The Tampa Bay Buccaneers absorbed their first loss of the 2024 season in Week Three, dropping a lackluster 26-7 decision at home to the Denver Broncos. The 2-1 Buccaneers will stay at home for another week and try to get back on track against a familiar foe, the 2-1 Philadelphia Eagles. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, September 29.
Coming off a rousing win at Detroit in Week Two, the Buccaneers couldn't maintain that momentum against a Denver team that controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Tampa Bay allowed seven sacks of quarterback Baker Mayfield, while its defense managed no sacks and only two hits on rookie passer Bo Nix. Chris Godwin did catch a touchdown pass for the third game in a row and rookie running back Bucky Irving continued to emerge as a big-play weapon out of the backfield.
Conversely, Philadelphia rebounded from a shocking last-minute loss in Atlanta to take out another one of the Bucs' NFC South foes, beating the Saints 15-12 in New Orleans in Week Three. The Eagles defense held a Saints offense that had scored 91 points and averaged 405.5 yards per game over the first two weeks to 219 yards and just one touchdown. Running back Saquon Barkley continued his hot start to his first season in Philly, scoring the winning touchdown and pushing his season total to five, which is tied for the NFL lead
The Eagles may be mulling revenge after the Buccaneers bounced them out of the playoffs in both 2021 and 2023, though they did win their regular season trip to Tampa last fall, 25-11.
Still tied with the Saints atop the NFC South, the Buccaneers are looking to bounce back against a prime NFC playoff contender. Here are four major storylines and four head-to-head player battles to keep an eye on as the Bucs get ready for their fourth game against the Eagles in Tampa in the last 33 months.
TOP STORYLINES
Fast and Furious – The Buccaneers' offense did not get off to a good start in either half in Week Three against Denver, and they weren't too happy about it. Said Mayfield after the game: "For offense, we didn't start fast in the first quarter, didn't start fast in the third quarter – that's the story of the game." In Weeks One and Two, the Bucs' offense scored a field goal on its opening drive, and in the opener against Washington it scored on each of its first five possessions. Against Denver, the Bucs fell into a 17-0 hole by the early part of the second quarter and never could get on track offensively, save for one impressive touchdown drive in the first half. Down 20-7 coming out of halftime, the Bucs had a chance to get back into the game with first possession of the ball but their next two drives ended in punts from near midfield. Good coverage by the Broncos secondary forced Mayfield to settle for short throws on almost every dropback that didn't end in a sack, which is not a formula the Buccaneers want to repeat. Getting into a good rhythm early on offense this coming Sunday will help the home team keep up with an Eagles offense that racked up 460 total yards in New Orleans last weekend.
QBs on the Run – In two of their first three games of the season, the Buccaneer faced a rookie quarterback who proved very elusive and was able to move the chains with his legs. The Eagles' Jalen Hurts is no rookie but he can definitely escape the pocket and gash defenses with his running ability. Through three games, he has run 34 times for 143 yards and a touchdown. Hurts excels in read-zone plays and those situations have become doubly dangerous this year with the arrival of Barkley. Interestingly, Todd Bowles' defense with the Buccaneers has done a fairly good job of containing Hurts on the ground in previous meetings. In four games against Tampa Bay, Hurts has rushed 29 times for 116 yards, averaging 29 yards a game and 4.0 yards per carry. Hurts has been sacked seven times this season, and the Bucs will hope to build on that after recording just two sacks through the first three games. Tampa Bay's pass rushers, in particular edges Yaya Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, have done a credible job of getting pressure on opposing passers but haven't yet been able to turn those opportunities into actual sacks.
Infirmary Watch – Both teams lineups could be significantly affected by the injury report this week. The Buccaneers have already been playing without three of their best defensive players in defensive linemen Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea and safety Antoine Winfield Jr., and only Vea is likely to have a shot at returning in Week Four. The Bucs' offense has also felt the absence of starting right tackle Luke Goedeke, who has missed the last two games with a concussion while Mayfield has taken 12 total sacks in that span. The Buccaneers will head into the week hoping that Goedeke will be able to clear concussion protocol and return to action against the Eagles. Philadelphia's offense has already been operating without superstar wideout A.J. Brown, who has missed two games with a hamstring injury, and may also now be dealing with several more key absences. The team's other starting receiver DeVonta Smith, left the game in New Orleans with a concussion, as did Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson. With guard Mekhi Becton exiting with a finger injury, the Eagles finished the game with Tyler Steen playing right guard and Fred Johnson holding down right tackle. The Eagles' depth chart without Brown and Smith would currently consist of Jahan Dotson, a preseason trade acquisition from Washington, rookie sixth-rounder Johnny Wilson, Parris Campbell and Britain Covey. Covey has seven catches through the first two week, Dotson has three, Campbell two and Wilson one.
Keeping Baker Clean – As noted above, Mayfield has been sacked 12 times over the last two games, and while he took responsibility for some of those negative plays after Sunday's loss to Denver, there have obviously been some protection issues and it has not all been about Goedeke's absence. Mayfield was dazzling in the Bucs' Week One win over Washington and he made some big plays despite the pressure he was under in the Week Two win over Detroit. He still boasts a passer rating of 110.7 and his six touchdown passes are tied for the third most in the NFL. Still, the aforementioned inability of the Bucs' offense to get in any kind of rhythm in the dispiriting loss to Denver was caused in large part by Mayfield not having much time to press the ball downfield. It allowed him, for instance, to only target Mike Evans on three passes, resulting in two completions for 17 yards. While Chris Godwin continues to thrive on short, intermediate and deep throws, the Bucs are having a harder time unlocking Evans and such tertiary options as rookie Jalen McMillan and second-year wideout Trey Palmer. Philadelphia's defense has only generated four sacks through the first three games but still boasts a number of talented pass rushers. Keeping them away from Mayfield on Sunday will be a key factor in any formula that leads to a Buccaneer victory.
