The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have already beaten the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season – a 20-16 Week Two win in Detroit – and now they'll try to dispatch the team they conquered to get to Lions in the Divisional Round.
After a 26-7 loss to the visiting Denver Broncos in Week Three, the Buccaneers will stay home in Week Four and welcome the Philadelphia Eagles to Tampa, marking the fourth game between the two teams at Raymond James Stadium in the last 36 months. The Bucs knocked the Eagles out of the 2021 playoffs, in January of 2022, and then again last January, while the Eagles won a regular season contest in Tampa last season.
The Eagles did Tampa Bay a favor before coming to town, rallying for a 15-12 win in New Orleans that kept the Bucs and Saints tied atop the NFC South at 2-1. The Eagles are also 2-1, having beaten the Packers, 34-29, in Brazil in Week One before losing a heartbreaker in Atlanta, 22-21, in Week Two.
In the Superdome Sunday, the Eagles drove 69 yards in a minute to score the go-ahead touchdown with one minute left in regulation. After a 61-yard rumble on a short catch by tight end Dallas Goedert, running back Saquon Barkley scored on a four-year touchdown run and then again on a two-point conversion to put the Eagles up three. Two snaps later, safety Reed Blankenship intercepted Derek Carr on a deep pass to seal the win.
Barkley, one of the Eagles' key offseason acquisitions, is off to a fast start with his new team. Through three games he has ran 351 yards, caught 10 passes for another 53 yards and scored five total touchdowns. The Eagles played the Saints without top receiver A.J. Brown but quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 311 yards, including 170 on 10 completions to Goedert. Brown may still be unavailable next Sunday against the Buccaneers, and right tackle Lane Johnson left Sunday's game in New Orleans with a concussion.
