Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview

The Philadelphia Eagles-Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup is previewed.

Once again, my optimism got the better of me. Last week, even though I warned myself that the Eagles were just setting their fans up for a gut punch loss, I still picked them to beat the Dolphins. Instead, we got an awful defeat to a mediocre-at-best team, and the team lost their starting quarterback to go along with it.

The Eagles face another seemingly beatable opponent this week. On the other hand, any team that plays the Eagles has to consider them to be beatable as well. Especially now that the team’s fate rests in the hands of the backup quarterback. Because as we saw last week, that backup quarterback is prone to really poor decisions at times.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Record: 4-5

Head Coach: Lovie Smith

Last Week: Defeated Cowboys 10-6

Listen: Section 215 Podcast

The Last Time They Met

Michael Vick was knocked out of action the week before, so the starting quarterback for the teams’ 2013 clash was

Nick Foles. How did Foles respond? Pretty darned well. Foles threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, and effort that earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The loss may have been the least of the Bucs’ problems. Rookie quarterback Mike Glennon was starting for them after the team banished former starter Josh Freeman. Meanwhile, the team was also dealing with a MRSA outbreak in their locker room.

What’s the Deal with the Bucs?

This hasn’t been the best season for the Bucs, but at least they’re not dealing with potentially deadly bacteria in their locker room. When you look at it from that perspective, a 4-5 record doesn’t seem so bad!

More from Section 215

The Bucs have won three of their last four games and are coming off a thrilling(?) 10-6 win against the Cowboys. There wasn’t a lot of offense in that one as the teams combined for only 546 offensive yards, and six of the points in the game came via 50+ yard field goals. The winning touchdown was only made possible due to a defensive holding penalty that wiped out a fumble the play before.

Last week’s effort aside, it isn’t clear if the Bucs have a good defense. They rank 7th in yards allowed, but 26th in points allowed. Their pass defense has been quite generous, allowing 19 passing touchdowns this season. Normally I’d say this was a good sign for the Eagles’ passing game, but the Dolphins’ rushing defense was supposedly awful, and that didn’t seem to help the Eagles run the ball last week.

The Bucs’ offense is led by #1 draft pick Jameis Winston. Like most rookie quarterbacks, he’s been inconsistent, but he has shown signs that he’ll live up to his lofty draft status. Since he’s African-American, many people assume that Winston is a running threat, but that isn’t really the case. While he’s not a statue in the pocket, he’s not exactly prompting comparisons to Michael Vick either. (He’s also not in superb shape for an NFL player.)

Featured Bucs Player: Doug Martin

Doug Martin was excellent as a rookie. In 2012, he rushed for 1454 yards and 11 touchdowns, and tacked on 472 yards as a receiver. He earned Pro Bowl honors, and the Bucs believed they had a star on their hands. Mostly due to injuries, Martin wasn’t able to follow up that success. Limited to 17 games, he didn’t have 1,000 total rushing yards across the last two seasons.

At first glance, Martin is healthy and productive this season, and his 706 rushing yards rank fifth in the league. Upon closer inspection, most of Martin’s production came during a three-game stretch earlier in the season. Over the past three games, Martin hasn’t topped 75 rushing yards and is averaging only 3.18 yards per carry. He also hasn’t scored a touchdown in the past four games.

Hopefully, the Eagles have put their struggles against the run behind them and they can extend Martin’s streak of unimpressive performances.

Reason to Hate the Bucs

Winston has dealt with some off-field “issues” in the past. NFL teams like to talk about going after character guys, but when they’ve got the top pick in the draft, are they going to let things like stolen crab legs and rape accusations stop them from taking a potential franchise quarterback? No way.

The important thing is that Winston is doing a solid job of redeeming himself this season. Keep in mind that in NFL talk, “redemption” means playing well enough that people talk more about his play and less about the controversial incidents. Remember how Riley Cooper redeemed himself in 2013? He didn’t really do much to quiet concerns that he was a racist, but he did have a brief stretch in which he actually looked like a viable starting wide receiver in the NFL.

But hey, why should we let Winston’s past bother us? After all, if the Tallahassee police department can look the other way, I don’t see why we can’t either.

Key Eagles Storyline: Miles Austin – The Human Wasted Down

In earlier previews, I mentioned that every pass thrown to Miles Austin seems like a waste of a down. Last week that seemed more obvious than ever.

Miles’ presence on the roster doesn’t offend me too much. He’s supposed to be the team’s fifth best receiver, and having a veteran guy who once had success in that role isn’t necessarily an awful idea. (Although you could take issue with the contract they gave him, essentially guaranteeing a roster spot whether he deserved one or not.) My issue is why he’s gotten so much playing time and attention from the quarterbacks.

