It’s time for PewterReport.com’s 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game. Tampa Bay rebounded with a big, 33-16 win over Philadelphia to improve to 3-1 on the season after suffering a horrible, 27-6 loss to Denver last week. The Bucs came out flat against the Broncos, but on fire against the Eagles as Baker Mayfield was hot and scored three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) while Todd Bowles’ defense slowed down Saquon Barkley and sacked Jalen Hurts six times.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1. Cry, Eagles Cry – Bucs Bounce Back

It never gets old watching the Bucs beat the Eagles, does it? If you’ve followed this team since the Tony Dungy days, you remember how Philadelphia tormented Tampa Bay with four straight wins over the Bucs from 2000-02, including two Wild Card playoff victories at Veterans Stadium. Outside of the Brett Favre-led Green Bay Packers or the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams, there was not a more hated team back then than the Eagles.

Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Since losing to the Eagles on Monday Night Football in Week 3 last year, 25-11, Tampa Bay has absolutely crushed Philly, kicking the Eagles’ ass, 32-9, in the Wild Card win and then racing out to a 24-0 lead in the first half before cruising to a 33-16 triumph on Sunday. The impressive bounce-back win moves the Bucs to 3-1 while the Eagles have slumped to 2-2.

The Bucs are now 6-1 versus the Eagles since 2015 and are dominating the series. As fun as it is to watch the Bucs repeatedly prevail, it’s even more fun to see the legions of boorish and rude Philly fans leave Raymond James Stadium very unhappy – and angry at their team and kinda unlikable head coach Nick Sirianni.

Cry, Eagles cry.

Even former Bucs linebacker Devin White, who is actually a Philadelphia Eagle, liked what he saw from former teammate Lavonte David and retweeted a tweet against his own team, as Fox Sports’ Greg Auman posted on X. White was inactive for personal reasons and wasn’t at the game.

It was a clueless – yet endearing – move from White on social media. That’s classic Devin right there – but I digress.

Back to the Bucs.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I didn’t see this convincing win coming. Just like I didn’t see last week’s brutal loss to the Broncos coming. I mean Tampa Bay had 19 players on the injury report this week, although most did play through their nicks, dings and bruises – and played well.

Let’s start with defensive tackle Vita Vea, who missed a game and a half with a sprained MCL. He was an absolute force on Sunday, helping to hold Saquon Barkley to under 100 yards rushing and then kick-starting a sack party with his first sack of the year. Linebacker Lavonte David led Tampa Bay with two sacks, and outside linebackers Yaya Diaby and Anthony Nelson got their first sacks of the season, as did defensive tackle Logan Hall.

It wasn’t just Todd Bowles’ defense that really responded to unheralded rookie quarterback Bo Nix thrashing them last week, it was also the Bucs offense, which was nowhere to be found in last week’s loss to Denver. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen got his unit back on track by dialing up a great game plan featuring plenty of short passes from Baker Mayfield to get him into rhythm early. Mayfield started the game completing 12-of-13 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns as the Bucs raced out to 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

Tampa Bay looked lifeless and lost last week. After being humiliated at home by the Broncos, the Bucs looked like bullies against the Eagles – a team that routinely tries to win in the trenches and be the bullies themselves. Eagles fans left in droves in the fourth quarter without much of a whimper.

STATEMENT 2. Old Man Lavonte David Drinks From The Fountain Of Youth Once Again

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There was a time when Lavonte David was the fastest player on the Bucs defense. Now at age 34, David isn’t the flash he used to be. Heck, David might not even be the fastest inside linebacker on the team anymore. But that doesn’t mean he still can’t make plays for Tampa Bay and proved that with a dominating performance in Sunday’s 33-16 win over the Eagles.

David turned back the clock and had a performance from yesteryear with a team-high eight tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. He was the game-wrecker of old and traded in the Gatorade for some sips of the Fountain of Youth on Sunday.

We’ll see if he can maintain this level of splashiness. We all know David is fully capable of leading the Bucs in tackles again. But it’s the big plays that we’ve come to expect from David, and hopefully he can continue to deliver them like he on Sunday when he was the highest-graded Buccaneer on either side of the ball per Pro Football Focus with a 90.4 overall grade.

Bucs ILB Lavonte David and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts – Photo by: USA Today

David’s timely sack-fumble, which was recovered by defensive tackle Ben Stille, came in the third quarter as the Eagles was driving down to the Tampa Bay 19.

“It was big time,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said about David’s performance versus the Eagles. “That would have put them right back into the game, I think, if they would have gotten something, they would have been down one score if they would have gotten a touchdown. So, for him to get that turnover when he did was huge for us.”

David came through in the clutch like he has so many times before in his illustrious 13-year career in Tampa Bay.

“Yeah, I mean, a play needed to be made,” David said. “When my number was called on that certain play, I was able to blitz and get an opportunity to get one-on-one with the running back, which is a linebacker’s dream. Then I was able to win and make a play on the football. If I would’ve never made that play, I would’ve never heard the end of it from Coach [Larry] Foote, so I definitely – the whole time in my mind I was like, ‘I’ve got to win, I’ve got to win, I’ve got to win,’ and I was able to do it.”

