On a night when the Bucs had to play near-perfect football to beat the defending NFC champions, Tampa Bay fell short of reaching the soaring Eagles, losing 25-11. There were plenty of chances to remain unbeaten, but the Bucs failed to capitalize and were overmatched. For much of the night, it was Philadelphia’s offense dominating as they accumulated 472 total yards, 201 yards coming on the ground on 40 carries.

On their first possession, the Eagles came out of the gates firing, with a 28-yard completion to A.J. Brown on Jalen Hurts’ first throw of the night being the biggest. Facing a fourth-and-1 at the Bucs’ 14, Philadelphia decided to go for it. Instead of a quarterback sneak that they have nearly perfected, a delayed handoff to Kenneth Gainwell was snuffed out by Ryan Neal for a one-yard loss, keeping the Eagles off the board early.

But the visitors would not be denied in scoring first. Punt returner Britain Covey soon took a Jake Camarda punt 52 yards, evading the Bucs’ special team unit and neutralizing Camarda’s 60-yard boot. This gave the Eagles a short field, but Tampa Bay’s defense held them into settling for a 36-yard field goal by Jake Elliott with 3:05 left in the first quarter.

Of note on the drive, Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean was down on the ground for a moment before walking off the field with trainers and heading into the blue tent with the focus on his left shoulder. He briefly returned to the game, but was later ruled out for the remainder of the night.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

Facing a long field in the second quarter, the Bucs got moving. Rachaad White had 29 total yards as a rusher and receiver, and Chris Godwin had a crucial 18-yard catch on third-and-3 to put Tampa Bay into field goal range. 

On third-and-8 from the 26, defensive pass interference was called on cornerback Josh Jobe to keep the drive alive. It looked as if the Bucs could get across the pylon, but Mike Evans dropped a catchable pass in the end zone. In what amounted to a 13-play, 69-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock, it ended with Chase McLaughlin coming out for a 33-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 8:33 in the second quarter.

The Eagles’ offense was determined to answer with a scoring drive of their own. The Bucs had their chances to stop them but failed to get to Jalen Hurts. Shaq Barrett had a near-sack on Hurts, who then had time to chuck it up to Olamide Zaccheaus for 24 yards on third-and-5. Zaccheaus would then be the recipient of a 34-yard touchdown throw on third-and-10, giving Philadelphia a 10-3 lead with 3:32 remaining in the first half.

After playing turnover-free football for nine quarters to open the season, that streak ended right when brief rain started to come down at Raymond James Stadium. Baker Mayfield’s pass intended for Chris Godwin was intercepted by Reed Blankenship.

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

It then became an action-packed last couple of minutes. 

With two minutes to work with, the Eagles were looking to score and were well in position to do so. They got the ball down to the 22, but Devin White had other plans. He picked off Jalen Hurts with less than a minute left in the half. 

But what the Bucs gained was quickly lost within 15 seconds. Fletcher Cox sacked Mayfield for a loss of 11 yards, and Rachaad White then fumbled as Jalen Carter forced the ball loose and James Bradberry recovered it. 

Still within scoring range after the turnover exchange, Jake Elliott ultimately ended the half by knocking a 37-yard field goal down the middle, making it a 13-3 game heading into the locker room.

After scoring to close the first half, the Eagles started the second half with the ball again and with every opportunity to control the game – and they took it. They only had two third downs to convert on the drive, and a lot of the heavy lifting was done by D’Andre Swift, who broke off a 26-yard run.

On third-and-1 from the 1-yard line, Jalen Hurts was stopped short. They decided to run it back on fourth down, and Hurts made sure to punch it in on a quarterback sneak. In doing so, it made it a 20-3 ballgame.

Throughout the third quarter, it was a story of the Eagles dominating the time of possession and simply overmatching the Bucs on both sides of the ball. 

After dominating the Vikings to the tune of 175 yards a week ago, Swift continued to gain yards in bunches with Tampa Bay’s run defense doing little to stop him. With just over four minutes left in the quarter, he broke off another long run for 29 yards. 

Bucs NCB Christian Izien and Eagles RB D’Andre Swift – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs managed to keep the Eagles from completely taking over, as defensive back Dee Delaney intercepted Jalen Hurts, but it meant the offense had to start their drive at the 1-yard line. Although the Eagles turned it over, they still scored on the next play, with Nicholas Morrow and Jordan Davis taking down Rachaad White for a safety.

Elliott later came out to chip in his third field goal of the night, giving the visitors a 25-3 lead with 13:28 left in the fourth quarter.

Mike Evans then started to put on a show, finding space for a 24-yard catch and then making an early catch-of-the-year level grab over Reed Blankenship for 22 yards. From a yard out, he put the finishing touch on his masterclass of the Eagles’ secondary by snagging a jump ball for a touchdown. Chris Godwin then caught the two-point conversion, bringing them within two touchdowns as they made it a 25-11 game with just over nine minutes left.

The last drive for Philadelphia was one in which they controlled the ball for the last nine minutes, going 15 plays and leaving the Bucs without a chance to make it a closer ballgame. 

The loss drops the Bucs to 2-1 on the season, and they will head down to New Orleans and face what could be a familiar quarterback on Sunday.