Bucs Right the Ship With 33-16 Drubbing of Flailing Eagles
Tampa, FL – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 33-16 on Sunday September 29th at Raymond James Stadium in front of a raucous crowd. The win gives the Bucs a 3-1 record in this young 2024-25 season.
This Bucs team was night and day different from their previous week’s loss to the Denver Broncos, where their confidence was back and the Eagles couldn’t stop them.
Baker Mayfield threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns, while Mike Evans became the Buccaneers’ career scoring leader in dominating the rematch of a lopsided NFC wild-card game they won 32-9 against the injury-riddled Eagles (2-2) last January.
“We had a good quarter, and that’s all it is,” coach Todd Bowles said Sunday after Mayfield accounted for three touchdowns, including rushing for one touchdown.
“The season is four quarters,” Bowles added. “We’ve got three more quarters to go and we’ve got to show up and play like that every quarter.”
Rebounding from a poor performance in a loss to Denver the previous week, Mayfield completed 30 of 47 passes without an interception and the offense scored a touchdown on its opening possession for the first time in 21 games. Evans’ 2-yard scoring reception finished the 10-play, 79-yard drive that set the tone for the Bucs, who outgained the Eagles 254 yards to zero in building a 24-0 lead.
“Wanted to get (previous week’s) taste out of our mouth, for sure,” Mayfield said. “Started fast because the guys were just locked in. We came out with a hair-on-fire mentality. Everybody was locked in on what the plan was and we executed. That needs to be the case every week. That’s how we need to start.”
Tampa managed to balance the carries from its backfield with both Bicky Irving and Rashad White getting 10 carries for 49 yards, with Irving getting one touchdown.
Philadelphia, who continued to struggle with chemistry problems that ave pretty much rendered quarterback Jalen Hurts impotent, continued to struggle to get yards on offense. The Bucs were glad to help, sacking Hurts six times in the game.
The Eagles fall to a 2-2 record, were only able to generate 227 net yards of offense with two touchdowns, one two point conversion and zero filed goals.
“It starts with me in terms of getting into the end zone and leading drives.” Said Hurts “The only thing I can say, I’ve got to be better.”
Hurts finished 18 of 30 for 150 yards and no interceptions. Saquon Barkley rushed for 94 yards on 10 carries.
Tampa Bay ran 22 plays in Eagles territory before the Philadelphia offense finally crossed the 50-yard line in the second quarter. But despite the huge disparity statistically, the
Eagles managed to get back into the game after Barkley began the second half with a 59-yard run to the Bucs 11.
That set up a 1-yard TD run by Hurts that cut into a 24-7 halftime deficit. The Eagles gave themselves a little more hope when Kelee Ringo scooped up a blocked extra-point kick on Tampa Bay’s next touchdown and raced to the other end of the field for a defensive two-point conversion that trimmed the Bucs’ lead to 30-16.
Hurts took the kickoff and moved the Eagles to the Bucs 19 before linebacker Lavonte David sacked him, forcing a fumble that essentially ended the chance for a successful comeback.
The Buccaneers head to Atlanta for a short week, facing the Flacon’s this Thursday night.