On Sunday, David became the only other Buccaneer aside from Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks to notch 1,500 career tackles in franchise history, and his 30 career forced fumbles are also the most in Tampa Bay history.

“The older I get, the more it comes to realization how big that is,” David said. “When I was younger, I’m just out there playing football [and] having fun. Don’t get me wrong… I’m still having fun right now, but for those things to come up – I’m hearing it from guys like you and then family members coming and saying stuff – it [doesn’t] really hit me until I really just sit down and really think about it. It’s an incredible feat.”

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1. How Did Liam Coen Get The Bucs Offense Back On Track?

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Simple – he got his quarterback in rhythm early with some quick, easy throws to get him comfortable in the pocket, and Baker Mayfield’s first pass was directed to Mike Evans. Last week, Mayfield looked skittish in the pocket against Denver and was sacked seven times. He even ran into a few sacks by bailing out of the pocket too soon.

To make matters worse, Evans was only targeted once in the first quarter versus the Broncos and just twice by halftime. That changed in a huge way on Sunday versus the Eagles as Evans feasted against man coverage and offensive coordinator Liam Coen dialed up all the right plays.

Evans had 14 targets and led the way for the Bucs with eight catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Mayfield started the game completing 12 of his first 13 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Tampa Bay even ran the ball well, topping 100 yards on the day with both Bucky Irving and Rachaad White averaging 4.9 yards per carry on 10 carries.

This was great to see after an offensive meltdown last week versus Denver in which Tampa Bay only scored one touchdown. The Bucs are now scoring 24.3 points per game, which is tied with the Seahawks for ninth in the league. Tampa Bay’s offense ranks 16th in yards with 319 yards per game, while Mayfield has the second-most touchdown passes in the league with eight – right behind Minnesota’s Sam Darnold (11).

Don’t look now, but the Bucs no longer have the league’s worst-ranked rushing attack. Tampa Bay ranks 24th in rushing, averaging 96 yards per game.

QUESTION 2. Which Team Has More Concerning Injuries – Tampa Bay Or Atlanta?

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Good question. The Bucs vs. Eagles game on Sunday featured a clash between two banged up teams. And it will be the same situation on Thursday night when Tampa Bay travels to Atlanta to play the Falcons. The Bucs had a lengthy injury report this week – 19 players were on it, although most played. Tampa Bay could be without right tackle Luke Goedeke again, as he may have suffered a setback with his concussion after returning to practice late in the week. On Friday, wide receiver Jalen McMillan pulled his hamstring and was inactive against the Eagles.

Tampa Bay saw inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis leave with a shoulder injury and wide receiver Trey Palmer exit with a concussion, so that’s not good. Neither player returned and it would seem that neither would be available against the Falcons on a short week.

The Bucs are hopeful that either defensive tackle Calijah Kancey (calf) or safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot) – or both – return to action as NFC South division play begins in Atlanta. If not, perhaps at New Orleans the next week.

The Falcons are also reeling with injuries and have seven players on injured reserve, including starting center Drew Dalman, who is one of their top offensive linemen. Kaleb McGary, the team’s right tackle, is also expected to be out.

Atlanta’s linebacker corps is thin right now with Nate Landman and Milo Eifler on injured reserve, and starting inside linebacker Troy Andersen left Sunday’s win over New Orleans with a knee injury. Andersen had a pick-six versus Derek Carr before exiting the game. He’s listed as questionable for Thursday’s game as of right now. Andersen is the Falcons’ leading tackler with 44 stops.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1. Bucs Beat The Falcons To Improve To 4-1

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs learned a lesson from being too happy after being the Lions in Week 2. It left the team too soft and without an edge against the Broncos the following week. That won’t happen again. Look for Tampa Bay to be highly motivated to show up and show out on Thursday Night Football in Atlanta against a team that many national media members have already crowned as the favorites to win the NFC South. The Bucs found that talk this summer to be too disrespectful and too premature.

The two rivals have split the series in each of the last two years under head coach Todd Bowles. Last season, the Falcons won in Tampa Bay while the Bucs got some revenge a few weeks later in Atlanta. Bowles has had some success against Kirk Cousins in the past, beating him when he was with the Vikings in 2020 at Raymond James Stadium and then again last year at Minnesota in the season opener. Look for the Bucs to take an early 1-0 lead in the NFC South late Thursday night.

PREDICTION 2. Baker Mayfield Will Set A Career High With 34 Touchdown Passes

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Baker Mayfield is off to a hot start in his second season in Tampa Bay. With two more touchdown passes on Sunday, Mayfield now has eight on the year, which is an average of two per game. Mayfield’s eight passing scores are second-most in the NFL, and if he maintains this two-touchdown average on a weekly basis, he’ll wind up with 34 passing TDs. That will be a new career high for the 29-year old quarterback, and top last year’s personal best of 28.

Tom Brady has the most passing touchdowns in a single season with 43 during the 2021 season, and also had 40 during the team’s Super Bowl run in the 2020 regular season. Jameis Winston had the previous record of 33 in the 2019 season. If Mayfield maintains this current pace and reaches a projected 34 touchdowns in 2024, he’ll have the third-most passing scores in team history behind Brady’s two seasons and ahead of Winston.