Buccaneers vs. Eagles: Philadelphia Grades, Notes and Quotes

The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a 45-17 beatdown from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers behind Jameis Winston's arm and Doug Martin's legs.

The rookie quarterback threw five touchdown passes on Sunday as he finished 19-of-29 for 246 yards with zero interceptions. Martin also added 235 yards on the ground on 27 rushing attempts.

Most of the offensive production came in the first half for both players as the Buccaneers controlled the game by halftime. Four of Winston's five touchdown passes came in the first half as Tampa Bay led 28-14 through two quarters. The quarterback found five different targets on his touchdown throws. Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, Cameron Brate, Charles Sims and Russell Shepard all got involved in the scoring action for Tampa Bay.

The game started out well for Philadelphia as the ball seemed to be falling their way. DeMarco Murray fumbled on the first possession, but the Eagles got it back as Zach Ertz forced a fumble on Tampa Bay's return. Mark Sanchez led the team down the field and hit Josh Huff on a slant route to give Philadelphia the early touchdown lead.

Tampa Bay did not trail long as Winston found Mike Evans on an eight-yard touchdown pass for his first touchdown throw of the day. The drive's success came after Martin's 58-yard run that put the Buccaneers in the red zone.

The real separation between the two teams came in the second quarter as Tampa Bay outscored Philadelphia 21-7 in the 15-minute span.

Winston found Jackson for a 13-yard touchdown on the very first play of the quarter. Then Martin broke off another long run as he dashed 84 yards to set up Shepard's short touchdown catch. Tampa Bay's third touchdown of the quarter came as Charles Sims came away with the reception between Mychal Kendricks and Byron Maxwell on a pass that hung up in the air.

Philadelphia's lone scoring drive provided a brief glimpse into a rotating backfield's effectiveness. Darren Sproles scored on a 35-yard screen pass, but DeMarco Murray and Kenjon Barner both played a role on the drive. Unfortunately, Philadelphia could not rely on a ground-and-pound style when it trailed Tampa Bay by 14 points at halftime.

Then the second half started the worst way possible for a team that needed to try and climb back into a game. Tampa Bay soaked up the clock on a 15-play scoring drive. The Buccaneers offense stayed on the field for nearly 10 minutes before punching the ball into the end zone to extend its lead to 21 points. From that moment, the Eagles had no chance of turning the ship around on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Eagles are now 4-6 following their second consecutive loss. Meanwhile Tampa Bay is climbing in the other direction as the Buccaneers are 5-5 with two straight wins.

Position Grades for Philadelphia

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Positional Grades

Quarterback: C-

Mark Sanchez effectively moved the offense down the field early in the first quarter as he found Josh Huff for a 39-yard touchdown to give the Eagles the lead. But the game quickly fell apart for the quarterback as they only scored one more touchdown the entire rest of the game.

Sanchez finished 26-of-41 for 261 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He blatantly missed receivers on three separate occasions and threw it straight to the opposing defense. Lavonte David came away with two interception, including one that he returned 20 yards for a touchdown.

Running Backs: B-

The Eagles' second scoring drive came directly from the play of the team's running backs. A combination of DeMarco Murray, Kenjon Barner and Darren Sproles touched the ball on all six plays of the 61-yard scoring drive. Murray got the drive moving with some powerful running, and then Sproles capped it off with a 35-yard screen pass for a touchdown.

Murray led the team with 13 carries for 64 yards and added four catches for 27 yards. The tailbacks looked dangerous throughout the entire game, but Philadelphia had to rely on the passing attack due to the large gap in scoring.

Wide Receivers: C

Not a single Eagles receiver had more than four receptions on the day. Jordan Matthews, Riley Cooper, Huff and Nelson Agholor all got involved in the passing attack, but nobody made a consistent impact on the game. The receiving corps' lone bright spot came on Huff's slant route that went 39 yards for a touchdown.

