Eagles-Bucs Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the Week 4 enemy

The Philadelphia Eagles are once again facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Can the Birds actually beat the Bucs this time?!

In order to preview this Week 4 matchup against an all too familiar opponent, I reached out to our enemies over at Bucs Nation. The excellent Evan Wanish kindly took the time to answer my questions about this upcoming battle. Let’s take a look at the answers. [For my answers to questions about the Eagles, stay tuned to Bucs Nation.]

1 – Are the Eagles at all intimidating to Bucs fans? Todd Bowles has owned the Birds since the Nick Sirianni/Jalen Hurts era began in 2021 with a 4-1 record in five meetings. But the Eagles are 19-1 in their last 20 games and Hurts is 17-0 in his last 17 games started and finished. The Eagles have played three close games to get to 3-0 … but so have the Bucs.

I think there’s certainly still a respect that Bucs fans have for the Eagles but at the same time, they do acknowledge Tampa Bay’s success against Philly lately. They are the defending Super Bowl champions for a reason and have been one of the NFL’s best teams over the last 3 seasons but it is interesting how much they struggle against Tampa.

So I don’t think Bucs fans feel invincible or anything facing the Eagles, but I do think there’s an increased confidence that the Bucs could find a way to win given the recent success in the matchup.

2 – The Bucs are pretty banged up. Can you take us through the biggest areas of injury concern and speak to the confidence level in the backups playing in place of missing starters?

The biggest concern right now is still the offensive line. You could make a case that it’s the receiving room with Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan out for this game and Chris Godwin potentially returning, but likely being on a snap count but Tampa Bay’s injuries along the offensive line have really dampened what they have tried to do on offense.

Last week against the Jets, the Bucs had just two starters on the offensive line and neither of those players played their natural position with Graham Barron lining up at left tackle instead of center and Ben Bredeson at center instead of left guard. You could certainly see an offensive line that was not as crisp and the amount of penalties they had was evidence. They are a pretty banged up group right now in more areas than one.

3 – What’s the biggest reason for Bucs optimism entering this game?

It’s probably Todd Bowles’ defense against Jalen Hurts. Tampa Bay’s unit has been solid to start the season and Bowles always seems to find a way to slow down Hurts regardless of the type of season he’s having.

However, the last two times these teams met, A.J. Brown did not play in either game and more specifically the last time these teams faced each other, DeVonta Smith and Lane Johnson also missed that game. It will be interesting to see how Bowles attacks Hurts and the Eagles offense with those pieces in place and how Philly tries to counter it.

4 – What’s an underrated strength and an underrated weakness of this Tampa team?

An underrated strength so far this season has been the Bucs pass defense. Cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Zyon McCollum on the outside have been very productive and Dean had a pick six last week. During the offseason Dean was someone who many people wanted to see the Bucs move on from but he’s making the team look pretty smart for holding onto him. Rookie corner Jacob Parrish has also been quite good in the slot for Tampa Bay as he continues to develop after being a third round pick in this year’s draft.

An underrated weakness probably isn’t even much underrated anymore because it’s starting to become a weekly issue and that’s special teams. Whether it’s missed kicks, big returns, block field goals or blocked punts, the Bucs special teams unit has been a story each week so far this season. I’d be willing to bet there’s a decent chance that Philly is going to be able to make a splash play or two on special teams this weekend.

5 – Who wins this game and why? With the Eagles currently listed as 3.5-point road favorites, what’s your score prediction?

Despite Tampa Bay’s injuries at important positions, I do still think this game is close. Like I said earlier, Todd Bowles just knows how to rattle Jalen Hurts and I think that plays a part in this game as well, but I also think the weapons Hurts will have will certainly help him.

Considering that and with the injuries the Bucs have along the offensive line and in the receiver room, I think this might just be too much. You can get away with beating bad or even average teams with the injuries they currently have, but facing a really good football team like Philly is a tall task. Give me the Eagles 24-17.