TAMPA – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had no problem defeating the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 in an NFL Playoffs Wild Card Weekend closeout game. Five out of six of the wild card matchups were won by the home team this weekend.
The Bucs were coming off an offensively stagnant 9-0 win over the Carolina Panthers, but Baker Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, and Tampa Bay’s defense never allowed Hurts and Philadelphia’s sputtering offense to get into a rhythm before a crowd of 63,397 at Raymond James Stadium.
“We worked extremely hard to get a chance to be in the playoffs, and we just wanted an opportunity. Our guys came out and played really well. … Once again, the defense played lights out. We’re happy, but we’ve still got more to go,” Mayfield said.
Baker Mayfield went 22 for 26 for 119 yards, threw to nine different receivers, and had zero interceptions. Tight end Cade Otton was targeted 11 times with eight catches for 89 yards.
After opening the game with a field goal in the 10th minute of the game, Bucs Offensive Coordinator Dave Canales opened things up with a 44-yard Mayfield pass to David Moore. Moore made the reception and weaved his way through the Eagles’ defense untouched for the game’s first touchdown.
Philadelphia did not score until early in the second quarter with a 47-yard field goal by kicker Jake Elliott.
Tampa managed to catch Hurts in the end zone on a blitz. When he threw the ball in desperation, Hurts was called for intentional grounding, and the Bucs were awarded a safety, taking the score to 18-3 with 2:18 left in the third quarter.
Philly managed to score with 3:06 left in the first half, with Dallas Goedert catching a 5-yard pass from Hurts for a touchdown. The Eagles made the extra point kick, but Tampa was called offsides, and the ball was placed on the one-yard line.
The Eagles tried their vaunted “Tush Push” and were stopped by the Bucs’ defense, though it was later seen that there was a facemask against the Bucs that the refs didn’t see.
Rookie Trey Palmer broke the game open with a 56-yard catch-and-run for a TD that put the Bucs up 25-9 late in the third quarter, followed by a Chris Godwin score for 23 yards late in the fourth quarter, taking us to the final 32-9 score.
Tampa will be heading up to face the Detroit Lions next Sunday.
