Eagles improve position after ugly loss to Buccaneers – NBC Sports Philadelphia

TAMPA – The Eagles got off to a terrible start Sunday at Raymond James Stadium and never recovered in a 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Under Nick Sirianni, the Eagles are now 1-4 against the 2021 Buccaneers. The Eagles are limping into an early 5-bye week with a 2-2 record.

Here are Sunday’s position scores:

quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 18/30, 158 yards, 1 TD, 85.1 rating; 8 attempts, 20 yards, 1 TD

In his postgame press conference, Hurts said he needs to play better, and he’s absolutely right. He struggled on Sunday without his top receivers AJ Brown (hamstring) and DeVonta Smith (concussion). In a game with no margin for error, Hurts missed too many throws and fumbled the football in the red zone as the Eagles were still trying to claw their way back into the game. This is his seventh turnover this season; it becomes a big problem.

Grade: D+

Run back

Saquon Barkley: 10 carries, 84 yards; 2 catches 32 yards

The Eagles had a couple of quick threes early in this game and it’s fair to wonder why they didn’t work on getting the ball to Barkley more often, especially on first downs. After only having 8 carries for 22 yards in the first half, he knocked down a 59-yarder early in the second half to give the Eagles some hope. There’s no doubt that Barkley has been one of the biggest bright spots through four games.

Grade: B

Recipient

Parris Campbell: 4 catches for 17 yards, 1 TD

The Eagles were without Brown and Smith in this game, so we face a bit of a difficult evaluation. The Eagles entered this game with Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, Parris Campbell and John Ross, and Wilson ultimately left the game to be evaluated for a concussion. Campbell led the way with 17 yards. Dotson has been with the Eagles for over a month and had just two catches for 11 yards in a game without their top two players. That’s not great.

Grade: C-

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 7 catches on 8 targets for 62 yards

Although Goedert didn’t follow up his 170-yard game in New Orleans with another all-time game, he was still productive. But the one target Goedert couldn’t catch was a drop that loomed early in the game. At that point, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going on offense, and that would have been a nice win. Grant Calcaterra also had a 26-yard catch.

Grade: B-

Offensive line

The Eagles missed Lane Johnson in that game and then lost Cam Jurgens to some cramps. The Eagles got off to a very slow start on the ground before Barkley missed a 59-yarder. Hurts was also sacked six times in the game. Not everything is at stake, but they could have done better.

Grade: C+

Defensive line

Brandon Graham: 2 tackles, 1 sack

The Eagles struggled in the running game, but they couldn’t completely shut it down either. Even though Baker Mayfield got the ball out quickly, they still didn’t come under much pressure. Two sacks for 13 yards – at least they came from Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat to get the Eagles’ edge rushers on the field this season.

Grade: C-

Linebackers

Nakobe Dean: 7 tackles, 1 TFL

After a really strong performance in New Orleans, this wasn’t a good game for Dean. He missed several tackles and was unable to cover the throwing lanes. Zack Baun also had a quiet day. We’re used to him filling up the stat sheet, but that wasn’t the case in this game with six tackles.

Grade: D-

Secondary

Darius Slay: 9 tackles, 1 pass breakup

Mayfield completed 30 of 47 passes for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns in this game and it wasn’t like it was a bomb away. Mayfield hit everything underneath and then allowed the Eagles to miss tackles and turn short gains into longer ones. The Eagles failed to get an interception in this game.

Grade: D

Special teams

Braden Mann: 5 punts, 282 yards, 1 touchback

The PAT blocked by Isaiah Rodgers and returned by Kelee Ringo for two points was a great play. But both plays fumbled early in the game as Cooper DeJean returned punts. Rodgers blocked his man against DeJean to force a fumble, and on another punt, Ringo found DeJean. Jake Elliott only hit two extra points in this game. Mann was a busy guy with five punts.

Grade: C-

Coaching

Record: 2-2

The Eagles didn’t look like a well-coached team on Sunday. They didn’t seem prepared at any stage against the Buccaneers, and that has to fall squarely on the shoulders of Nick Sirianni. Of course, there’s plenty of blame to go around after a loss like this, but Sirianni has to take the brunt of it. The Eagles got off to such a terrible start on Sunday that they were never able to recover. No promising play from Kellen Moore or Vic Fangio either. A tough start to the bye week.

Grade: F

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