Eagles dominate Bucs in battle of unbeatens

TAMPA, Fla. — The Philadelphia Eagles went on the road and dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3’s lone game to feature two unbeaten teams.

The Eagles’ defense stifled the Bucs in the 25-11 win Monday night. Philadelphia flexed its muscles on offense as well — which was highlighted by running back D’Andre Swift‘s second straight game over 100 yards on the ground.

Philadelphia Eagles (3-0)

The Eagles delivered their most impressive win of the young season on a night where quarterback Jalen Hurts was not feeling his best.

Hurts had flu-like symptoms hit him right before the game, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He had an up-and-down night against the Bucs, rushing and throwing for a score but also tossing a pair of interceptions. He finished 23 of 37 passing for 277 yards.

The defense generated a pair of takeaways, and the Eagles’ ground game rushed for 201 yards against a run defense ranked fourth coming into Monday, allowing just 54 yards per game.

Hurts and the Eagles still haven’t played their best ball, but they’re sitting pretty as one of only three unbeaten teams left.

Promising trend: The Eagles entered as the No. 2 rushing offense in the NFL (178 yards per game), and they once again dominated on the ground. Swift followed up a career-best performance against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 (175 rush yards) with another monster performance, racking up 130 yards on 16 carries. He has officially emerged as Philadelphia’s lead back after two touches in the season opener.

Pivotal play: Rookies Jalen Carter and Sydney Brown both provided big-time plays on the defensive side of the ball in critical moments. Brown, the hard-charging safety out of Illinois, erased what appeared to be an easy Mike Evans touchdown midway through the second quarter by closing on the ball and forcing an incompletion in the corner of the end zone. Carter’s impressive start to his career continued when he stripped an unsuspecting Rachaad White after making a catch over the middle later in the quarter. Carter is making an early case for Defensive Rookie of the Year, and this year’s draft class overall is showing strong early returns.

Eye-popping stat: Hurts now has the most rushing touchdowns in a quarterback’s first 50 career games (29), surpassing Cam Newton (28) on Monday in his 48th game.

Next game: vs. Washington Commanders (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)

On a night where the defense notched two takeaways and made multiple red-zone stops for the Bucs, the offense couldn’t hold up its end of the deal.

Case in point: Backup cornerback Dee Delaney, who stepped in for an injured Jamel Dean, intercepted Jalen Hurts at the Tampa Bay 1-yard line with 3:46 to go in the third quarter, and one play later, running back Rachaad White was stuffed up the gut for a safety. It was that kind of night in a game the Bucs hoped would be a measuring stick.

But instead, the Eagles outgained the Bucs in total yards 472 to 174.

QB breakdown: Baker Mayfield and his receivers struggled much of the night. Mike Evans and tight end Cade Otton both had early drops, and safety Sydney Brown made a terrific diving play to dislodge the ball from Evans’ hands in the end zone. Then just before halftime, Mayfield tossed his first interception of the season on a pass intended for Chris Godwin. Mayfield and Evans would get going in the fourth quarter though, connecting on 24 and 22-yard passes, before Evans hauled in a 1-yard touchdown — his third touchdown in three games.

Troubling trend: The Bucs’ worst-ranked ground game from 2022 isn’t showing signs of getting any better, with just 41 rushing yards on 17 carries for an average of 2.1 yards per carry.

Silver lining: The defense. With White playing with an injured groin, Dean leaving the game with a shoulder injury and no cornerback Carlton Davis because of a toe injury, the unit limited the Eagles, who had scored five red-zone touchdowns heading into Week 3, to scoring a touchdown once in five trips to the red zone.

Next game: at New Orleans Saints (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox)