Buccaneers vs Eagles: Full Philadelphia Game Preview
The Philadelphia Eagles, and really any team in the NFC East, are one of the most frustrating teams in the NFL. A week after a big divisional win against the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles returned home and lost to the Miami Dolphins.
Philadelphia surrendered a 13-point first-quarter lead to fall to 4-5 on the season. Following the loss, the Eagles now sit in third place in the NFC East. The New York Giants are atop the division with a 5-5 record, despite losing on a last-second field goal to the New England Patriots.
The Redskins took care of business against the New Orleans Saints last week to improve to 4-5, but Washington holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have still not won a game without Tony Romo and fell to 2-7.
This weekend could see the Eagles climb to the top of the division or fall further behind the Giants. With a win, Philadelphia could catch New York on its bye week. With a loss, the Giants could come back rested with a full game lead over the Eagles.
Tampa Bay took advantage of a tanking Cowboys team with an ugly 10-6 victory. The Buccaneers come into Week 11 with a 4-5 record, but their division is likely out of reach due to the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
Let's look ahead to some matchups and storylines ahead of the Eagles' Week 11 home game against the Buccaneers.
Viewing Details
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Time: 1 PM ET
TV: FOX
Week 10 Results and Recap
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Philadelphia could not overcome injuries and mistakes as the Miami Dolphins topped the Eagles 20-19 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
Sam Bradford left the game after a sack from Chris McCain in the third quarter. Bradford could not return after being diagnosed with a concussion in addition to an injury to his left shoulder.
After the game-changing hit, the Dolphins scored the eventual game-winning touchdown on a seven-play drive that traveled 87 yards. Miami went up 20-16 due to a Jarvis Landry four-yard touchdown reception on a Ryan Tannehill pass that Connor Barwin batted high up into the air.
Bradford’s injury forced Mark Sanchez into his first significant action this season, and the offense seemed to pick up some momentum. The Eagles put together a 61-yard drive on 15 plays, but they had to settle for a 37-yard field goal.
However, Sanchez made the fatal mistake on Philadelphia’s next drive. The Eagles moved the ball to Miami’s 8-yard line, but then Sanchez threw an interception in the end zone. The 29-year-old tried to force the ball to Miles Austin, despite Philadelphia only needing a field goal to take the lead.
The Eagles got one more shot for redemption with under two minutes remaining, but they turned it over on down.
The game seemed promising as they scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time this season. Celek caught a 60-yard pass on the first offensive play of the day for the Eagles. Then Bradford extended the play and found Josh Huff for a two-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-3 lead.
Following a mistake from Miami’s return team, the Dolphins started the next drive on the 1-yard line. Then Walter Thurmond crushed Tannehill from the blind side, forcing the ball to fly out the back of the end zone for a safety.
Philadelphia capped off its best first quarter of the season with another drive finished off by three straight carries from Ryan Mathews at the goal line to give the Eagles a 16-3 lead.
But the momentum began to shift in the second quarter. The Dolphins added a 22-yard field goal before blocking a Donnie Jones punt to set them up in great field position to score again. Then Tannehill and Lamar Miller connected on a 13-yard score to bring the game within three points.
Both teams came out flat in the second half, and then the game was turned upside down following the injury to Bradford.
The loss stopped all momentum for Philadelphia coming off the divisional win against Dallas. The win also snapped a two-game losing streak for the Dolphins in their final game of a three-game road trip.
News and Notes
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Just a few short years ago, Nick Foles was the talk of the league following his breakout season as Philadelphia's starting quarterback. The Arizona product threw 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions in the 2013 season, but it has been a steady decline since then.
Foles' career is now at a turning point as Jeff Fisher decided to bench the 26-year-old in favor of Case Keenum, according to NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal.
Chip Kelly wanted to change directions at the quarterback position this past offseason and decided to shop the quarterback. The Eagles ended up pulling the trigger on a deal that shipped Foles and a second-round pick to St. Louis and brought Sam Bradford to Philadelphia.
