The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be playing at least one more game at Raymond James Stadium in the 2021 season, and their ultimate goal of returning to Los Angeles is still alive after a dominating 31-15 Wild Card win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Tom Brady threw touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski and Mike Evans within a two-minute span in the third quarter and the Buccaneers' swarming defense didn't allow a point until there were 12 minutes left in regulation. The Buccaneers also won the turnover battle, 3-0, thanks to interceptions by Mike Edwards and Shaquil Barrett and a fumble recovery by Ross Cockrell on a muffed punt.

"Just the level of intensity that the defense came out with, it was just exceptional," said Gronkowski. "We just had to match them on the offensive side of the ball, and we did at times for sure. Just overall, we played some complementary football – offensive, defensive and special teams. We all contributed. We all played off each other and that's how you win playoff games. You've got to bring it in all three phases at all times."

The Bucs' joy at moving forward in the playoffs with one of their most complete games of the season was most evident in Evans' somersault into the end zone after his 36-yard catch-and-run gave the Bucs a 31-0 lead late in the third quarter. Evans finished the game with nine catches for 117 yards, setting the team's single-season record for receptions and falling just short of his own yardage record of 119 in last year's Wild Card game.

"It was worth the wait," said Evans. "It was an unbelievable experience, an unbelievable atmosphere, the fans did a great job. We answered the call, made plays and got the job done."

The Bucs improved to 14-4 on the season with the win and will continue their 2021 postseason journey next weekend with a home game in the Divisional Round against either Arizona or the Los Angeles Rams. Tampa Bay has won five postseason contests in a row after prevailing in three road contests last January on the way to victory in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium. That game was not technically considered a home game so Sunday's victory was the Bucs' first at home in the playoffs since the 2002 Divisional Round against San Francisco. The packed house, waving the red and white flags that have become tradition at Bucs' home playoff games, was in full throat from the beginning.

"I thought the crowd was huge," said Head Coach Bruce Arians. "Guys were feeding off it, they were loud from start to finish and hopefully it will be even better next week."

Barrett and ILB Lavonte David returned after multi-game injury absences to help the Bucs' defense hold strong against the NFL's top-ranked rushing attack. The Eagles, who averaged just under 160 rushing yards per game in the regular season, were held to 95 yards on 17 carries, with 34 of those coming on a Boston Scott touchdown run in the fourth quarter after the game was all but decided. Jalen Hurts had trouble moving the Eagles through the air when the run was taken away, finishing with 258 yards and one touchdown on 23-of-43 passing, with most of the yardage on two long drives in the fourth quarter.

"It was real big," said David of the Bucs' stifling defense for most of the game. "They're an explosive offense. For us to be able to take away those explosive plays was realy big. I feel like the coaches had a great game plan coming into the week and we were able to go out there and execute."

The return of David and Barrett certainly helped, as did much-improved tackling after several poor games in that regard. But the Buccaneers needed their defensive backs to step up in order to shut down a dual threat like Hurts, and they did so in a big way. With CB Sean Murphy-Bunting unavailable due to a hamstring injury, the Buccaneers gave a lot of playing time to all three of their top safeties – Edwards, Antoine Winfield, Jr. and Jordan Whitehead – and all three had outstanding games. In addition to his interception, Edwards also led the team with nine tackles. Winfield played a hybrid role of safety in base downs and slot corner in the nickel and contributed five tackles, a sack and two QB hits. Whitehead set the tone very early with two big tackles for loss on the Eagles first two drives.

"That just basically gave us the momentum spark that we needed," said CB Jamel Dean of Whitehead's two early plays. "Even though we were playing good, that was that extra momentum that we needed. It felt like we were getting our 'swag' back, even though we did have some players down. But the energy's still the same."

The strong work of the Bucs' defense against Hurts and company early in the game allowed the home team to get off to the fast start that had eluded them in recent games. The Eagles had a total of 17 yards of offense after three drives while the Bucs' offense took two of its first three possessions 70-plus yards for touchdowns. The first ended in a two-yard touchdown run by Giovani Bernard, the second in a one-yard scoring plunge by Ke'Shawn Vaughn. The only negative note for the Buccaneers in the first quarter was the losses of Pro Bowl offensive linemen Tristan Wirfs and Ryan Jensen to ankle injuries. Jensen returned to the game without missing an offensive snap but Wirfs only made a brief third-quarter cameo before being shut down for good.

"We just tackled way better," said Arians. "We played the screen game way better. We were more physical in the first three quarters."

In the continued absence of Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones, Vaughn once again took over the main role in the backfield and finished with 62 yards from scrimmage, including a tone-setting 17-yard run on the game's first snap. Bernard, just activated off injured reserve on Saturday, added 76 scrimmage yards and gave Brady a reliable weapon out of the backfield in the passing game.

