The Philadelphia Eagles could've been on top of the NFC East division with a win on Sunday afternoon. Instead, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew them out by the score of 45-17 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston tied a rookie record with five touchdown passes, and running back Doug Martin rushed for over 200 yards against the Eagles defense as Tampa Bay came away with a convincing victory over Philadelphia.
For what it's worth, the Eagles scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. On third play of the game for the Eagles offense, running back DeMarco Murray fumbled and it was picked up by Bucs defensive end Jacquies Smith. However, on the same play, Brent Celek forced Smith to fumble and the Eagles regained possession. Seven plays later, Mark Sanchez connected with Josh Huff for a 39-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown, and Philadelphia took an early 7-0 lead.
That was the only lead the Eagles would have in this game. After back-to-back punts, a 58-yard run by Martin set the Bucs up with a first-and-goal. Two plays later, Winston threw a jump-ball up for Mike Evans, and the 6-5 receiver came away with a four-yard touchdown reception. The game was now tied up a 7-7.
After the Evans touchdown, the Eagles offense punted on three straight drives. In the meantime, Winston connected on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson. It was Jackson's first catch since missing the previous three games due to a knee injury. Two drives later, an 84-yard scamper by Martin gave the Bucs a first-and-goal on the one yard-line. A delay of game pushed them back five yards, but on third-and-goal, Russell Shepard scored on a six-yard touchdown pass from Winston. Tampa Bay was now up by the score of 21-7. Eagles cornerback Nolan Carroll was beat in man-overage on each of Winston's first three touchdown passes.
Trailing by two touchdowns, the Eagles offense desperately needed to put up some points on the ensuing drive, and they did just that. Huff had a nice kickoff return, and the Eagles took advantage of good field position. On the sixth play of the drive, running back Darren Sproles scored on a 35-yard screen pass from Sanchez.
The Eagles were now only down by seven points, but Tampa Bay dominated for the remainder of the game. Winston threw his fourth touchdown pass on a 16-yard reception by running back Charles Sims.
Down by 14 points, the Eagles offense had about a minute left to put up points by the end of the half. It looked like they were going to at least score a field goal, but Sanchez was intercepted for the first time of the game by linebacker Lavonte David.
Already leading by two touchdowns, the Bucs offense perfectly executed on a drive to start the second half. An eight-yard touchdown reception by Cameron Brate capped off an 80-yard drive, which lasted just under ten minutes of play. After an Eagles punt on the ensuing drive, Tampa Bay tacked on three more points after a made 28-yard field goal by Connor Barth.
Now trailing by 24 points, Sanchez and the Eagles offense were in way too deep of a hole in order to make any kind of a comeback. Before adding three points on a successful 43-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis, Bucs safety Chris Conte came away with a second interception of Sanchez.
On the second-to-last drive of the game for the Eagles offense, Davis came away with his second interception of Sanchez. This time, Davis returned it all the way back for a 20-yard pick-six, securing a 45-17 victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia.
At 4-6, Philadelphia still have a chance in a very winnable NFC East division, but a blowout loss like this will be tough for head coach Chip Kelly and the rest of the Eagles to come back from.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
