Tampa Bay is a nice place. I went there once. Their downtown sits right on the water. People own boats there. They have a Busch Gardens. It’s a place where winter only exists in movies. I’ll probably retire there one day when I accidentally become wealthy after jokingly buying a meme coin that unexpectedly takes off. The only downside is that it is unfortunately in Florida. I wish them well, except when it comes to football. I’m spiteful, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are responsible for some of the most painful losses in Eagles history (see: 2003 NFC Championship Game).
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, they had a dance with destiny, and they couldn’t keep the rhythm. They poked the bear. They jostled with a juggernaut. Baker Mayfield doesn’t read this newsletter, but if he did, he would know that the Philadelphia Eagles are inevitable. Like Sisyphus rolling his rock up the hill or Father Time collecting seconds from the clock. The Eagles win again and again. Tampa Bay didn’t stand a chance. Even the dinosaurs couldn’t avoid the meteor (or maybe they could’ve, I don’t know, I wasn’t there).
In a game that can best be described as the good, the bad, and the ugly, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-25 on a field that felt like the surface of the sun. The Birds came out looking like the best team in football in all phases of the game. They marked their territory in Raymond James Stadium to the tune of 24 points before halftime.
Then at halftime, they got Space Jam’d and churned out one of the worst halves of offensive football you’ll ever see. The Eagles’ performance was the equivalent of looking in the mirror, liking what you see, and promptly smashing the mirror and burning the frame. But Lady Luck wears Kelly Green. The Philadelphia Eagles are so unstoppable that they can’t even stop themselves, no matter how hard they try.
The Eagles are 4-0, one of two remaining undefeated teams in the NFL (the other is the Buffalo Bills). Nick Sirianni joins Hall of Fame coaches Paul Brown and George Halas as the only coaches to go 4-0 in three different seasons. Sirianni is now 52-20 as a head coach, with the fourth-highest winning percentage of all time. The Birds are 20-1 in their last 21 games and haven’t lost a game Jalen Hurts has started in a year.
This team can be sloppy, undisciplined, inconsistent, and frustrating to watch. But the highs are ridiculously high. They are by far the most talented team in the league, which gives them room for error the size of the Grand Canyon. They have one of the best defensive coordinators of all time and a head coach who gets his talented players to buy in. They can win any way they want, even when they try to lose. Winning is all that matters, and this team simply can not stop.
Let’s get to the game recap.
GAME RECAP
Did you know that in 1886, Tampa Bay became known for hand-rolled cigars, leading to over 200 cigar factories opening across the region over the next 30 years, which at their peak churned out 500 million cigars a year? I believe this is why Tampa Bay was so comfortable getting smoked by the Eagles in the first half.
The Birds came out looking like the best team in football. After forcing the Bucs to punt on their first drive, backup tight end/sometimes fullback Cameron Latu blocked the punt, which was recovered by Sydney Brown and returned 35 yards for a touchdown. The ass whooping commenced.
The Eagles’ defense held the Bucs to 6 points in the first half while the offense continued its momentum from the second half of the Rams game last week. Jalen and Co. were absolutely cooking. Hurts had a big scramble for 29 yards on a drive that ended with a tight end toss to Dallas Goedert for a touchdown. On another drive, Hurts tossed a beautiful 22-yard pass to Goedert and a big 20-yard pass to Devonta Smith before finishing things off with a shovel pass to Goedert for a touchdown.
The first half was by far Hurts’ best half of the season. He went into halftime 15 of 16 for 130 yards and 2 TDs with the best completion percentage of his career at 93.8%. Jalen looked completely in control. The defense kept Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving from building any positive momentum. Quinyon Mitchell tried to fight an offensive lineman. The vibes were immaculate.
Then the second half happened. Hurts transformed from Stefan Urkelle into Steve Urkel. Getting the ball back after halftime, the Eagles’ offense was met with a Buccaneers defense that can best be described as rabid. It’s like the entire team sniffed smelling salts. Any offensive momentum the Eagles built in the first half came to a screeching halt.
On the Eagles’ first drive of the 3rd quarter, Barkley was smacked for a loss on a first-down run before Hurts was taken down on a big sack by human Eiffel Tower Vita Vea. The Eagles officially cooled off, and the defense, being left out in the heat, was starting to get fatigued. Baker Mayfield hit rookie sensation Emeka Egbuka on a 77-yard bomb for a TD, just fitting the ball past the grasp of Andrew Mukuba and Reed Blankenship, to make it 24-13.