The Eagles' offense found a bit of rhythm just before and after halftime but saw two promising drives stall due to costly penalties that erased big plays, plus Edwards interception in the end zone late in the second quarter. Then came Jalen Reagor's muffed punt, aided by a Scotty Miller hit, and Barrett's leaping interception in the third quarter, two takeaways that led to the Gronkowski and Evans touchdowns. The Bucs now have had six playoff games in franchise history in which they finished with a turnover ratio of plus-two or better and remain a perfect 6-0 in those contests. The Bucs have only turned it over once in their last four games.

"I think everybody touching it, our runners, our receivers, everybody's very conscious of ball security," said Arians. "Tom hasn't come close to throwing one [interception]. It's hard to beat us when we're scoring points and don't give it to the other team.

The Bucs also committed just four penalties for 35 yards and played a mostly "clean" game, though some of the injuries were a concern for Arians after the game.

"I wasn't real happy about a couple of the injuries but hopefully they're not super serious," said Arians. "Jensen came back and Tristan tried it. I think other than that we came out pretty clean. But yeah, it was a good game both offensively and defensively. I thought our special teams really played their best game of the year."

Sunday's game continued a long history of postseason competition between the Buccaneers and Eagles. Tampa Bay has now played 20 playoff games in its history and five of them have been against Philadelphia, their most against any opponent. The Buccaneers started it with a Divisional Round win at home over the Eagles in 1979 – the first playoff game in franchise history – but the Eagles countered with Wild Card wins in Philadelphia in 2000 and 2001. The most memorable contest in that history is the 2002 NFC Championship Game, won by the Buccaneers, 27-10, in the final game ever played at Veterans Stadium. The Buccaneers now have a 3-2 lead in the series after Sunday's blowout victory.

The Bucs got the ball to start the game and immediately took it 75 yards on 12 plays for the opening score, a two-yard touchdown run by Bernard. Vaughn got the drive off to a great start with a tackle-breaking 17-yard run over left guard on the game's first play, a roughing-the-passer flag on Eagles DE Derek Barnett took the ball across midfield. After Wirfs was helped off the field with his ankle injury, Brady hit Evans on a crossing route to convert a third-and-seven, and two consecutive catches by Bernard, the second one a fantastic leaping grab, made it first and goal a the 15. A Cam Brate tight end screen bought a new set of downs at the four and Bernard ran it in two plays later.

Tampa Bay's defense also started fast with a three-and-out on the Eagles' opening possession. Even though Miles Sanders but seven yards on a first-down cut-back run, a great tackle on the edge of Scott by Devin White and Whitehead's three-yard tackle for loss on a designed Hurts run shut the drive down. Eagles punter Arryn Siposs then shanked the ensuing punt and it went out of bounds at the Bucs' 43.

The Bucs couldn't do much with that field position, though, as WR Tyler Johnson failed to haul in a short pass on third-and-three. Bradley Pinion's punt was fair caught at the Eagles' 19. Fortunately, Philly didn't do much more with their second drive. Hurts kept the ball on a first-down RPO and got nine, followed by an offsides call that gave the Eagles their first first down of the game. But Whitehead shot through the line for another tackle for loss, this one on Sanders for five yards, and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka tipped away a pass by a scrambling Hurts on third down.

After Philadelphia's second punt, the Bucs started again at their own 30. This, drive, too resulted in a touchdown but also the loss of a Pro Bowl offensive lineman, as Jensen sustained an ankle injury on the one-yard Vaughn scoring run that capped the drive. Gronkowski got the drive moving with a 13-yard gain on a pivot route and Johnson made a fine catch of a hard pass in traffic on a slant to get 17 yards to the Eagles' 30. Evans caught two straight passes for 24 yards to get the ball down to the six and Vaughn made it first and goal with a power push up the middle.

The Bucs started the second quarter with another scoring drive, though this one stalled in the red zone, leading to Ryan Succop's 34-yard field goal. The drive opened with an 18-yard comebacker and a nine-yard curl by Evans as the Bucs went into a hurry-up. A Miller eight-yard catch on the left sideline and Vaughn's six-yard dart to the right side made it first down a the Eagles' 23, and two plays later Johnson made a catch over the middle in traffic to make it first-and-goal at the five. However, an underneath handoff to Bernard backfired for a loss of five and Brady was eventually sacked on third-and-goal as he held the ball trying to find an open man.

