The Eagles travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers in the Wild Card round on Monday night.
The Eagles have limped into the playoffs following an epic collapse where they lost five of their last six games.
I am here with our staff writer, Mar’Quell Fripp-Owens to ask and answer some burning questions in Eagles land and preview the matchup.
Let’s get started.
Headed into the playoffs on a scale from 1-5 (1 – being least confident, 5 being most confident), what is your confidence level in the Coaching Staff, Offense, and Defense?
(Mar’Quell): My confidence level is a three across the board because, for each reason you have to be optimistic or pessimistic about this Eagles team heading into wild-card weekend, there is a fair amount of curiosity that fairs on the opposing side of thought.
While the Eagles enter the playoffs playing an uninspiring brand of football, losing five of their last six, and will match up with a Buccaneers team that has won five of their last six. This is the same Tampa Bay team that failed to score one touchdown in a must-win game against the worst team in football just a week ago.
There are questions surrounding a Philadelphia defense that has been among the worst in the league over the second half of the season. It makes sense given the NFL’s leader in touchdown receptions is on the other side of the ball in Mike Evans along with the NFL’s most underrated Swiss Army knife in Rachaad White.
The Buccaneers are very solid along the edges with Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke on the outside but can be attacked along with the interior which happens to be a strength of Philadelphia. The Birds will be bolstered by the return of Darius Slay on the outside but need a massive game from Carter, Davis, and Cox.
There’s some concern about the health around quarterback Jalen Hurts and how he’ll fair against the team that blitzes the third most in the NFL. As there should be, given Hurt’s recent struggles under pressure, but it’s worth noting that the Tampa Bay passing defense is as you’d say #NotGood — particularly vs the Tight End position where they have given up 105 receptions for 1,089 yards and 7 touchdowns this season. With the absence of A.J. Brown, this could be a prime opportunity for Dallas Goedert to make his presence known.
(Pierre): It’s a bit different for me. I think when you look at the overall picture from the coaching staff standpoint, I don’t understand how anyone can realistically be any higher than a 2 on them. On both sides of the ball, the coaching staff has seemingly failed to establish rhythm and failed to locate an identity. And probably, most frustrating, they’ve failed at putting players in advantageous positions.
Whether it’s asking DeVonta Smith to be the lead blocker on a screen to Kenny Gainwell, depending on Nick Morrow to stick with Christian McCaffrey in pass coverage, or dropping Haason Reddick in pass coverage, it’s been an issue all season.
Speaking on the offense and the defense, I’m higher on the offense (4). This is simply because of the talent level on that side of the ball. Despite their struggles, they still boast the best offensive line in football, the MVP runner-up from a year ago, a supremely talented running back in D’Andre Swift, a top tight end in the NFL, and a former Heisman trophy winner at receiver in DeVonta Smith. Of course, not having A.J. Brown will hurt though.
If they can lean on the running game and not turn the ball over, they’ll be fine. It’s not like they’ve struggled to move the ball, they just have been bad situationally and have turned the ball over at an alarming rate.
Defensively, I’m at a 2. They just don’t have the personnel and the current play-caller has shown a propensity for asking players to do things that they either a) aren’t good at doing or b) shouldn’t be doing in the first place. I don’t have much to say about them.
(Question from Mar’Quell) With the absence of A.J. Brown, this game could and should speak volumes about the offensive coaching staff’s abilities and schematic approach considering the last time they faced this team without Brown, they found themselves down 31-0 through three quarters. How important is this game to the Hurts/Sirianni era from a growth standpoint?
(Pierre): I think it’s uber important. Just from a pride standpoint, on both ends. Say you’re Nick Sirianni. In the first half of your rookie season, your offense struggled tremendously. The unit looked anemic at times and made head-scratching decisions from a situational standpoint. Fast Forward a few weeks, Shane Steichen takes over and you’re golden. In your second year, you even make it all the way to the Super Bowl. Fast forward to the current day, Steichen is gone, and your offensive unit has gone right back to the anemic, situational head-scratching cluster (you know what) that it was before.
Ideally, the want and need to prove the naysayers and doubters wrong would light a fire under, not only Sirianni, but the entire staff who’ve undoubtedly heard all the chatter about how ‘Steichen was the missing piece.’
For Sirianni and Hurts, returning to the ‘scene of the crime’ in a sense should motivate them immensely. The HC/QB duo have grown tremendously since that 2021 Wild Card matchup, and they’ll have the opportunity to put that growth on full display on Monday night.
(Question from Pierre): How did the Eagles defense go from the team that beat this same Tampa Bay team in September and held them to 174 total yards to the mess that they are currently?
(Mar’Quell) It’s a long season brother, and sometimes it’s fairly easy for week one and week 17 to feel like they were two completely different seasons. Just think about how far this last month has made 10-1 feel compared to the 11-6 finish. It’s hard to win in this league and it’s even harder when you’re living life on the edge like the Eagles did early in the season.
Trailing by 10 and coming away victorious against Allen and Mahomes is cool, and it’s great to know that the Eagles are a battle-tested team that is hard to count out. That being said, the thin line between battle-tested and playing with fire becomes a red flag when your team has competed in eight one-score games through 12 weeks.
That Eagles team that held the Bucs to 174 yards was able to take advantage of some of the same problems that have plagued Tampa Bay all year long. Where Mike Evans still gave Philadelphia some issues finishing the game with 5 receptions for 60 yards and a TD, and the Tampa Bay pressure did cause some issues with Hurts resulting in two interceptions. The Eagles looked much like the Eagles of old controlling the clock for 38 minutes, compiling 12 rushing first downs, and 200+ yards on the ground. On the season however the Buccaneers rush defense has been formidable, to say the least allowing 3.8 yards per carry (8th in the league) and 95.3 yards per game (5th in the league).
(Question From Mar’Quell): They say awards are won during the regular season and playoff games do not count. However, this game has to have the eye of some of the AP voters of the Defensive Rookie of the Year race — In what seemed to be a foregone conclusion for Jalen Carter early on, many names have stormed back to make it a competition including Bucs rookie EDGE Yaya Diaby. Who do you believe is more deserving and who will have a bigger impact on this game?
I think it’s twofold. On one hand, just due to the fact that Carter’s play has sort of tailed off over the last handful of games after a red-hot start, I’d have to say that Diaby is more deserving (that could change depending on the playoffs outcome). But the award probably will go to Kobie Turner in all honesty.
But for this game, I have to think it’ll be Carter. Tampa Bay’s pass-blocking win rate ranks 22nd in the NFL and their run-blocking win rate ranks dead last. They also ranked dead last in rushing yards.
If you go back to the Eagles week 3 win over Tampa Bay, Carter was all over the field. He looked like a true game wrecker, racking up 5 pressures, a half sack, a QB hit, and a forced fumble. Per Pro Football Focus, Carter graded out with a 94.9 rating in the win. It was his highest of the season. If he can re-ignite the flame and return to his dominant ways, it’ll go a long way to helping the Eagles defense find it’s-self.
(Question From Pierre): There’s a lot of talk about Nick Sirianni possibly coaching for his job on Monday night. Should he be and why (or why not)?
(Mar’Quell) There are a bunch of ways to view this, especially with the Eagles recent struggles. I choose to go with the most rational decision… no.
For starters, Sirianni despite the negative backlash has made the playoffs in each of his three seasons at the helm, he has a Super Bowl appearance in his second season, and even in what we consider to be a ‘down’ year the team won 11 games. So I must ask if we fire Sirianni who takes this job? Of course, there’s the thought process of there are only 32 of these jobs, and surely someone would jump at the offer, but would it be the right guy?
Honestly speaking, as a coach if you watched the guy before you make the playoffs every year of his tenure, have a Super Bowl appearance over the last 365 days, and won double-digit games in the next season get fired wouldn’t you ask how long exactly is my leash? Can you truly build a winning franchise under these conditions… under that culture?
It leaves almost no margin for error, especially when you consider we’re already talking about a young coach who despite his success is continuing to learn the ins and outs of this level in his own right. I understand the context behind the losses and how we got to this point but sometimes nowadays in football whether it be the quarterback position, young head coaches, or just prospects in general, no one is afforded the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. Everything is just so cut and dry where everyone expects results but no one wants to oversee the process.
