Eagles-Buccaneers player matchups to watch in Week 4

The Eagles (2-1) are on the road to face the Buccaneers (2-1) in a rematch of the 2023 wild card playoff game.

Here are some key matchups to watch:

Eagles blitz pickup vs. Todd Bowles defense

One of the biggest stories going into this game will be about how the Eagles handle the blitz that they know is going to come from Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles. The Bucs are known for their aggressive blitzes and that’s something that has tripped up Hurts in his career.

That’s also what stood out most when offensive coordinator went back to watch the Eagles’ playoff loss in January.

“Obviously, they had a pressure plan associated with stopping the run and putting a lot of stress on the protection game,” Kellen Moore said. “So Todd [Bowles] is always going to have his different flavors. He's going to play us, there may be some stuff that falls back on that and there may be some new components that he'll pull out and try to stress you in different ways because he knows you'll be anticipating those.

“He does an excellent job. When I was at other places, we've played him multiple times and every game seems to be a different flavor. It's not necessarily whether he won or lost, it's going to be a different flavor and different challenge each and every week. We have to do a good job of having our answers and understanding our tools and the adjustments that we may or may not need to make.”

One of the biggest things the Eagles needed to improve in this new offense was the way they handled the blitz. So far, so good.

Here’s a comparison of Hurts vs. the blitz in 2023 and 2024, per ProFootballFocus:

2023: 268 dropbacks, completion percentage 63.1%, 9 TDs, 8 INTs, 17 sacks (6.3%)
2024: 38 dropbacks, completion percentage 72.7%, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks (5.3%)

It’s worth noting, though, that three games is a small sample size and the Eagles haven’t been blitzed all that much and the Bucs blitz at a much higher rate.

Eagles OL vs. Bucs DL

Even after losing Lane Johnson and Mekhi Becton during their Week 3 win over the Saints, the Eagles’ offensive line still performed really well. Backup right guard Tyler Steen and backup right tackle Fred Johnson had strong performances. It’s early in the season, but the Eagles’ offensive line continues to be a major strength.

We already talked about the Buccaneers’ propensity for blitzing but they have some solid players up front too. We’ll see if Vita Vea plays in this game after missing last week’s game with a knee injury. If he does, that’s a tough matchup for center Cam Jurgens on the interior of the line. Vea is a massive nose tackle (6-4, 347 pounds) like the ones that would sometimes give Jason Kelce some trouble. It’s just a mismatch from a size standpoint for Jurgens too. While Vea isn’t a huge threat to get after the quarterback, he does have 23 1/2 career sacks and is a key cog in the Bucs’ run defense. The Eagles have been so good at running this year and Vea is one of the better run-stuffers in the NFL. Calijah Kancey (calf) is also in danger of not playing; he’s an ascending defensive lineman.

If Lane Johnson misses this game with a concussion, Fred Johnson will make his first start since the 2021 season. Big Fred is a legitimately great story and was nearly moved to tears on Sunday in New Orleans after getting a chance to see the field again. The 27-year-old held his own too. In this game, Johnson (either one) will see former first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and perhaps some YaYa Diaby. The Bucs have just 2 total sacks as a team through three games, which is dead last in the NFL.

Jalen Hurts vs. Antoine Winfield Jr.? 

Through three games, Jalen Hurts has played pretty well but he has turned the football over too much. He has been picked off four times in three games. Just Anthony Richardson (6) and Will Levis (5) have thrown more interceptions this season. Interceptions were an issue for Hurts in 2023 when he threw 15 in 17 games with an interception percentage of 2.8% — he’s up to 3.9% in 2024 and that needs to go down.

It’s worth noting that three of Hurts’ four interceptions have gone to veteran safeties Xavier McKinney, Jessie Bates and Tyrann Mathieu. The Bucs boast their own top safety in Antoine Winfield Jr.

Winfield has missed the last two games with a foot injury and the beginning of this week so we have to see about his health. But when Winfield is healthy, he’s one of the best safeties in the NFL. This offseason, Winfield signed a four-year, $84.1 million contract to make him the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Winfield last season had 3 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles and was named an All-Pro.

In his career, Hurts is 1-3 against the Bucs with two of those losses coming in the playoffs. The Bucs bounced the Eagles in 2021 and 2023.

Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert vs. Lavonte David

The Eagles scored both of their touchdowns on Sunday after DeVonta Smith left the game with a concussion. So that means they scored both of those touchdowns without Smith and A.J. Brown, who missed the game with a hamstring injury.