KEY MATCHUPS
- Eagles RB Saquon Barkley vs. Buccaneers LB K.J. Britt
Philadelphia signed Barkley away from their division rivals with the type of big-dollar contract running backs are finding increasingly hard to land, and it's safe to say that both sides are happy with that deal right now. In recent years, the Eagles have tended to run a backfield-by-committee, but so far this season Barkley has taken 63 of the 66 running back handoffs for the team. As noted above, he's turned that into 351 rushing yards and four of his five touchdowns, ranking first in the league in both categories, and he's averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Barkley has legs like tree trunks, incredible balance and big-play ability, as evidenced by his critical 65-yard touchdown run against the Saints. While Lavonte David still plays every snap for the Bucs' defense, the team is splitting the other off-ball spot between K.J. Britt and SirVocea Dennis. Britt is generally the choice when it seems more likely that the opposing team will be running the football, and he's always been a very good downhill tackler. Britt also has the size to contend with a bigger back like Barkley and he wraps up ballcarriers well. Inevitably, the Giants are going to send Barkley out on a route in an early-down situation, which means at some point Britt will need to show off his coverage ability against a back who, despite, a number of dropped passes on his resume, has always been a productive pass-catcher.
- Buccaneers WR Mike Evans vs. Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell
A combination of tight coverage and constant pressure on the quarterback mostly took Evans out of the offense against Denver, but that should be viewed as an anomaly that Todd Bowles and Liam Coen won't allow to be repeated very often. Bowles said on Monday that the team must get Evans more involved than he was against the Broncos. As he showed with a big Week One performance, Evans is still one of the NFL's best at finding the end zone and making contested catches in that part of the field. His deceptive long strides allow him to get deep on defenders before they know it, especially if he quickly beats press coverage. The Eagles tend to leave their outside corners on specific sides of the field, and Mitchell has played to the offense's left in his rookie year, so he'll get a dose of Evans anytime the Bucs receiver lines up out there. Mitchell, the 22nd overall pick and first cornerback taken in this year's draft, out of Toledo, has played almost every defensive snap through the Eagles' first three games and has contributed 12 tackles and a team-leading five passes defensed. He was coveted in the draft because he has good size, ran a 4.33 40-yard dash at the combine and is very fluid in his movements. He was productive on the ball at Toledo, racking up six interceptions and 44 passes defensed over his final two collegiate seasons.
- Eagles T Jordan Mailata vs. Buccaneers OLB Yaya Diaby
Philadelphia has a question mark at right tackle this week with Johnson's injury but Mailata is still holding down the other end of the line as one of the league's upper-echelon left tackles. A mountainous (6-8, 365) blocker with ridiculous athleticism for his size, Mailata is both hard to get around and difficult to move. According to Pro Football Focus, Mailata has not allowed a sack yet this season and has only been charged with one penalty. Last season, he was charged with allowing only three sacks while playing 100% of his team's offensive snaps. Diaby has rushed from the right and left edges almost equally so far this season, which means he'll surely get some one-on-one interaction with Mailata at some point on Sunday. Diaby, whom the Bucs landed in the third round last year, is coming off a surprise rookie campaign in which he led the team with 7.5 sacks and led all NFL rookies with 12 tackles for loss. While Diaby, like most of the Bucs' defenders in this young season, has yet to record a sack in 2024 he has beating opposing blockers at a good rate. His 12 QB pressure are tied for 19th in the NFL and his pressure rate of 15.4% is better than such standout rushers as the Raiders' Maxx Crosby and the Lions' Aidan Hutchinson. Diaby also sets the edge well against the run so he could be a critical pieces in the attempt to slow down Barkley.
- Buccaneers RB Rachaad White vs. Eagles LB Zack Baun
Bucky Irving has been the more productive runner of the Bucs' two main backs so far, but White is still seeing the majority of the offensive snaps because he's a more trusted pass-protector and he's very effective as a pass-catcher. White topped 1,500 yards from scrimmage last season as one of the league's best dual-threat backs, and getting that element back into the offense could be critical for the Buccaneers moving forward. White catches passes fluidly and without breaking stride and is effective both on screens and routes into the seams. Baun, in his first year in Philadelphia after four with the Saints, is thriving in a much bigger role with the Eagles. His single-season high in snap percentage in New Orleans was 27% but he has stayed on the field for every single snap this season. The result is a team-leading 37 tackles, which ranks third in the NFL. That included 13 stops against his former team in Week Three as the Eagles stymied what had been a high-flying Saints' offense. Not only has Baun proved to be a rangy tackler playing off the ball in the middle of the field, he has also played some snaps up on the edge of the line, as he primarily did in New Orleans. He leads the Eagles with 2.0 sacks, one of which sealed the Eagles' Week One win over Green Bay.
Another Key Storyline this week is our Moffitt Stories of Courage special guest, Dallas Carroll. Throughout Dallas' pregnancy, she had raised concerns about a lump in her breast. Her intuition was brushed aside by medical professionals who attributed it to dense tissue, despite her family history of breast cancer. When her sister urged her to seek a second opinion at Moffitt in Tampa, Dallas did. On December 7, 2023, just six days after giving birth to her son, Dallas Carroll's world shattered with the news of her stage 4 metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. Dallas is still going through active treatments but has seen amazing results through groundbreaking experimental treatments and chemotherapy. As she continues to navigate this challenging journey and hopefully expand her life expectancy, Dallas finds strength not just in her own resolve but in the love from her son Finn, daughter Dakota and her husband, transforming fear into a powerful testament of resilience. We are honored to host Dallas and her husband at this week's game.