Tight Ends: B+

Brent Celek continues to be a reliable target for Philadelphia quarterbacks. The veteran tight end led the team with seven receptions for 79 yards. However, there is concern surrounding Zach Ertz's health. The 25-year-old left in the second quarter with a concussion. It may be tough for the tight end to recover in time to play on Thanksgiving day.

Offensive Line: C

The offensive line allowed the Buccaneers to sack Sanchez three times for a loss of 14 yards. The quarterback rarely had time to survey the field and get through his progressions as Tampa Bay's pass rush hit him a total of six times. Jason Peters' return brought hope, but Jason Kelce and company continue to struggle up front.

Defensive Line: D

The big guys up front are usually one of the team's best units, but they struggled against Tampa Bay. They allowed Winston too much time to sit in the pocket and find open receivers. Additionally, the Buccaneers line overpowered Bennie Logan, Fletcher Cox and company in the running game.

Linebackers: F

The linebacking group made too many mistakes against Tampa Bay that hurt the defense overall. Brandon Graham jumped offside on a crucial third down in the first quarter to give the offense a new set of downs. On the very next play, Doug Martin exploded for 58 yards.

Connor Barwin got in position to make big plays, but he failed to come away with a pass that hit him squarely in the hands. Philadelphia is also struggling at inside linebacker as DeMeco Ryans struggles in coverage and Kiko Alonso looks slow on the field.

Defensive Backs: D

Tampa Bay picked on Philadelphia's secondary throughout the game. Winston continually targeted Nolan Carroll and E.J. Biggers as neither player could match up with the Buccaneers' physical receivers. Billy Davis' defense surrendered five touchdown passes to a rookie quarterback who only threw 10 in the first nine games of the season.

Special Teams: C

The special teams did not play a major role in this game as Philadelphia's offense rarely got into field-goal range, and the defense could not force Tampa Bay to punt. Caleb Sturgis converted his one field-goal attempt of the day from 43 yards.

Josh Huff made a few poor choices to bring the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs, but the decisions did not result in any disasters.

Coaching: C

The defense did not look ready to play on Sunday, and that comes down to the coaches' preparation. Billy Davis did not look to have a set game plan, which allowed Tampa Bay to freely run and throw against Philadelphia.

On the other side of the ball, the offense also faltered after scoring early in the game. Kelly could not get his offense clicking early, which led to Tampa Bay's two-touchdown lead at halftime.

Important Note No. 1: Rush Defense

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Philadelphia's defense has been the team's backbone this season, and the unit is centered around shutting down opposing defenses. But on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran for 283 yards on 42 team carries.

The Eagles could not slow down Doug Martin throughout the entire game. The tailback averaged 8.7 yards a carry as he broke off big gains of 58 and 84 yards on Sunday. The combination of consistent production and explosive play led to a career day for Martin.

The running back fell just two yards short of reaching an all-time high in damage done on the ground against Philadelphia. In fact, at one point, Martin actually passed the 237-yard mark Emmitt Smith and Jim Brown set before losing yards later in the game.

Vincent Jackson's presence proved to change Philadelphia's approach as the defense could not load the box against the run due to Tampa Bay's weapons on the outside. Without numbers to throw against the run, Philadelphia had to rely on individual performances.

Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan usually lead the team by filling gaps or shedding blocks to get to ball-carriers in the backfield, but Tampa Bay's offensive line did a good job neutralizing their impact.

Then the blame falls to the poor play of Philadelphia's linebacker group. Mychal Kendricks continues to improve as he recovers from his injury, but he lacks consistent play alongside him. Kiko Alonso lacks the explosion that makes him an aggressive linebacker, and DeMeco Ryans' age is beginning to show.

Martin continually showed patience at the start of his run and then found gaps to get to the second and third level. Once he found open space, Philadelphia's defensive backs could not bring him down. On the 58-yard run, Walter Thurmond took a poor angle for the tackle and that allowed Martin to turn the play into a foot-race.

Winston deserves praise for his five-touchdown performance, but Philadelphia should be more concerned with its inability to stop the run on Sunday. Billy Davis' defense cannot survive when the opposing team can put together a balanced attack.

