TAMPA — The Eagles built a big lead on Monday night but this time they kept it on their way to a convincing 25-11 win over the Buccaneers on national TV.
The Eagles are 3-0. They’re one of just three teams that remain unbeaten after Week 3.
Here’s a look at the report card from this game:
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Quarterback
Jalen Hurts: 23/37, 277 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 71.6 rating
It wasn’t a perfect performance from Hurts but the Eagles’ franchise quarterback came into Monday night with some flu-like symptoms and fought through. He looked much better in this game than he did in the previous two. The two passes to Olamide Zaccheaus, especially the 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter were prime Hurts. He had great pocket awareness, knew he was going to take a shot and delivered a perfect ball anyway. Hurts threw a couple of interceptions. The first was a miscommunication with D’Andre Swift but the second was thrown into double coverage. Hurts said he was trying to give DeVonta Smith a chance to make a play but it wan’t a great decision. Still, a gutty performance for Hurts and the arrow certainly seems to be pointing up after a somewhat shaky start to the year.
Grade: B
NFL
Running back
D’Andre Swift: 16 carries, 130 yards
Swift became the first Eagles running back to have 130+ yards in back-to-back games since LeSean McCoy in 2014. And Swift has done it in his second and third games as an Eagle. Swift is explosive through the whole and even got to show off his creativity, vision and jumping ability in this game. He’s a really fun player to watch.
Grade: A
Receiver
A.J. Brown: 9 catches on 14 targets, 131 yards
Remember all that talk about that Hurts-Brown argument in Week 2? Things are OK. The Bucs ended up without their top two corners for most of this game and the Eagles took advantage. This is the fourth-most yards Brown has had in a game since joining the Birds. Zaccheaus had 2 for 58 after going without a catch in his first two games. Smith had a quiet 4 for 28 but there are going to be games like that here and there. Only one football.
Grade: A
Tight end
Dallas Goedert: 5 catches on 7 targets for 41 yards
After entering the game with just 22 receiving yards, Goedert got things cooking a little more in this one. Still not the breakout performance but he was catching passes and moving the chains. And the Eagles came out in 12 personnel in this game and ran all over the Bucs. Oh yeah, and Jack Stoll caught his first pass of the year.
Grade: B
Offensive line
From the time Todd Bowles took over the defense in Tampa Bay in 2019, the Bucs have had the best run defense in the NFL. This was just the third time a team has ever rushed for 200+ yards against them under Bowles. Not only did the OL clear huge holes for Swift but they also protected Hurts, who had time to throw and was sacked just once for a six-yard loss.
Grade: A+
Defensive line
Jalen Carter: 2 tackles, 1/2 sack, 1 QB hit, 2 FF
Through three games, the strength of this Eagles team has been the defensive line. They had just two sacks on Monday night but they made some huge plays. Carter has been incredible and had that huge forced fumble hustling back to the ball late in the second quarter. The Eagles also had a great safety powered by Jordan Davis and Carter when the Bucs were backed up in the third quarter. Even Marlon Tuipulotu got into the mix with his second career sack.
Grade: A+
Linebacker
Nicholas Morrow: 2 tackles, 2 TFLs
The Eagles didn’t seem to miss Nakobe Dean all that much on Monday. The Eagles were without their middle linebacker (on IR) again but the combination of Zach Cunningham, Nicholas Morrow and Christian Elliss did the trick. On that safety, it was Morrow who shot into the backfield to get credit for the TFL with Jordan Davis.
Grade: B
Secondary
Reed Blankenship: 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PBU
The Eagles came into this game without Avonte Maddox and then suffered injuries to Justin Evans and Sydney Brown during the game. Both were listed as questionable but did not return. Sure, Mike Evans got his catches, but overall the Eagles’ secondary held up. And Blankenship picked off Baker Mayfield’s first interception of the season.
Grade: B
Special teams
Britain Covey: 3 punt returns, 81 yards (27.0), long of 52
Covey had a career-long punt return of 52 yards and also took the free kick after the safety back 30 yards. He had a really strong day. And Jake Elliott continues to be automatic. He made all three of his field goals and both extra points with a new holder. There weren’t any major special teams blunders or mistakes in this one.
Grade: A
Coaching
Record: 3-0
You could perhaps nitpick and find fault with some of the early offensive play-calling but they ended up with 472 yards. The Eagles need to finish better in the red zone — going 1-for-5 isn’t going to get it done — but this was their most complete win of the season and some of that is on execution. They really should have put up 40. On defense, despite being shorthanded, the Eagles held the Bucs to 11 points and just 174 offensive yards.
Grade: A-
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