Perhaps he’s been targeted so much because he gets open often. If that’s the case, it is likely because opposing defenses don’t bother making much of an attempt to cover him. On his one touchdown catch this season, the defender seemed utterly indifferent about Austin’s presence.

The heavy usage of Austin becomes even more annoying when you read about how the offensive coaches can’t seem to figure out a way to get Darren Sproles involved in the offense. “Sorry, Darren, there’s just no way to get you any more touches. Now please sit down while we draw up some plays in which our lousy fifth receiver is the primary read.”

Enter the Sanchize!

Nov 23, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez (3) calls his cadence against the Tennessee Titans at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles won 43-24. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

For the second straight season, the Eagles’ starting quarterback has been knocked out with a shoulder injury (this year, there was a concussion to go along with it!) and the team’s fate is in the hands of backup Mark Sanchez. The good news is that Sanchez is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league. The guy has played well and won games in this league. The bad news is that there’s a reason why he’s not a starter. He can do some good things, but in the end, Sanchez gonna Sanchez.

If it weren’t for his propensity for awful turnovers, I’d say Sanchez was a great fit for the Eagles offense. He seems to push the tempo well, he can run JUST well enough for teams to respect the zone read, and the offense seems to look a little more lively when he’s in the game.

That’s kind of the problem with Sanchez. The offense seems to move really well under him and you start to get excited. Just as you think good things are going to happen – BAM! Killer turnover.

Nick vs. Sam

Since they were traded for each other, it’s only natural that fans would want to compare how Nick Foles and Sam Bradford are faring on their new teams. I’ll take a weekly look at the two quarterbacks and decide who holds the edge.

This competition has turned out to be somewhat of a bust, huh?

To nobody’s surprise, Sam Bradford suffered another injury. While he hasn’t officially been ruled out for this week’s game, it seems extremely unlikely that he plays. With the following game on Thursday, I’m assuming he won’t play then either.

Then there’s Nick Foles. Maybe Foles would have had more success if he had stayed in Philadelphia. Maybe the Eagles offense would look better if he was still behind center. It’s tough to know for sure. But it is clear that Foles isn’t working out well in St. Louis.

I realize the Rams’ offense is centered around running back Todd Gurley, but it isn’t good when the quarterback only throws one touchdown pass over four games. The Rams apparently weren’t too enamored of his work as they benched him in favor of the immortal Case Keenum.

For now, this trade isn’t really working out well for either team. Due to signing Foles to a contract extension, the Rams are pretty much stuck with him for a while, but at least they got a second round pick out of the deal.

Mocking the East

Part of the fun of being a football fan is taking pleasure in the misfortune of your favorite team’s rivals. Each week, I’ll find a reason to make fun of one of the other teams in the NFC East.

Dez Bryant is rightfully heralded as one of the best receivers in the NFL. But he sure can’t seem to come down with those tough catches at the end of the game, can he?

As you may recall, Bryant was involved in a controversial play at the end of the Cowboys’ playoff game against the Packers last season. Lost in all the debate about what is or isn’t a catch, one thing has gone semi-overlooked: If Bryant had just held onto the ball, there wouldn’t have been any debate.

Last week, there was a long throw to Bryant at the end of the game. He did not come down with it. Sure, it looks like there might have been some interference by the defender there, but Bryant didn’t seem to fight very hard either.

Perhaps he’s just come to the same realization that the rest of us have: The Cowboys’ season is over.

Super Bowl Year Song of the Week

he Eagles have not made many appearances in the Super Bowl (Two, to be exact). I’m hopeful that this season will mark their third appearance in the “big game,” so each week I’m going to take a song from one of the franchise’s Super Bowl seasons (1980 and 2004) that somehow relates to this week’s game.

U Should’ve Known Better – Monica, 2004

On the fateful interception last week, it seems that Chip Kelly should have known better than to have Mark Sanchez throw a risky pass with the team in field goal range. And Mark Sanchez definitely should have known better than to throw a ball to Miles Austin in traffic.

Prediction

The Eagles are certainly capable of beating the Bucs. They’ve been capable of beating every team they’ve played so far this season. And yet, they’ve got a losing record.

Next: Eagles to Scout Paxton Lynch

Maybe Sanchez provides a spark and the passing game gets going. Maybe the running game gets back on track. I’ve said similar things all season, and I’m still waiting for it to happen.

Bucs 20 – Eagles 17

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Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Semi-Coherent Preview

By Mike Lacy | Nov 21, 2015