Important Note No. 2: Third-Down Defense

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

The Buccaneers offense seemed like it was always on the field on Sunday. In fact, Tampa Bay won the time- of-possession battle with over 35 minutes of offense.

Philadelphia's offense grew visibly tired by the end of the game due to the amount of time it spent on the field. In past weeks, Philadelphia's offense would take the majority of the blame for losing the ball too quickly, but Billy Davis' group can only blame itself this time.

The defense's inability to get off the field kept Tampa Bay's drives alive. The Buccaneers finished 10-of-16 on third-down attempts and five-of-six in the red zone. Additionally, they also converted a fourth-down attempt to extend the drive. Extended drives lead to momentum shifts and demoralized players.

Not only did Tampa Bay convert on third downs, but it also went for the jugular in crucial situations. Three of Winston's five touchdown passes came on third-down plays. At one point, the Buccaneers were 9-of-12 on third down as they established a 21-point lead. 

Brandon Graham also committed a penalty on third down to give Tampa Bay a fresh set of downs. Then Doug Martin ran for 58 yards on the following play. Without those third-down mishaps, Philadelphia's offense could have gotten the ball back and tried to change the tide of the game.

Quote No. 1

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

"We didn’t do anything well. I didn’t call it well; I didn’t prepare them well. The scoreboard shows it. Everybody saw it," said Bill Davis, per CSNPhilly.com's Reuben Frank.

Last week's one-point defeat to the Miami Dolphins felt demoralizing as the Eagles blew a 13-point lead, but this week's loss dwarfs last week's result. The 45-17 defeat to the Buccaneers creates significant questions about the defense for the first time this season.

The defense allowed the Buccaneers to rack up 521 yards of total offense. Tampa Bay's balance on offense and defense was even more impressive, as the Buccaneers threw for 238 yards and rushed for 283 yards. Tampa Bay had a total-team effort as it saw star players such as Doug Martin and Mike Evans to backups such as Charles Sims and Russell Shepard contributing.

The Eagles could not stop anything Tampa Bay threw at them. A lot of that comes down to coaching. The defense as a whole did not seem to have any set game plan to to slow down the opposing offense. It allowed a rookie quarterback to sit in a comfortable pocket and survey his options without any pressure. Additionally, defensive backs were left on an island to cover Tampa Bay's big physical wide receivers.

Although the coaching staff definitely deserves some of the blame, a lot of the performance problems came down to player execution. Nolan Carroll surrendered three touchdown passes when he was in coverage. Performances like that come down to his execution and the coaching staff's need to recognize a trend and provide safety help over the top.

Tampa Bay outmatched Philadelphia's defense in both their preparation and execution Sunday.

Quote No. 2

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

"We can't sulk right now. This division's not very good right now. There still is playoff contention," said Lane Johnson, per the Philadelphia Inquirer's Zach Berman.

Following the loss to Tampa Bay, the Eagles are now on a negative two-game skid and head into Week 12 with a 4-6 record.

Although things look grim at the moment, Philadelphia is only one game behind the New York Giants who lead the division with a .500 record. The Eagles are still alive because of the NFC East's overall struggles.

It seems like every week the Eagles need to get their season on track if they want to make a push for the division. Following two losses the same thing holds true, but the top of the division will eventually leave them behind if they continue to struggle.

The New York Giants improved their division standing this week by not playing. The two teams closest to them in the NFC East failed to take advantage of the change to draw even with the division leaders.

The Washington Redskins suffered a 44-16 blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers as Cam Newton threw for five touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys received a boost from Tony Romo's return as they beat the Miami Dolphins 24-14. Dallas is still alive in the division, despite losing seven straight games, as the Cowboys trail the Giants by two games.

Everything remains wide-open in the NFC East, but as Lane Johnson said, the Eagles need to have a short memory. Philadelphia faces a quick turnaround this week as the Eagles face the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Philadelphia experiencing a third straight loss would almost entirely eliminate its playoff chances and deem the 2015 season a failure.