Bucs and Brady Crush Eagles

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

The last time Philadelphia faced Tom Brady in the playoffs, the Eagles stunned New England in Super Bowl 51 coming away 41-33 victory.  The two teams faced each other in October with the Eagles record falling to 2-4 after the 28-22 loss. At that point, the playoffs were the furthest thing on the team’s mind. Philly turned it around winning 7 of their last 9 games to clinch a wild card spot. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they had to face Brady and Tampa Bay on the road.

 

 

Brady and Tampa dominated in the first half scoring the very first time they had the ball. After Brady missed on his first 3 pass attempts, he competed his next 6 in a row. 12 plays and 75 yards later, running back Giovani Bernard runs it in from 2-yards out taking a early 7-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Bucs had Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on the run for the entire first half. The Eagles came into the game with the league’s best running attack. You could not tell as the Bucs, under defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, held Philly to only 35 first half yards. The Eagle managed only 2 first downs in the first half.

 

Both teams would trade punts before Brady got them into the end zone for the second time. Going 70 yards in 10 plays, Ke’Shawn Vaughn takes it in from 1 yard out extending the lead to 14-0. Brady completing 4 more passes (62 yards) before the first quarter came to an end.

 

It could have been worse for Philadelphia if the defense did not step up. Tampa had the ball on the Eagles 9-yard line with Brady set up in the shotgun. He gets sacked (split between Deondre Barnett and Javon Hargrave) and the Bucs have to settle for a Ryan Succop 34-yard field goal. With 2:33 left before halftime, Hurts has the Eagles on the move getting the team down to the Bucs 21. Looking for wide receiver DeVonte Smith in the end zone, Hurts pass is intercepted by safety Mike Edwards ending the Philly bid to put points on the board. Still, the Eagles knew they would have the ball to start the third quarter hoping they could continue moving the ball. It didn’t happen.

 

The Eagles punted after 6-plays on their first possession of the second half. Once again, the defense did their part getting the Bucs to punt after 3 plays. The Philadelphia special team sabotaged them on the very next play. Back to receive the punt, Jalen Reagor has the ball tip off his hands and the ball is recovered by Tampa’s Russ Cockrell. 5-plays later, Brady finds his favorite tight end Rob Gronkowski for the 2-yard touchdown reception (24-0) cementing the victory. It was the 15th time Brady and Gronkowski connected for a playoff touchdown. The most among a quarterback/receiver tandem in NFL history. Tampa added 7 more (31-0) after another Hurts interception led to a Brady to wide receiver Mike Evans 36-yard touchdown pass.

 

The Eagles avoided a shutout after running back Boston Scott rumbles 36-yards for their first touchdown. They would add another late in the fourth quarter when Hurts connects with running back Kenneth Gainwell for a 16-yard touchdown reception in the 31-15 loss

 

Brady (29-37, 271 yards, 2 td’s) set a Tampa postseason record with 29 completions. Mike Evans joined him hauling in 9 catches. Hurts finished his day 23-43, 1 td and 2 int’s.

 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the New England Patriots (led by Brady) in 2004 and 2005.