(Photo: Sportsbook Wire- USA Today)
NFC Wild Card
(5) Philadelphia Eagles at (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Eagles: So…. I’ve really been thinking about what to say about them these last few weeks. I’ll just come right out and say it because somebody has too. They are Bounty Paper Towel soft and I mean that with everything in me. I’ve never been one to go by records and I was never completely sold on them even when they were sitting at 10-1. Do you all remember when I said they were just skating along and doing just enough to get by during the regular season? It has finally caught up to them. If I can be honest, they should’ve lost to the Buffalo Bills back in November in that epic game during the regular season. But as they have done all year, they skated by. I feel what exposed the Philadelphia Eagles was the loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The 9ers went into the Linc and just bullied them to the point where they were never able to recover. After that, they lost to the Dallas Cowboys and DeMarcus Lawrence even echoed my sentiments about them after the game referring to them as soft. That right there should light a fire under you, especially when a player on you most bitter rival calls you soft. The Eagles finished the season with a 1-5 record and what really had me questioning them more was the loss to the Arizona Cardinals. They appeared to be in control of the game until they weren’t. They closed out the season against the New York Giants at MetLife and lost that which helped the Dallas Cowboys win the division, a division they were on top of for most of the year. There is absolutely no excuse for this collapse and they got away from using D’Andre Swift. Good things were happening when he was running the ball. On Monday night, they will battle the team they beat in week three.
Bucs: Next to the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams, this is by far the biggest shocker in the playoffs. Prior to this season, they’ve had a nice three year run. 2020, they sign Tom Brady to a free-agent contract and in his first year with them, they become the first team in NFL history to play in the Super Bowl in their own stadium and they won their second title in franchise history. The following years after that, they win the NFC South. Last February, Tom called it a career (for good this time) and there was a lot of uncertainty on who would be the starting Quarterback for this group. The Buccaneers decided to take a chance on Baker Mayfield and I’m sure as soon as you heard that news, you didn’t know what to think. This is the same off-season where we saw the New Orleans Saints sign Derek Carr and after that happened, they became the immediate favorites to overtake the NFC South. This is why you play the games and for the third consecutive season, the Bucs are NFC South division champs. Mike Evans recorded another 1,000 yard season, his tenth to be exact and Baker put together the best season of his career and for that, he’s my favorite to win Comeback Player of the Year. You can make a case for Joe Flacco without question, but Baker did it from the beginning of the year and helped lead them to a division title many didn’t expect of them. What a year it’s been in Tampa. They will welcome the defending NFC champs back to Raymond James on Monday night to close out Super Wild Card Weekend.
Eagles X-Factor: D’Andre Swift– Hey, Coach Sirianni, are you just going to ignore this guy? The one you acquired in the off-season? Running the football was what got you off to a fast start, but then you decided to get cute and everything fell apart. D’Andre has the ability to make big plays when you continue to feed him the ball. He flashes big play potential with the ball in his hands and can run in between the tackles and bounce outside as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles built this offense around Swift on Monday night.
Bucs X-Factor: Antoine Winfield Jr.– I remember when his father played. Writing about his son makes me feel old! Antoine was everything to a Bucs defense throughout the year. He can blitz, tackles well and consistently in the open field and is solid in coverage. Did you all see the play last weekend against the Carolina Panthers. D.J. Chark had a touchdown and somehow, Antoine was able to punch the ball out his hands to preserve their shutout in Charlotte. Antoine finished his regular season with six sacks and three interceptions.
Final Thoughts: These two have a history against one another in the playoffs. I still remember that NFC Championship game during the 2002 season in which Ronde Barber scored on a pick-six in which would end up being the final game at Veterans’ Stadium. Just two years ago, they met in the Wild Card round and this would be Tom Brady’s final win in the postseason. Now, both teams are completely different compared to their week three meeting. Baker is more comfortable in the offense and I’m till trying to figure out which version of Jalen Hurts will show up. The Eagles better be read for what the Tampa defense is about to bring because if you know anything about a Todd Bowles coached team, he loves to blitz and loves doing it often. A.J. Brown is also out for the Eagles in this game after suffering a knee injury last weekend. Weeks ago, this would’ve been a game where the Eagles have the advantage heading into the game, but they couldn’t have picked the wrong time to struggle and Tampa has fond their swagger as of late. I like the Bucs to keep this ship rolling on Monday night and they will advance to the divisional round of the playoffs.
Prediction: Bucs 26, Eagles 20