Jalen Hurts and the offense went on to have three straight 3-and-outs. In the second half, Hurts went a staggering 0-8 and did not complete a single pass. The defense did their part when Jihaad Campbell forced a fumble on Bucky Irving, which Kelee Ringo recovered at the Tampa Bay 25. The Eagles took that opportunity to drive down the field and score on a fake tush-push-toss to Barkley to make the score 31-13.
But Baker and the Bucs were feeling themselves. Mayfield hit Bucky Irving on a 72-yard pass for a touchdown with Jihaad Campbell in coverage to bring the score to 31-20.
After another Eagles’ 3-and-out, the Buccaneers drove down the field to nail a 58-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin to bring the score to 31-23. The Eagles went 3-and-out AGAIN, putting the Bucs offense back on the field with the game on the line.
The Bucs drove the ball down to the Eagles’ 40-yard line before a big 9-yard sack from Moro Ojomo on 2nd down halted their momentum. On 4th and 9 with the game on the line, Mayfield hit tight end Cade Otton for a 2-yard gain, but Otton was tackled short of the first down by cornerback Perry Nickelson. After the turnover on downs, the Eagles got the ball back and ran out the clock (which included an intentional safety) to win the game 31-25.
TRENDING UP
Quinyon Mitchell Being Crazy: I’m no psychiatrist, but I’m positive Quinyon Mitchell is a certified psycho. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. His on-field energy can best be described as Tupac from Juice. The man has an insane level of confidence that’s backed up by his play. Quinyon was on one today, locking down any Bucs receiver that crossed his path. On top of that, he tried to fight Baker Mayfield AND offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs. Now that’s the mentality of an All-Pro corner.
Special Teams Actually Being Special: So far this season, Special Teams has been truly special when it matters most. The Eagles kicked off this game with another blocked punt. They have 3 blocked kicks in the past two weeks. The Eagles are the first team since 2014 with consecutive games with a blocked kick or punt returned for a TD. Pretty special if you ask me.
Cooooooop: Cooper DeJean was everywhere this game, and it’s pretty clear he’s become one of the best tacklers in the league. He left this game with 9 solo tackles, at times singlehandedly holding the Bucs offense in check.
Moro Ojomo Fan Club: We at Burds of a Feather have been waiting for the Ojomo-ment to happen since the offseason. Our buddy Moro seemed primed to fill the pass-rushing shoes of Milton Williams, but hasn’t made the impact we expected thus far in the season. That changed yesterday with a huge timely sack on Baker Mayfield to wrap up the game for the Birds. We’d love to see him ride this Ojomo-mentum into a breakout season.
Spooky Season Eagles: The weather is crisper. Apples are everywhere. Spooky Season is approaching, and the Eagles are acting appropriately with this Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde bit. Thus far in every game, the Eagles have been two teams at once. Sometimes bad, then good. Sometimes good, then bad. They’re meeting the seasonality accordingly. They are incapable of playing a normal game. As much as I love October, the stress is giving me hives.
First Halfs: Who doesn’t love a dominant first half? Imagine watching this game and saying to yourself, “This game is clearly locked up, I’m going to go enjoy my Sunday,” only to come back with the room on fire.
Coaches Talking Shit to Quarterbacks: Nick Sirianni is a fiery cat. And he was in his shit-talking bag by verbally sparing with Baker Mayfield for seemingly no apparent reason. Weird, but cool, I guess? Go off, King.
TRENDING DOWN
Second Halfs: Unfortunately, football games have two halves. The Eagles completed zero passes in the second half. Not great.
AJ Brown’s Patience…again: One of my favorite things about the NFL is the drama around disgruntled wide receivers. Whenever a wide receiver is upset about a situation, they suddenly become one of two wolves: Sun Tzu or Brene Brown. AJ Brown chose the latter and followed in this tradition with a cryptic tweet after yesterday’s win.
Listen, so far, AJ Brown hasn’t been a distraction to the team, no matter how disgruntled he’s been. And he has every right to be disgruntled. Brown had 2 catches for 7 yards yesterday (John Metchie had more yards receiving). AJ is at 12 catches for 144 yards on the season. Last year in Week 1, he had 119 yards on 5 catches alone. The Eagles continue to win, but don’t forget what Brown said after the Super Bowl victory.
“I’ve never been a champion at the highest level before but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all. It wasn’t. My thrill for this game comes when i dominate. It’s the Hunt that does it for me. It’s when the Db drops his head and surrender because he can’t F with me.”
He takes pride in dominating on the field. And you can’t blame the guy for wanting the opportunity to prove that he’s one of the best in the game week in and week out. The Eagles’ offense works better when Brown is involved. Sirianni and Patullo need to find a way to keep their star wide receiver happy and to keep their offense rolling by generating some easy touches for Number 11.