In a season where both of his coordinators took head coaching jobs and he had among the final pickings of the coaching class, Nick at least deserves an opportunity to at minimum right his wrongs.
Eagles defense vs. Tampa Bay Offense
(Mar’Quell): If the Eagles defense wants a chance to be successful, they have to get back to controlling the trenches.
A unit that once ranked second in the entire NFL in stopping the run, is now ranked tenth, allowing 103.4 yards per game and 145.3 yards allowed on the ground over the last three games. They will be matched up against a Tampa Bay team that not only ranks dead last in rushing offense only producing 88 yards per game, but also a porous 76.5 yards per game averaged at home on the ground.
While this task seems plausible, the Eagles will have to find a way to contain dual-threat back, Rachaad White who has gone over 50 yards from scrimmage in every game but two (one of which he finished with 49 yards) and a passing game spearheaded by Baker Mayfield, who has been electric in the second half of football games throwing for 2,126 yards, 16 touchdowns, and three interceptions.
For Philadelphia, the big picture plan is to make sure they’re getting off the field on 3rd downs and in the red zone, an area that this unit has struggled with all season. With Tampa Bay ranking just inside the top ten in terms of third-down efficiency, the Eagles will have their hands filled with this Bucs team.
Eagles offense vs. Tampa Bay Defense
(Pierre): With the reported absence of A.J. Brown, the onus of this game should be to lean on the run and get the tight end Dallas Goedert involved early and often.
Tampa Bay blitzes at the 3rd highest rate in the NFL, and given Jalen Hurts’ struggles against the blitz, it may be a prime RPO game for the offense. That opens up the door for Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith.
Essentially, the plan heading into this matchup should be to alleviate pressure on Jalen Hurts, keep him on schedule, and do what you do best (run the football). Granted it was at/near the beginning of the season, but the Eagles have shown they can do it and do it quite well against this same Buccaneers defense.
Todd Bowles has shown he can rattle Hurts before (hello 2021 wild card), but Huts has matured at an insane rate since that playoff game in Tampa Bay.
The Tampa Bay defense has given up 65 pass plays of 20 or more yards and has allowed the 3rd most passing yards per game in the NFL so on paper, it seems like a big day for Jalen Hurts could be in store, but context matters. The Eagles will be without number one receiver A.J. Brown. Ideally, you don’t want Hurts’ to have to play hero ball, but take the deep shots as they come in the flow of the game.
Make no mistake about it, the Eagles can win this game. They have the tools to match up with and have success against Tampa Bay’s defense.
The Verdict
(Pierre): I’ve wavered back and forth on it all week bro, but I just feel like this Eagles team is built for postseason play. Yes, they struggled down the stretch. Yes, the defense has looked flat-out lost over the last handful of weeks.
But I think this is where the championship pedigree of this team will shine.
Just like they’ve watched the film of their struggles over the last few weeks, they’ve watched the film of their week three win. And granted things change over the course of an NFL season, but just knowing they’ve walked into this exact stadium against this exact team a handful of weeks ago and flat-out dominated them, holding them to 147 total yards, it should inspire some confidence.
They know they type of team they are. They know what they’re capable of. And they know what it takes to win and win at a high level in the playoffs. I think they get the job done.
Give me the Birds, 27-17.
(Mar’Quell) Listen man, I just told you this Bucs team scored one touchdown against the worst team in football a week ago. I understand the Eagles haven’t played the greatest brand of football over recent weeks but if they feel any way like me and surely most other fans feel, the season is just getting started.
I don’t think many understand how hard an NFL season is, and to make it all the way to the finish line and to come up short takes a toll on you. Let alone the fact that if you even want an opportunity at redemption you have to go through the entire gauntlet again. And while it wasn’t pretty the Eagles managed their way through the gauntlet… now with a Dallas loss, all that stands between Philadelphia and a second consecutive NFC Championship game are Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff, which is easier said than done but possible.
I get it, it’s hard to depend on a team that couldn’t even get up for the Cardinals or Giants, but I think as Dallas Goedert said, “Everybody has just been waiting for the playoffs.”
Give me the Birds 27-17.
Go Birds.
COVER IMAGE CREDIT: NATHAN RAY SEEBECK/USA TODAY
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