NFC Game Of The Week 

Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Eagles: They won their first game by five points and won their second contest last Thursday night by six points. It’s not the dominant start many people predicted from a team that just won the NFC a year ago but there’s a reason as to why they’ve come out the gates slowly. Yes, they are 2-0 and are still getting the job done. We all know the saying, a win is a win. It’s one thing when a football team loses one coordinator and this is something that’s bound to happen every year. For the Eagles, they lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators to Head Coaching jobs. Shane Steichen was their Offensive Coordinator and he’s now the Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Jonathan Gannon ran their defense last season who’s now the Head Coach of the Arizona Cardinals. The slower start is a learning curve in having to learn a new scheme on both sides of the football. As I watched their game last week against the Minnesota Vikings, they leaned heavily on the running game and continued to pound that football in between the trenches in the running game. D’Andre Swift was one of their big acquisitions in the offseason and he made a nice introduction to the South Philly fanbase finishing the game with 175 yards rushing on 28 carries. I always said last year that the Eagles had no weaknesses as a football team in 2022. They could beat you with a strong passing attack, they’ll run the ball and in fact, they led the league in rushing touchdowns per game last season which is a stat I’m sure they want to continue to lead and the defense led the league in sacks as a group. This is a tough out as a team when everything is clicking on all cylinders, so give them some time to gel with these new coordinators. On Monday night, they’ll make a trip to Raymond James.

Buccaneers: To me, this is the most surprising 2-0 team in the league right now and I didn’t expect them to be as strong as they’ve been the last few years outside of 2022. Yes, they won the division a season ago, but struggled to find any type of consistency and whenever you thought they’d hit that switch, they just could never get into that rhythm. The last few years have been special for them. First, they signed Tom Brady back in March of 2020, they won two division titles and made the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Oh, I can’t forget they also won a Super Bowl and became the first team in NFL history to win the big game in their own stadium. Let’s fast forward to now. Everyone thought this would be a down year and I could see why after going from the greatest ever to play the position of Quarterback to Baker Mayfield who’s struggled to find himself since coming into the NFL. Since he was named the starting Quarterback, I’ve seen a different guy under center. He’s not forcing throws and most importantly, he’s taken excellent care of the football so far this season. Continuing with the offense, can we give Mike Evans his flowers? This man was consistent with Jameis Winston, won a Super Bowl with Tom and he’s still making plays for this Buccaneers offense. It’s almost as if he gets love and then he doesn’t if that makes sense. Let’s not forget this Tampa defense has some heavy hitters from Vita Vea in the middle, to the best tandem of Linebackers in Lavonte David and Devin White along with Shaq Barrett in that front seven. In the backend, I can’t forget Antoine Winfield Jr. He’s been making plays since he was drafted. They will welcome the defending NFC champs to town on Monday night.

Eagles X-Factor: Jordan Davis– He was a force in the middle of that Georgia defense for Kirby Smart in 2021 and he’s doing the same thing in Philadelphia for Nick Sirianni. No man standing tall at 6’6 and weighing over 330 pounds should be as quick as Jordan is. What’e even scarier is he’s turning into a pass rusher from the inside of the defensive line. So many called the loss of Javon Hargrave big for the Eagles, but I looked at it as Jordan making him expendable. He had an immediate impact in his rookie year and if he stays healthy, the sky is the limit.

Buccaneers X-Factor: Shaquil Barrett– He’s been such a dominant force for the Tampa defense. People forget he was in Denver and played in a rotation with Von Miller. Since getting his own opportunity, he’s taken full advantage. Shaq is all over the field for this Tampa defense whether it’s pass rushing, sniffing out a screen pass, or making a tackle. He’s always around that football and is so active amongst that Bucs front seven. He shows great speed in getting to the ball that catches his opponents off guard.

Three Things I’m Watching

1. Good Luck Running– These two are no slouch when it comes to stopping the run and that will be on full display on Monday night. Tampa has been excellent in stuffing the run for years and the Eagles have speed to swarm to the ball to bring down the ballcarrier. I see this coming down to who will stop the ground game more consistently. Which Quarterback can find holes in the opposing teams defense?

2. OUDNA– Both Baker Mayfield and Jalen Hurts each played at Oklahoma. Baker won the Heisman in 2017 after a stellar season that year and Jalen put together the best season of his collegiate career in Norman under Lincoln Riley. Sooner Nation will be well represented in this one. Baker has been a good story early on and Jalen is still trying to find his rhythm within a new offensive scheme.

3. Receiving Power– Two of the best receiving duos are featured in this game. I’m talking about Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, then A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. A.J became the heart and soul of the Eagles within a year and DeVonta has history playing with Hurts. I don’t think Mike Evans cares who’s throwing him the football because he’s going to make plays regardless and that to me shows the making of a great Wide Receiver. I was excited for Chris when Brady got to Tampa and he’ll still make plays for this offense.

Final Analysis: The last time these two played, it was in the Wild Card round of the playoffs during the 2021 season. That would end up being the final playoff win of Brady’s iconic career. On the Tampa Bay side, they’ve been a surprise although they beat the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears in back to back weeks. That doesn’t matter because a win is a win in our league. The Eagles have sputtered and allowed consecutive 300 yard passers to start the year. This game is going to be decided with the passing attack because neither team will be able to run the ball against either of these defenses. The Eagles have yet to play their best football and they’re still 2-0. Let that sink in. With Tampa, all they need from Baker is to manage the game. The Bucs will have to contain Jalen to have a chance in this game. This will be a tough game for the Bucs and I like the Eagles to win this one on the road.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Buccaneers 19