The Bucs led the Eagles from start to finish on Thursday Night Football en route to a 28-22 win in Philadelphia. The victory moves Tampa Bay to 5-1 on the season. The Bucs raced out to a 21-7 halftime lead and increased it to 28-7 in the third quarter. Philly closed the gap with 15 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to get the win for the home team as the Eagles fell to 2-4.
Here is a list of the most impressive Buccaneers:
QB Tom Brady
Brady got the Bucs off to a great start, completing 5-of-6 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown to O.J. Howard on the opening drive. The 44-year old was 6-of-6 for 62 yards on Tampa Bay’s next drive, capping that off with a 23-yard touchdown strike to Antonio Brown. Brady threw an interception right before halftime, his first since Week 1, but helped guide Tampa Bay to a 21-7 lead. He completed 20-of-26 passes for 186 yards in the first half. Brady remained efficient in the second half, completing 14-of-16 passes for 111 yards to finish the game connecting on 34-of-42 passes for 297 yards with two TDs and one INT.
RB Leonard Fournette
“All Season Lenny” really began to assert himself in New England three weeks ago and had over 100 total yards and a touchdown last week in a win against the Dolphins and over 100 yards against the Patriots. Fournette continued his stellar play and had 40 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving at halftime, in addition to his second touchdown of the year. Fournette had a couple of big plays in the first half, including a 20-yard run and an 18-yard catch. He added another touchdown in the third quarter to put the Bucs up 28-7. Fournette finished with a season-high 81 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.7 avg.) and two TDs. He also had six receptions for 46 yards (7.7 avg.) to go over 100 total yards for the second straight week.
TE O.J. Howard

Bucs TE O.J. Howard – Photo by: USA Today
Howard scored his first touchdown since tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 4 last year when he hauled in a 2-yard score from Brady on second-and-goal on Tampa Bay’s first drive. He also had a pair of tight end screens that picked up first downs and nearly had another big play in the fourth quarter before being tripped up on third down a few yards shy of the marker. Howard easily had his best game of the year with six catches for 49 yards and a score.
WR Antonio Brown
Brown’s 23-yard touchdown in the second quarter gave the Bucs a 14-7 lead and had racked up 52 yards on five catches by halftime. On Tampa Bay’s final drive Brown had two really big catches for 10 and 27 yards to pick up a pair of important first downs to help the Bucs clinch the game. Brown, who was Brady’s third read on that key 27-yard catch on third down, did a great job of getting open. He finished with a game-high nine catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Bucs Offensive Line
Tampa Bay’s offensive line did a great job of protecting Brady against a stout Philadelphia defensive line. The O-line hasn’t allowed a sack in the last two games and have played really well in pass protection. Just as important, Tampa Bay’s run game has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of the last three games. The Bucs finished with 102 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and averaged 3.3 yards per carry.
NT Vita Vea
After recording his first half sack of the year last week against Miami, Vea notched his first full sack of the game in this one. Vea made a great solo tackle on Miles Sanders in the third quarter when the Eagles dared to run the ball. In the fourth quarter he sacked Hurts for no gain and now has 1.5 sacks on the season. Vea finished with three tackles and two QB hits.
CB Jamel Dean
Dean was flagged for a 45-yard pass inteference call on the Eagles’ first touchdown drive as he lost track of the ball and tackled Jalen Reagor at the Tampa Bay 3. But Dean made up for it with an interception, his second in as many games, later in the first quarter. Dean also had a game-high four pass breakups, but he did dodge a couple other pass interference calls throughout the game.