Being Disciplined: The Eagles totaled 8 penalties for 83 yards yesterday. A majority of those penalties happened on defense in key moments when the Eagles had the Bucs stopped. Those penalties extended those drives and kept the Buccaneers in the game. The Birds have a lot to clean up in that department.
Eagles Rushing Attack and Saquon Barkley: It’s been a rough start for Shayshawn. Barkley finished the day with 19 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown. Barkley has yet to rush for over 100 yards in a game this season and is averaging 3.05 yards per carry. Last year, through four weeks, Barkley had rushing yardage totals of 109, 95, 147, and 84, averaging 6.45 yards per carry. The stagnation with the Eagles’ offense starts with the lack of opportunities for their stars. There’s plenty of time to find solutions, but Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator Jeff Stoutland and Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo have work to do to generate opportunities for the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
Jalen Carter’s Shoulder: Ever since the Chiefs game, we’ve seen clips of Jalen Carter holding his shoulder on the field or on the bench. In this game, Carter had to briefly leave the game in the 4th quarter after reaggravating his injury. It’s something to keep our eye on, but this defense (which is already thin on the line) can’t afford to lose Carter as it’s anchor.
HOT TAKES
The NFL Injury Music is Incredible: Listen, I’m not a fan of injuries. A player getting hurt is not great. That being said, the NFL has clearly done the work to ease our pain with what some may say is the perfect song. A variation of the NFL on Fox theme song that is a certified banger. It’s an earworm of caution. It’s catchy yet caring. It dares to be danceable with a beat that navigates the delicacy of a sprained ankle. I believe it’s the greatest piece of music ever written and quite possibly could heal the world. That shit slaps.
Tush Push Discourse: We are at the “anything for the content” stage of the Tush Push discourse. Dean Blandino stared dead-eyed into the camera, telling us how hard it was to officiate. The Eagles barely ran it in this game. The conversation around it is super boring. The NFL is planting the narrative that it’s hard to officiate, so it should be banned. That’s like me saying it’s hard to answer emails at work, so we should ban emails (which I’m not opposed to). The refs have a job, and maybe they should simply work on doing it better.
Kevin Patullo Needs Time: Patullo was in his bag this game and then seemingly lost the bag completely. He has moments where you can see he has the goods as a playcaller. The Eagles tried some new things, switching up their tendencies this and introducing some fun new formations and twists on their usual play calls. But outside of the Rams game, Patullo has struggled to adjust. Todd Bowles is a veteran defensive mind with decades of experience to call on. Patullo doesn’t have that experience as a playcaller in the way that Kellen Moore or Shane Steichen did. Even coaches need time to develop, and Patullo is no different. And with the talent on this team giving him some room for error, I think he’s up for it. But he needs to start by finding ways to get the ball in the hands of his stars (**cough** AJ Brown, Devonta Smith **cough**).
Baker Mayfield’s Marketability: Baker Mayfield has the prototypical quarterback name. He’s approachable as a player but has the fieriness you’re looking for in a star. He makes you want to root for him. He plays the game like it’s fourth-grade recess. He makes you think, “Hey, maybe I can get in shape and do that,” despite being one of the most gifted throwers in the league. If I’m the NFL, I’m marketing the shit out of Baker. If this were the ’90s and we still made fun movies where athletes just play themselves, I’d pitch a movie to Disney called Baker’s Dozen where Baker Mayfield coaches a team of oddball kids into being Pop Warner football stars. Think Mighty Ducks meets Little Giants with a dash of Brink.
THINGS ONLY I CARE ABOUT
When it snows, Todd Bowles wears a t-shirt. When it’s a monsoon, he wears jeans. When it’s scorching hot like it was in Tampa yesterday, he wears a long-sleeve. He has peak defensive coordinator energy, which carries a long tradition of wardrobe confusion. He is steely and full of grit. Weather is just another obstacle you can blitz into oblivion. He doesn’t sweat because sweat shows weakness.
Find someone who looks at you like Brian Daboll looks at Jaxson Dart. That is the kind of pure adoration reserved for a man who might save your job. It’s honestly…uh…a little much.
Field goal kickers are really good now. They are gods. They laugh at quarterbacks and edge rushers. They are the apex of athleticism in the game of football, with legs made of pure steel. Chase McLaughlin hit a 58-yard kick today, which, according to my calculations, is really long. It’s been a season of really long field goals. Unfortunately, this season, field goal kickers’ only kryptonite is the people blocking for them.
