The Bucs dropped their first game of the season on Monday, losing to the Eagles in a game that was uncompetitive for the majority of the second half.  There were very few bright spots for Tampa Bay by the end of the night. The Eagles outplayed the Bucs at every position group possible.

Bucs Offensive Line

Rather than starting in a traditional sense of quarterback, running back, receiver, etc. I thought I would order this week by impact on the game. By that measurement the offensive line has to be the starting point. While offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke more than held their own against an edge rush group that included pro bowler Haason Reddick, veteran Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith. The two bookends combined to only allow one pressure on the night.

Bucs LG Matt Feiler – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The interior of the offensive line was another story in pass protection. Facing a murderer’s row of talented defensive tackles, center Robert Hainsey and guards Cody Mauch and Matt Feiler were not able to rise to the challenge. Jalen Carter, Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis and Marlon Tuipolotu combined for seven pressures and three sacks.

And that doesn’t include the pressure the interior allowed against linebacker blitzes and looping edge rushers. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was for the second week in a row left to scramble for his life against an onslaught of interior pressure.

In the run game things were a mess along the Bucs offensive line. Offensive coordinator Dave Canales opted to abandon the base of his scheme, the mid zone concept in favor of duo, counters, inside zones and pin and pulls. This left the line having to contest with the Eagles behemoths in the middle.  The results were uninspired.

Bucs fans are beginning to question whether second-year running back Rachaad White is truly the answer as the teams starting rusher. But it’s hard to give him a fair evaluation when he gets the ball and has to run into this.

I mean what do ppl expect him to do… pic.twitter.com/sXhJLYvTZ6

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 27, 2023

This line cannot get out of its own way when it comes to run blocking. I charted every run from the Bucs-Eagles game. There wasn’t a single one where every offensive lineman executed his assignment properly. And while that isn’t necessary on every run to have an effective rushing attack, with competent run games it happens every few runs. Canales is trying to find some system that this group can get comfortable with and through three weeks he still hasn’t found it.

Grade: D

Tampa Bay’s Defensive Line

Bucs NT Vita Vea and Eagles C Jason Kelce – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Trench play will take you far in the NFL. It’s part of the reason why the Eagles are defending NFC champs and why the Bucs got beat down on Monday night. The difference in talent in the trenches when the Bucs were on defense was vast and apparent. Outside linebackers Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Shaq Barrett, Anthony Nelson and Yaya Diaby all barely factored as pass rushers. Barrett led the way with three pressures.

The best that group was able to muster was discipline in their rush lanes to largely hold Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in check as a runner. The edge rushers had trouble containing the Eagles running game. Philadelphia running back De’Andre Swift was able to total 69 yards on just six carries running off the right tackle.

Much like on the offensive side of the ball, the Bucs interior defenders were worked over by the Eagles offensive line. Mike Greene was exposed. Logan Hall was washed out of numerous plays. Even Vita Vea, who was nursing an injury just could not physically impose himself. The result was wide open rushing lanes for the Eagles’ run game. And when I say wide open holes I mean…

Dominant performance by Eagles OL. Holes like this all night long. #DealersChoice pic.twitter.com/MyT04p5Rry

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) September 26, 2023

The Bucs defensive line allowed 201 yards rushing while only pressuring Hurts 12 times on 40 dropbacks and an average time to throw of 2.95 seconds. High school seniors could take their SAT’s in the amount of time the Eagles offensive line was able to hold off the Bucs pass rush.

Grade: D

Bucs Wide Receivers

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs passing game continues to heavily feature Mike Evans. Evans’ 10 targets were double that of the next closest player (Chris Godwin with five). Statistically, Evans had a solid game with five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. But his two drops were monumental in the game flow. The first came on the first drive of the game.

On third-and-8 from their own 41, Baker Mayfield targeted Evans on a deep curl. The throw was high, but Evans was able to get his hands on the ball. It’s a catch he has made numerous times before. Unable to corral this pass the Bucs drive stalled. Where they would have been near field goal range if Evans had corralled that pass with a chance to open the scoring in the game they instead punted.

The second drop was even more critical in nature. In the second quarter the Bucs had driven deep into Eagles territory. On third-and-9 from the Eagles 15, Mayfield lobbed a pass to Evans in the front right corner of the end zone. While Eagles rookie safety Sydney Brown was able to ever-so-slightly disrupt the throws flight path it still fell into Evans’ lap as he fell backwards onto the ground. The deflection was just enough to cause Evans to drop the pass.

The Bucs opted for a game-tying field goal on the next play. Those two plays both prevented the Bucs from potentially grabbing an early lead.

Godwin came through with a couple of first downs when targeted. The trend of Bucs backup receivers not contributing much continued with Rakim Jarrett, Trey Palmer and Deven Thompkins combining for three catches and 14 yards on five targets.

Grade: B

Tampa Bay’s Safeties

Bucs S Ryan Neal and Eagles RB D’Andre Swift – Photo by: USA Today

Ryan Neal and Antoine Winfield Jr. were challenged to help shut down the Eagles run game. Unfortunately for the Bucs defense, they were unable to rise to the occasion. Combined, the two safeties missed eight tackles allowing Swift and Kenneth Gainwell to gain 94 yards after contact.

The two backstops were challenged to help compensate in coverage with injuries besetting the Bucs’ cornerback room. While neither were specifically targeted much (the Bucs stayed in soft zones due to the lack of talent at corner for most of the game) they were unable to make plays on the ball as Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown ran rampant through the Bucs defense for nine catches and 131 yards.