The Eagles' offense got into Bucs territory for the first time on the next possession but eventually turned the ball over on downs. Hurts took a keeper around the right edge for 11 and then converted a third-and-seven with a hard pass over the middle to Goedert for 16. After missing on a deep shot to Goedert, the Eagles went for it on fourth-and-four from just across midfield and converted when Hurts went back to his tight end for 10 on the left sideline. However, three plays later Winfield shut down what appeared to be a well-developed third-down screen to Sanders and the Eagles went for it again on fourth-and-10. Davis dived in front of intended receiver Jalen Reagor on a deep out and broke up the pass to end the drive.

Davis also removed his helmet in celebration after the play, drawing a 15-yard penalty that pushed the start of the Bucs' next drive back to their own 22. The Bucs actually went backwards from there thanks to a nine-yard sack on third down by Fletcher Cox and the Eagles called a timeout with 2:31 left in the half. Pinion's punt pushed the Eagles back to their own 39.

Goedert got 32 yards on a wide open screen to the left but the entire gain was wiped out by a holding call. That play brought on the two-minute warning, and the Eagles backed up on the next play due to an offensive pass-interference call. After another Hurts keeper made it third-and-11 the drive remained alive when Hurts was able to find Quez Watkins deep for 35 yards to the Bucs' 27. Two plays later, Hurts was chased out to the left and tried to go to DeVonta Smith in the end zone but Edwards raced in front of the receiver to intercept the pass and then fall onto the pylon for a touchback.

The Bucs went nowhere with that possession as Brady was sacked on third down again and Pinion punted away with 27 seconds left in the half. The Eagles used a timeout to get one more shot at the ball but Pinion wrecked that strategy with a 61-yard punt, after which the visitors tried just one play before letting the clock run out.

The Eagles got the ball to start the second half after a touchback. A holding penalty put the Eagles in an early hole but a long scramble by Hurts on third-and-eight gave Goedert time to work his way open deep over the middle for a 28-yard gain. Davis nearly intercepted Hurts' next pass deep down the right hash marks and Adams broke up a pass to Smith on third-and-10. The Eagles punted and Jaelon Darden fair caught it at the Bucs' nine.

The Bucs went three-and-out and punted it back but still managed to keep the ball. Reagor had trouble catching Pinion's 39-yard boot and Miller arrived at the perfect moment to make sure the ball got loose. It was recovered by Cockrell at the Eagles' 48 for the game's second turnover. The Bucs immediately got into scoring range with a perfectly-designed screen to Bernard that sprang him for a 22-yard gain. Brady converted a third-and-two at the 19 with a 17-yard pass to a sliding Evans at the two-yard line. The Bucs brought out a major jumbo package for first and goal but this time Brady faked a handoff, Gronkowski leaked off the line and into the back of the end zone and the two hooked up on a touchdown pass to make it 24-0 midway through the third quarter.

The Eagles' ensuing possession started out with a 14-yard Sanders run but the offense then found itself in a fourth-and-three predicament. Philadelphia went for it and Hurts was chased into a desperate lob of a throw that Barrett intercepted after leaping high in the air to tip it to himself. Barrett returned the ball 17 yards to the Eagles' 36 and Brady immediately went for the jugular, finding Evans running deep from right to left. Evans hauled the pass in near the five and stepped out of an attempted tackle before somersaulting into the end zone.

The Bucs' defense followed with a three-and-out keyed by Tryon-Shoyinka's capture of Hurts four yards in the backfield on a designed run. After the Eagles' punt, the Bucs started a new drive at their 19 with four minutes left in the third quarter. Content to run the ball and drain the clock with a 31-0 lead, the Buccaneers got one first down and used up three minutes before punting it back to the Eagles' 20-yard line.

The two teams traded another pair of punts as the game flipped into the fourth quarter. A 28-yard punt return by Reagor allowed the Eagles to start a new drive at their own 36 with 12:48 left. A tunnel screen to Smith worked to perfection as he dashed all the way down to the Bucs' 34, and Scott broke free over left tackle on the next play for the Eagles' first touchdown.

A holding penalty on the Bucs' kickoff return made Tampa Bay start at their own 10 and they got one first down before punting it away with just over nine minutes left. Reagor muffed the punt for a second time but was able to get it back before being swarmed over at the Eagles' seven-yard line. Catches for 19 yards by Smith and 17 by Goedert got the ball over midfield. Hurts converted a third-and-six from the Bucs' 42 with a short pass to Kenneth Gainwell that turned into a 20-yard gain. Three plays later, Hurts went to Gainwell again on third down and the back vaulted his way over several Buccaneer defenders to find the end zone. The Eagles went for two and Smith made a diving catch for the successful conversion. That made the score 31-15 with 4:45 to play.

The Eagles tried an onside kick but Bernard easily recovered for the Bucs at the Philadelphia 46. The Bucs grinded out two first downs before turning the ball over on downs at the 16 with 1:11 left. The Eagles got off just three plays before the clock ran out.