September 29, 2024
Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images
Tampa's Lavonte David sacked Jalen Hurts twice in Sunday's 33-16 Eagles loss.
In Week 4, the Philadelphia Eagles returned to Tampa, the scene of their stomping at the hands of the Buccaneers in the playoffs last season. On Sunday, it didn't look all that different. The Eagles lost, 33-16.
As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
On Friday leading up to the game, A.J. Brown practiced for the first time since injuring his hamstring. There was hope that he could play, but he was ruled out on Saturday. Lane Johnson (concussion) also practiced, and then traveled with the team to Tampa, but was ruled out a couple hours before kickoff.
Speaking on FOX pregame, @JayGlazer said Lane Johnson called him on Saturday night and said he was cleared and ready to play.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 29, 2024
Glazer said on Sunday morning, “two other doctors jumped in and said ‘No, let’s hold off on this.’ They’re trying to protect him from himself."#Eagles
And so, the Eagles were without arguably the three best players in their offense. That's no excuse for the Eagles' play, of course, especially considering the Buccaneers had 19 (!) players on their injury report, and were without a few of their good players as well.
The Eagles got their asses handed to them to start this game. Here's how the first seven possessions of the game went:
That FG would have been a TD if not for a Bucs dropped pass in the end zone.
Here's what the team stats looked like at that point in the game:
254 net yards to 0! 16 first downs to 0! 18:47 time of possession to 3:55! The Eagles did eventually start to make some plays, but way too late.
Baker Mayfield went 30 of 47 for 347 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. He had receivers running wide open for the better part of the first half. Part of it was the Bucs' offensive staff out-scheming Vic Fangio, and part of it was defenders simply being unable to stick with their assignments.
MORE: The pivotal plays from the Eagles' Week 4 meltdown against the Bucs
Tackling was a major issue for the Eagles the first two weeks of the season, but they seemed to iron that out Week 3 against the Saints. On Sunday in Tampa, they forgot how to tackle again. This Avonte Maddox whiff was probably the most egregious example, via @Eaglesfans9:
I'm curious to see how many tackles they missed in this game on the re-watch.
What is "object permanence?" Per WebMD:
"If you’ve ever played peekaboo with your little one, you’ve helped them work on object permanence. Your baby is learning that people and objects exist even when they can’t see or hear them. Object permanence is one of the development milestones that your infant will learn during their first year of life.
"Object permanence involves understanding that items and people still exist even when you can’t see or hear them."
Remember when edge rushers used to run past Carson Wentz, and it was almost as if Wentz thought that they then ceased to exist, and wouldn't continue to try to get him? Then they'd knock the ball out of his hands?
Well, Hurts has done that in each of the last two games. Last week in New Orleans:
And more egregiously in Tampa:
At that point in the game the Eagles were down 14 and still had a fighting chance. On the Bucs' ensuing possession, they kicked a field goal and the Eagles were all but cooked.
The Eagles have lost the turnover battle in every game so far this season:
| Opponent | Giveaways | Takeaways |
| Packers | 3 | 1 |
| Falcons | 1 | 0 |
| Saints | 2 | 1 |
| Buccaneers | 2 | 0 |
They now have a -6 turnover differential. #Math.
The Eagles' other turnover occurred when Rodgers pushed Bucs DB Josh Hayes into punt returner Cooper DeJean, leading to a muffed punt. Via @EaglesFans9:
I mean, what are you doing?!? Somehow, Rodgers thought he made a "savvy, veteran move," lol.
Isaiah Rodgers said he thought that pushing the Bucs Josh Hayes into #Eagles punt returner Cooper DeJean was a "savvy veteran move" and that he was trying to get a penalty.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) September 29, 2024
“I don’t feel like it should have been waved off," Rodgers said. "But they called what they called.”…
Later, Kelee Ringo jacked up DeJean on another punt return.
The Eagles' special teams sucked in 2022, they were great in 2023, and in 2024...
The Eagles were down by double-digit points almost the entire game, and as a result, the Bucs were able to pin their ears back and get after Hurts. Those usually end up being tough games on offensive lines. Still, Hurts was sacked 6 times, which you don't often see from the Birds' usually stellar trenches.
Another press conference, another odd answer from Hurts regarding his relationship / partnership with Sirianni:
It's pretty clear by now that Hurts has zero interest in talking about anything related to his collaboration with Sirianni.
As of this writing, the Commanders are beating the Cardinals 35-14 in their late afternoon matchup in Arizona. Should they close the deal, the NFC East standings will look like this:
| NFC East | Record | GB |
| Commanders | 3-1 | - |
| Cowboys | 2-2 | 1 |
| Eagles | 2-2 | 1 |
| Giants | 1-3 | 2 |
This feels a lot like one of those occasional seasons where the Eagles and Cowboys aren't very good, and the Commanders sneak away with a 9-win NFC East title.
Normally you don't want to have your bye early in the season, but in the Eagles' case it might not be the worst time, as their best players can fully recover from injury and the team as a whole can regroup from three road trips in four games.
Oh, and Eagles fans get a stress-free weekend away from this weird, inconsistent team.
MORE: Brutal start dooms Birds in road loss to Bucs
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