Grade: D

Bucs Tight Ends

Dave Canales and the Bucs de-emphasized their 12 personnel usage against the Eagles as backup tight ends Ko Kieft and David Wells accounted for only 10 offensive snaps combined. That left the majority of the tight end grade on the shoulders, or better yet, in the hands of starter Cade Otton. Otton did not run with his opportunity though (are these puns getting out of hand?). While his blocking improved over the listless effort he produced in weeks one and two.

I honestly thought Otton had a much better game as a run blocker than in weeks one and two. Here he pulls well and helps eliminate the LB to help spring one of the best runs of the night. pic.twitter.com/37Q0t8fCtm

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 27, 2023

But he also left a potential explosive play slip through his fingers on a beautifully designed play-action screen in the first half when the Bucs were in plus territory.

Oh Cade, what could have been… pic.twitter.com/wIuLk3lVQF

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 26, 2023

Grade: D

Tampa Bay’s Cornerbacks

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith and Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

It’s difficult to accurately assess a group that by the end of the game had rookie undrafted free agent Derek Pitts Jr. lined up on A.J. Brown. The unit was beset by injury before the game with Carlton Davis III missing his second consecutive game. The trend continued as Jamel Dean and Dee Delaney both left the game due to injury as well.

This left Zyon McCollum out on the field as the veteran of the group making his fourth career start. McCollum was targeted five times, forcing one incompletion while allowing four catches for 49 yards. Delaney was able to intercept Hurts on a nifty track and trail where he jumped in front of Brown at the far sidelines for an interception at the Bucs one-yard line. Pitts was picked on late in the game by Brown.

The group struggled, but the expectations shouldn’t have been high. The team opted to go young and inexperienced with their depth in the secondary, hoping their starters could stay healthy. The starters are hurt and the depth looked … well … young and inexperienced. Poor tackling led to plenty of YAC for the Eagles.

Grade: D

Bucs Special Teams

Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin nailed his lone field goal try on the night, a 33-yard chip shot in the second quarter. Punter Jake Camarda continued his quest to see if his leg is truly strong enough to launch a ball into the stratosphere. He averaged 57.5 yards per punt on his four attempts, including a 74-yard bomb. Camarda was able to successfully pin the Eagles inside their own 20 twice.

There was a good chance his two other punts could have done the same as one was fielded at the Eagles’ 11-yard line while the other was fielded at their own four. Unfortunately for the Bucs, the outstanding play of the coverage units from week one has eroded as they allowed returns of 14 and 52 yards to help Philadelphia establish more advantageous field position.

Grade: C+

Tampa Bay’s Linebackers

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

Despite dealing with a groin injury Devin White tried to play through pain. He looked slow and without power in his lower half, which was to be expected. Unfortunately, that caused him to let off trying to house an interception deep in his own zone, opting to instead retreat out of bounds. It also had a considerable impact on White’s ability to fill gaps in the run game.

Neither White nor Lavonte David looked anywhere close to the level of play they had exhibited the prior two weeks. Specifically, neither player was coming downhill with authority to help fill gaps and slow the Eagles run game.

In pass protection the Eagles receivers were able to find daylight behind David and White and below the secondary to own the intermediate area of the field. When targeting the intermediate portion of the field Hurts was 5-of-7 for 94 yards.

Grade: D

Bucs Quarterback

After two incredibly efficient games where he went beast mode on third down, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was struck by the regression bug. Despite playing reasonably well through most of the first half, Mayfield began to succumb to the struggles his supporting cast was placing on him. Between receiver drops, a lagging running game and an offensive line that was allowing pressure in his face Mayfield made his second big mistake of the 2023 season.

PHI playing quarters to Evans’ side allows Blankenship to just read Baker the whole way. Drove to the MOF as soon as Baker came back to the field side with his eyes. pic.twitter.com/fQZRGzNDJ2

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 27, 2023

Mayfield would finish the game 15-of-25 for 146 yards, a touchdown and that interception. Put in difficult third down situations due to questionable play-calling Mayfield would struggle with processing and decision making while placing balls in difficult to catch locations on receivers.

Grade: C

Tampa Bay’s Running Backs

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

I mentioned earlier that White is receiving some criticism for a season-long stat line that now looks like this: 48 carries, 150 yards, one touchdown, one fumble. And it would be easy to lay those underwhelming totals at White’s feet. While that would have been warranted criticism in Week 1, it was hardly the case on Monday night.

White made lemonade out of a lot of lemons as a ball carrier with 22 of his 38 yards coming after contact, as he averaged just over one yard per carry before contact. He also forced four missed tackles. Take another look at the clip I included for the offensive linemen. White took a two-yard loss and turned it into a two-yard gain.

If that were the end of the story, he might warrant a decent grade. But White had a big play in the passing game. And not in a good way.

With less than a minute left in the first half White took a checkdown from Mayfield and turned around to try and earn some extra yards. In the process he allowed the ball to be punched out of his hands resulting in a turnover. Five plays later the Eagles would score a field goal to go up 16-3 and never look back.

White finished with 52 yards on 17 touches while backup Sean Tucker was merely an afterthought in the offense, notching just one yard on two carries.

Grade: D

As you can see, most of the Bucs played D-level ball on Monday. They will need to raise that level of play if they want to have a real shot at beating the Saints next week.