better or worse depending on the person/injury.

[Kress]

Bruce said Lenny, Shaq and JPP all look good to go for the Eagles. LVD MIGHT miss but still looks good. Still waiting on Dean's injury severity.

We'll see on Wednesday. This year a "Looks good" from BA has turns into a 6 week absence.

This, and epecially with playoff game plan posturing. EVERYONE is looking good to play. 2 out of 3 might be in a coma.

[13F11B]

While we have injuries on both sides of the ball I am more worried about the defense than offense. It will be an interesting matchup. I will be nervous about the game all week.

[Buc2]

I can't remember ever being nervous for a Bucs game. Excited? Oh yeah. Not excited yet, though. Talk to me around 12:50 PM Sunday.

[Tnbandwagoner]

We'll see on Wednesday. This year a "Looks good" from BA has turns into a 6 week absence.

This, and epecially with playoff game plan posturing. EVERYONE is looking good to play. 2 out of 3 might be in a coma.

That would be a quotable press conference: "Well, initially it just looked like a minor sprain, but upon further examination by our medical staff we have determined that the player is currently in a coma, and is questionable for Sunday."

[mdb1958]

What might be considered to confuse fans really is meant for the opposition.

[mdb1958]

Eagles bring back eleven from Covid today.

[Moozician]

https://nflreplay.net/tampa-bay-buccane ... full-game/

[13F11B]

This, and epecially with playoff game plan posturing. EVERYONE is looking good to play. 2 out of 3 might be in a coma.

That would be a quotable press conference: "Well, initially it just looked like a minor sprain, but upon further examination by our medical staff we have determined that the player is currently in a coma, and is questionable for Sunday."

I have heard of sprains traveling from ankles to necks. That likely would cause a coma.

[King Bootz]

Eagles bring back eleven from Covid today.

How many will get it on Friday?

[mdb1958]

Eagles bring back eleven from Covid today.

How many will get it on Friday?

NFCCG - who do the Bucs beat at home?

[King Bootz]

How many will get it on Friday?

NFCCG - who do the Bucs beat at home?

You dodged my question, kiddo.

[BJJ34]

Interesting question:

My buddy said that the Eagles are Brady’s kryptonite. Maybe a SB win has some fans a little delusional, but we all know how to beat Brady. Make him have happy feet.


My question is: Do you think Brady has ANY fears going into a playoff game at this point knowing the game could be his last?

[uscbucsfan]

Interesting question:

My buddy said that the Eagles are Brady’s kryptonite. Maybe a SB win has some fans a little delusional, but we all know how to beat Brady. Make him have happy feet.


My question is: Do you think Brady has ANY fears going into a playoff game at this point knowing the game could be his last?

Brady threw for almost 500 yards and 3 TDs in that SB loss. It was not on him...and no I don't think he thinks it will be his last, even if he does end up retiring.