January 13, 2024
Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports
Eagles running back D'Andre Swift balled out when he last squared off against the Buccaneers' defense.
The Eagles will limp into a playoff matchup with the NFC South champion Buccaneers on Monday night. While morale is low throughout the Delaware Valley, more so than I can ever remember for a Birds playoff game, the game is still on regardless of whether Eagles fans are excited for it.
Before that Monday Night Football action, I'm looking at five over/unders for the game. The first three lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook as of this writing. The final two are my own unfortunate creations.
Let's get after it...
Things are so destitute that Philadelphians could imagine this Eagles defense surrendering 44 points on their own, but that's unlikely the case in Tampa. The main reason why is the weather. Monday evening's forecast in Tampa calls for rain with thunderstorms and winds of 10 miles per hour and a 70 percent of precipitation overall. With both starting quarterbacks banged up, this has the makings of a torturous low-scoring affair.
UNDER.
Eagles running back D'Andre Swift turned in his most efficient outing of the season when the Birds and Bucs met back in Week 3, totaling 130 yards rushing yards on a whopping 8.1 yards per carry. It was a winning formula against this Tampa Bay squad, as the Eagles delivered their most complete win of the season in the 25-11 victory.
With Jalen Hurts batting a finger injury on his throwing hand and the uncertain health status of A.J. Brown, plus the weather, Monday might call for a run-heavy gameplan even if that's not what Nick Sirianni and Brian Johnson truly envisioned.
Swift has recorded 61, 92 and 74 rushing yards in each of his last three games, respectively. That trend should continue in the Wild Card Round.
OVER.
Newsflash: The Eagles' linebackers are terrible. Bucs running back Rachaad White is a factor in the Tampa Bay passing game, putting up 549 receiving yards during the regular season. Though Baker Mayfield, assuming he's suiting up and healthy, has star targets in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, White should be able to pick up a few easy catches when going against an ill-equipped Eagles linebacker unit.
White has topped that total in 11 of his 17 games this season.
OVER.
Those battle scars from January 2003 are forever. That soul-crushing moment for Eagles fans will be on display. A better over/under might be 1.5, honestly. I would taken the over on that, too.
OVER.
The vibes are in the gutter. It was believable that the 2022 Eagles could surmount any obstacle, at least until the second half of Super Bowl LVII. This defense is in shambles under the guidance, a word used loosely here, of Matt Patricia. Hurts is banged up, as is Brown. The play-calling and gameplan, assigning blame to both Johnson and Sirianni, is predictable to opposing coaches, clearly.
Playing possum? Give me a break.
UNDER.
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