TAMPA, Fla. – The Eagles’ 2023 season came to a halt at Tampa Bay on Monday night in the Super Wild Card Playoff finale of the weekend with a crushing 32-9 loss to the Bucs. Philadelphia lost 6 of its last 7 games, sending the Eagles into the offseason with a lot of questions to answer.
Missing wide receiver A.J. Brown, the offense had one touchdown drive that included two big plays, and that was pretty much it for the night. The defense had gaping holes throughout the game, missing safeties Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown as the Bucs made big gain after big gain, mostly in the passing game.
It was an incredibly disappointing way to end the season. Here are some takeaways from the 2023 season finale …
1. A two-possession sequence late in the third quarter stretched a 16-9 Tampa Bay lead – a score that indicated the Eagles were still in the game, but barely so – to 25-9, and both the offense and defense were culpable. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, under pressure much of the game with Tampa Bay blitzing him often – 18 of his first 25 dropbacks – couldn’t escape pressure with the offense backed up near its goal line and went down with an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone that resulted in a Tampa Bay safety and then the defense gave up a 56-yard touchdown pass to Trey Palmer, who caught a 6-yard out pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield at the 50-yard line, escaped a tackle attempt from cornerback James Bradberry, and broke into the clear with a sprint to the end zone to put Philadelphia in a deep hole heading into the fourth quarter.
2. Philadelphia’s offense through three quarters: 11 first downs, 0-for-7 on third downs, 36 rushing yards on 12 carries, and just 218 total net yards. This was against a defense that the Eagles gashed for 201 rushing yards and nearly 500 total yards in the Week 3 victory. The Eagles had no answers for Tampa Bay’s blitz game and just couldn’t sustain any significant offense. Philadelphia went 0-for-9 on third downs in the game.
3. Gaining yardage in big gulps is essential to scoring in this league and going up top to wide receiver DeVonta Smith helped the Eagles’ offense out of its early-game malaise on Monday night. Hurts connected with Smith for 55 yards down the left slot and Smith went down at the Tampa Bay 5-yard line. One play later, Hurts went to tight end Dallas Goedert for an easy pitch and catch as Goedert went in motion left to right across the formation and…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…