By: Kylan Watson

After last week’s comeback victory over the Los Angeles Rams, the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Tampa to face the Buccaneers in a battle of undefeated teams. Philly was able to withstand a late Bucs charge to beat Tampa 31-25 and get their first victory over the Bucs in three years.

For the second time in two weeks the Eagles Special Teams unit blocked a kick, this time a punt and returned it for a touchdown. Michael Clay has turned this unit into the best unit on this team early in the season. In addition, if Philly continues to get momentum changing plays from their special teams on a weekly basis, they will be a hard team to stop throughout this season.

That blocked punt was the beginning of a dominant first half for Philly where everything worked for them in all phases of the game. Jalen Hurts and the offensive unit had answers every time the Bucs blitzed, receivers were able to find the holes in the scheme and make the plays to keep the drives alive. This was the best half of football the Eagles played all season. They had an 18-point lead over the Bucs heading into the half-time period and Philly was threatening to blow this game wide open.

Unfortunately for the Eagles they had to play another two quarters in 100-degree weather in Tampa, and it became a war of attrition. Philly could not score another touchdown besides in the third quarter after a fumble recovery. Tampa was able to get pressure on Hurts and shutdown any space for his receivers to catch the ball. This effectively shut down the Eagles offensive scheme, Philly will have to get more creative on the offensive side in the second half. Kevin Patullo Philly’s Offensive Coordinator called a good enough game today to keep the Eagles ahead, but he must learn to adjust his scheme in the second half and find a way to get points on the board in the second half.

Philly has one of the most talented offensive units in the league and the fact that they only put up one touchdown in a tight second half must be improved, if the Eagles want to get back to the super bowl again. They cannot continue to rely on their defensive unit to bail them out when the offense gets stagnant. The Eagles best plays this season have happened because they have used Hurts more in the offensive scheme and this season, they may need to do that more to open opportunities for everyone else.

Opposing defenses have made it a point to limit the effectiveness of Saquon Barkley and AJ Brown, so Philly needs to use that and let Hurts cook and show these teams who he is. That should create those big backbreaking plays that have been missing throughout this season for the Eagles.

When the Eagles needed it most their defensive unit stepped up big time to stop the Bucs offensive unit multiple times on fourth down in the second half. Those two plays proved to be pivotal as they helped the Eagles beat the Buccaneers in today’s contest. Quinyon Mitchell is proving to be one of the best players on the defensive unit. For the second straight game he shadowed the best receivers on the field and limited the effectiveness of both players.

Mitchell is becoming the shutdown corner most Eagles fans hoped he would be and shadowing the best players an opposing team has will only help him throughout his career. This is the second straight game where his ability to shutdown one side of the field has either kept them in a game or led to a win during a big game.

The Eagles were able to sack Baker Mayfield thanks to a blitz and take a scoring opportunity off the board which sealed this game for the Eagles. Vic Fangio (Eagles Defensive Coordinator) adjustments throughout this game won Philly this game; despite giving up two long touchdowns to Tampa, they were still able to stop them and get out of Tampa with a victory. Philly will be a dangerous team once they fully learn how to play with each other throughout this season.

Despite multiple things that need to improve Philly has an unblemished record (4-0) as they prepare to face the Denver Broncos next week. Denver is another team with an aggressive defense that will be looking to stop Philly’s offense, the Eagles will have to use their short passing (slant and screen game) to take full advantage of a young defensive unit. Patullo must call plays that allow Hurts to diagnose what he is seeing and make the right reads, if that happens the Eagles should be able to win their fifth game of the season next week in Philly.