Although most of us had no direct impact on the game’s outcome, following the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Week 4 win, it felt like we all left a small piece of ourselves on the field at Raymond James Stadium. No one thought beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be a cakewalk. That would be asinine, right? Still, we were lulled to sleep by an early special teams score and a 7-0 lead before Kevin Patullo’s offense had even taken the field.
The Birds led 24-6 at halftime. There isn’t an Eagles fan walking who doesn’t know what happened next. A 19-7 second-half Bucs run made this one too close for comfort.
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In Week 3, Philadelphia’s offense started slowly. They caught fire in the second half and were backed by solid defense. They preserved victory on a walk-off special teams score.
In Week 4, everything flipped. The special teams unit scored the first TD. The offense started hot and cooled late. This team is literally impossible to understand.
But, if we don’t understand anything else, we get the psyche of an Eagles fan and the Philadelphia media. Wins are sometimes treated like losses, and that has held for the guys in green all season.
PFF explains why the Eagles beat the Buccaneers in Week 3.
Total team effort… That’s how wins like the Eagles’ four most recent are described. For a more in-depth breakdown of the most recent, we checked out a few stats from Pro Football Focus.
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We also found some required reading: ‘Why Your NFL Team Won or Lost During Week 4.’ Here’s what Thomas Valentine, the writer of this one, offered as an explanation for how the visiting team was able to get the monkey off its back.
“The Eagles’ top two corners, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, almost single-handedly shut down the Buccaneers’ passing attack. Baker Mayfield targeted the two cornerbacks a combined 18 times, but Mitchell and DeJean allowed just seven receptions for 52 yards when targeted, and broke up four passes between them. The young sophomore duo were bestowed 88.9 PFF coverage grades apiece, and Mayfield and the Buccaneers’ offense struggled to find its way into the game with half of the field shut off.”
Mitchell and DeJean were indeed as good as advertised, but Tampa mounted a respectable comeback attempt. Here is why Valentine says they lost.
“Two red-zone possessions without a score hurt the Buccaneers, but what also hurt was the consistent pressure from the Eagles’ pass rush. Mayfield was pressured on 43.2% of his dropbacks — 28 total times — being sacked twice and losing a fumble. When pressured, Mayfield completed 8-of-16 pass attempts for 119 yards, a touchdown and an interception on a 55.9 overall PFF grade. He also had two big-time throws and two turnover-worthy plays.”
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: PFF offers detailed explanation of the Eagles’ victory over Buccaneers