As the Rams' starting quarterback for nine weeks, Foles has six interceptions, five fumbles and only seven touchdowns. As a whole, the Rams do not boast much of a threat through the air, and all the pressure falls on rookie running back Todd Gurley.
Through just over half a season, it is still unclear which team received the better end of the summer trade. The Rams signed Foles to a two-year contract extension before the season, and now the quarterback rests on the bench.
On the other side, Bradford started to show promise the last few weeks, but his future is uncertain following a concussion and shoulder injury suffered in last week's game against Miami. But Philadelphia opted not to sign Bradford to a long-term deal and now has the option to part ways with the quarterback at the end of the season.
This trade made a splash this offseason, but, in the end, neither quarterback may play a significant role for their new teams in the future.
Latest Injury News
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Sam Bradford
The hit from Miami's Chris McCain knocked Sam Bradford out of last week's game in the third quarter, and it looks like the quarterback could miss some more time.
Bradford suffered two significant injuries from the hit last week. Not only did the he suffer a concussion, but also the quarterback had a separated left shoulder, according to ESPN's Ed Werder. Bradford's progress will be monitored throughout the week as part of the league's concussion protocol before a final decision on his availability is made, Werder reported.
If Bradford is unable to play, Mark Sanchez will likely step in as his replacement. Sanchez came into the game last week and went 14-of-23 for 156 yards. The offense looked faster and played with more tempo with the backup behind center, but he made the crucial mistake of throwing an interception in the end zone late in the game.
Linebackers
Last week showed a new rotation of players at inside linebacker following the season-ending injury to Jordan Hicks against the Cowboys. The position will still be in question this week as Mychal Kendricks, DeMeco Ryans and Kiko Alonso all continue to recover from injuries.
Kendricks played the majority of the snaps and looked explosive despite missing two weeks earlier in the season with a hamstring injury. Ryans and Alonso are not quite as far along in the recovery process. Kelly made it clear that Ryans and Alonso are not ready to play 60 or more snaps in a game quite yet, according to CSNPhilly.com's Corey Seidman.
Kendricks made a big impact last week with seven tackles and a sack, but he lacks the necessary help alongside him. Neither Ryans nor Alonso had a real impact on the game last week, and the Eagles need them to recover quickly to solidify the middle of the defense.
Others
The list of players for Philadelphia with concussions should cause concern for Chip Kelly as Bradford, Ryan Mathews and Josh Andrews still await clearance from the NFL to return to practice, according to Seidman.
Andrews is a backup offensive lineman, but the Eagles do not necessarily have a lot of depth at the position right now. Philadelphia's talented backfield also takes a major hit without the effective, powerful running from Mathews.
Jason Peters also did not practice Wednesday due to a back injury, according to the team's official injury report. The left tackle suffered from both back and quad injuries so far this season. In his absence, Lane Johnson will likely continue to play on the left side rather than at right tackle.
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Key Matchup
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Philadelphia’s offense lacks one consistent performer that Chip Kelly can rely on to produce each and every week. The Eagles have seen different players step up and make contributions sporadically throughout the season.
Last week Philadelphia’s tight ends made a big impact on the game against the Dolphins. Brent Celek surprised Miami with a 60-yard reception on Philadelphia’s first offensive play of the game. The sure-handed tight end finished with four catches for 134 yards on only four targets on the day. Up to this point in the season, Celek only had 71 yards receiving total.
At the same time, Zach Ertz did not put together nearly as big of a game, but he showed that he is a consistent threat in the passing game. The 25-year-old is the team’s second leading receiver this season with 36 catches for 382 yards and averages 10.6 yards per catch. The Stanford product added 68 yards on seven receptions Sunday.
On the other side, Tampa Bay struggles to completely shut down opposing tight ends when there are other weapons on the field. Last weekend against Dallas, Jason Witten put together an efficient performance as he tagged the Buccaneers for 42 yards, catching all five of the passes thrown his way.
