These aren’t the same Eagles the Buccaneers beat in Week 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles are a greater staff than the one which misplaced to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6.

Nonetheless, there are many explanation why the defending Tremendous Bowl champions are 8 1/2-point favorites in Sunday’s NFC wild-card sport. Excessive amongst them is the actual fact the Bucs simply dealt with the Eagles within the staff’s first matchup.

The Buccaneers (13-4) constructed a 28-7 third-quarter lead in opposition to Philadelphia (9-8) and held on for a 28-22 victory on the highway in a Thursday evening sport on Oct. 14.

The loss led to a shift in offensive technique for the Eagles. They misplaced once more at Las Vegas the next week to fall to 2-5, however went 7-2 afterward to safe a playoff berth earlier than resting starters final Saturday evening in a 51-26 loss to Dallas.

“ that final (Tampa) sport, I really feel prefer it’s probably not the identical staff that we’ve acquired now. Gamers-wise, it’s fairly related, however the way in which we assault groups is totally totally different,” tight finish Dallas Goedert mentioned Wednesday.

Goedert and proper deal with Lane Johnson each missed the sport in October; the Bucs had been with out tight finish Rob Gronkowski.

“It began to show in that (Las Vegas) sport, so far as who we had been and what we had been doing,” coach Nick Sirianni mentioned.

Sirianni mentioned he and his employees used the additional days after the Tampa sport to rethink their strategy, constructing round a dominant offensive line and committing to the run. The Eagles ended up with the No. 1 dashing assault within the NFL, at 159.7 yards per sport.

In opposition to the Bucs, quarterback Jalen Hurts made performs along with his legs (10 carries, 44 yards), however Miles Sanders was the one Eagles operating again who noticed the ball. He ran 9 instances for 56 yards. Simply certainly one of Sanders’ carries got here within the first half.

Hurts, who at 23 will change into the youngest quarterback to begin a playoff sport for the Eagles, confirmed indicators of maturing as a passer down the stretch of his second season. He threw for less than 115 yards in opposition to the Bucs, compiling a 55.8 passer score that was his second-lowest of the season. Hurts’ final three appearances of the season featured passer scores of 110.4, 102.5 and 90.9.

Requested how totally different Hurts is now, Sirianni mentioned: “I feel considerably. ... Jalen is a pupil of the sport. ... He has excessive soccer character ... Guys which have excessive soccer character and guys who love soccer are going to achieve their ceiling.”

“It comes with time,” Hurts mentioned. “It comes with communication, and getting on the identical web page with everyone round you, coaches included. It’s been a course of.”

Whereas Hurts begins his first playoff sport, 44-year-old Tom Brady will make his forty sixth postseason begin. Brady, who has seven Tremendous Bowl rings, led the NFL in a number of classes this season, together with 5,316 yards passing.

Hurts wasn’t concerned about discussing the actual fact he was solely 3 when Brady made his playoff begin. Hurts appeared in 4 nationwide faculty playoffs at Alabama and Oklahoma.

“I’ve been on some very large levels,” mentioned Hurts, who didn’t bear in mind the primary time he watched Brady play.

Center linebacker T.J. Edwards mentioned the Eagles “clearly respect (Brady) and who he's ... but it surely doesn’t imply we’re scared, or something like that. ... Once you make it greater than what it's, that’s when errors and stuff occur.”

That final level was one Sirianni mentioned he noticed the late Kobe Bryant make in a video of the NBA Corridor of Famer speaking to his hometown Eagles in 2017 when Philadelphia went on to beat Brady and the Patriots within the Tremendous Bowl.

When Sirianni’s assistant, Tyler Scudder, confirmed Sirianni the video of Bryant this week, Sirianni mentioned he was struck by how the message dovetailed with what five-time Professional Bowl middle Jason Kelce had simply advised him.

“It was, ‘Hey, the basics and approach get amplified an increasing number of. ... Hyper-focus on the project and the basics,’” Sirianni mentioned.

“The depth goes to be actually, actually excessive. That's completely going to be there,” Kelce mentioned Wednesday. “And we already really feel that this week in apply. ... However actually, the identical issues that lose you video games within the common season lose you video games within the playoffs.

“Much more so within the playoffs, I might say, it comes all the way down to little, minute particulars, as a result of the video games are that a lot nearer, the groups are that a lot nearer.”

NOTES: The Eagles held a walkthrough as an alternative of a apply, so their harm report was an estimate. Amongst those that would have been “restricted” had been beginning guards Landon Dickerson (thumb) and Nate Herbig (ankle) and Sanders (hand) ... Requested what makes it powerful to dam Bucs DT Vita Vea, Kelce mentioned: “He’s monumental, he’s quick and he’s good.”

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