How did the Eagles make that happen? They got the ball to Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert. That’s the benefit of having this much skill position star power on the roster. That when you’re without your top two receivers, you still have dangerous weapons like a top-tier running back and top-tier tight end.

With the receiver position in doubt entering this game, the Eagles will need to rely on Barkley and Goedert again.

Lavonte David is now 34 years old but he’s still a full-time starter in Tampa, as he has been since 2012 and he’s still a good player.

In this game, the Eagles will be facing a Bucs defense that has given up 137.7 yards per game on the ground this season, which ranks 25th in the NFL. And it’s not like the Bucs have had one bad game, they have given up 138, 139 and 136 rushing yards in the first three weeks of the season. More importantly, they’re giving up 4.9 yards per carry, which ranks 26th in the NFL.

And while they haven’t given up any huge games to tight ends so far, the Bucs weren’t good against opposing tight ends in 2023. They gave up 1,077 yards to tight ends last year, which was third-most in the NFL behind just the Broncos and Bengals.

Darius Slay, Quinyon Mitchell vs. Mike Evans

Mike Evans is off to a slower start than we’re used to seeing from him but he is 31 now. Through three games, Evans has 10 catches for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. But Evans has gone over 1,000 yards in 10 straight seasons and is still a tough matchup because of his size (6-5, 231).

Darius Slay got injured in the Saints game and had to leave early. In the playoff game last year, Evans caught 3 of his 5 targets against Slay for 48 yards. But Slay is a veteran and he’s faced top competition before.

This could be a fun matchup for the rookie Quinyon Mitchell. He’s nowhere near as big as Evans (who is?) but Mitchell plays with an edge and he has gotten awfully close to picking off a couple of passes in his first few NFL games. His first pick is going to come soon.

Avonte Maddox vs. Chris Godwin

The Eagles didn’t have to use their nickel package very much against the Saints’ bigger personnel groups on Sunday but when they did, Avonte Maddox was still their slot cornerback. That’s important to note in this game because Chris Godwin operates out of the slot a ton and he had a 23-yard touchdown catch on Maddox in the playoff game last year.

Godwin this season leads the Bucs in receptions (21), yards (253) and touchdowns (3). And 65.2% of his snaps have come out of the slot, which sets up a super important matchup against Maddox. Godwin has been extremely efficient this season, averaging 3.0 yards per route run, which ranks 12th in the NFL. He also has 140 yards after the catch, which ranks fifth in the NFL, so if Baker Mayfield hits Godwin in stride, the Eagles have to make sure they’re able to tackle him.

Eagles run defense vs. Bucs running backs

The Buccaneers really have a two-headed running back system right now with Rachaad White (6-0, 214) and Bucky Irving (5-10, 195), but it’s Irving who is off to a hot start.

Irving: 25 carries, 154 yards (6.2); 5 catches, 28 yards
White: 31 carries, 66 yards (2.1); 12 catches, 98 yards

As you see, White is still at threat to catch the ball out of the backfield but it has been Irving who has been better as a runner.

The interesting part of this matchup is that the Buccaneers are a very heavy 11 personnel team and that could give the Eagles trouble. The Saints use less 11 than most teams in the NFL, which allowed the Eagles to sit in their base package and utilize a five-man front. In this game, they’re going to need to be able to stop the run with a four-man line. They couldn’t do that against the Falcons in Week 2.

“Yeah, we've got to be able to use it,” DC Vic Fangio said of his four-man front You can't recreate the wheel every week. But we're going to have to mix it for them. It comes down to fundamentals. We're going to have to play better than we played two weeks ago against a very similar run game.”

Jalen Carter vs. Buccaneers iOL

The Eagles’ player of the game in Week 3 was undoubtedly Jalen Carter. Even though the 2023 first-round pick didn’t have a sack in the game, he was disruptive on just about every snap. He looked like a legitimate All-Pro against the Saints. It was his best game since … Week 3 last year against the Bucs.

This is an opportunity for Carter to put together strong performances in back-to-back weeks.

Baker Mayfield last week was sacked seven times against the Broncos. A lot of that was because the Bucs got down and needed to pass to get back into the game. But Carter should be able to get pressure against the interior of the Bucs’ OL.

Here’s a look at pressures surrendered by the iOL through three games:

LG Ben Bredeson: 4 pressures
C Graham Barton: 7 pressures
RG Cody Mauch: 5 pressures

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