Back in Week 6, Jordan Reed tormented Tampa Bay’s defense and proved to be the difference in the game. On top of his 72 yards, the tight end caught two touchdown passes on the day, including the game-winner. Kirk Cousins found Reed on a quick pattern to give the Redskins the one-point victory.
Ertz can create similar matchup problems as Reed due to his athleticism and large catch radius. More importantly, the tight end already seems to have chemistry with Mark Sanchez. The backup quarterback found Ertz for a would-be 22-yard touchdown pass last week against the Dolphins, but the play was called back due to a Riley Cooper penalty.
Heading into Week 11, Ertz and Celek could provide matchup problems for Tampa Bay’s defense. The Buccaneers could lose track of the tight ends with all of Philadelphia’s other weapons on the field.
Matchup X-Factor
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Philadelphia started the season with a lot of hype surrounding their talented backfield, but it has been a roller-coaster ride for the three-headed monster so far this season. After a terrible start, the tailbacks started to show their potential in the last few weeks.
In particular the combination of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews looked dangerous the last few weeks as they complemented each others' styles and attacked with fresh legs throughout the entire game.
But with Mathews’ health in question following a concussion in the third quarter of last week’s game, most of the workload falls on Murray.
The NFL’s leading rusher from a year ago seems to be adjusting slowly but surely to Chip Kelly’s offense and is now involved in a multitude of ways. Murray led the team last week with 22 carries for 61 yards, but he also added 58 yards on six receptions for an unconventional 100-yard game.
And actually Murray has been utilized in both the running and passing games the entire year. Murray leads the team in both carries and yards, but he also is the team's third leading receiver. The tailback already has 35 catches on the season and averages 7.7 yards per reception through eight games.
The workload will fall on the shoulders of Murray this weekend due to the injuries to both Mathews and quarterback Sam Bradford. To help take the pressure off Mark Sanchez, expect a heavy dose of Murray this weekend.
Prediction: Eagles 24, Buccaneers 21
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The criticism around Philadelphia continues to grow both locally and nationally as the Eagles fail to show any form of consistency so far this season.
But all is not lost for the Eagles because the NFC East as a whole is one of the worst divisions in the NFL. Sitting only a half-game behind New York, a win this weekend could help right the ship for Chip Kelly and his team.
However, the team faces new challenges with injuries to key players like their starting quarterback Sam Bradford and Ryan Mathews. Mark Sanchez will likely line up behind center this weekend and that brings both positives and negatives. The veteran quarterback is familiar with Kelly's system, and the offense runs at a higher tempo with him in command. But last week showed his downside, as he is still susceptible to making the fatal mistake.
Due to Sanchez's familiarity with the offense, Kelly most likely will not scale back the passing attack this weekend against Tampa Bay.
The Eagles showed a commitment to the run in the past few weeks, but the loss of Mathews will change the workload distribution. DeMarco Murray will see a heavier workload this Sunday, which should not be a problem for the feature back. The 27-year-old carried the rock 392 times last year for the Cowboys, and will likely relish the opportunity to get into a rhythm with consistent action this weekend.
Sanchez will make his fair share of mistakes this weekend, but so will Jameis Winston. The rookie has thrown nine interceptions on the year, including two last week against the Cowboys. On the other side, Billy Davis' defense already has 12 interceptions and eight fumbles on the year. Philadelphia's high-pressure defense will force the inexperienced quarterback to make some poor choices in Sunday's game.
Although both teams are struggling with a 4-5 record and sit in third place in their respective divisions, Philadelphia has more to play for this weekend. The Eagles are still alive to win the NFC East, but they have to start their second-half surge with a win over Tampa Bay. Philadelphia will take care of business at home with a tight three-point victory over the Buccaneers.
Prediction: Eagles 24, Buccaneers 21
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