Buc Wild

Nine months after their decisive Wild Card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, the Philadelphia Eagles were again throttled Sunday, 33-16.

Trailing 24-0 in the second quarter, the Eagles briefly made it interesting with consecutive touchdowns by Parris Campbell and Hurts. But with the margin trimmed to 10 and Philly seemingly with some momentum, Mayfield converted two key third downs with a 10-yard scramble and a 15-yard completion to Chris Godwin. Those led to a touchdown run by Bucky Irving.

The Eagles kept it interesting when Isaiah Rodgers blocked the Bucs’ extra-point attempt, and Kelee Ringo scooped up the ball and ran it back 60 yards to make the score 30-16. But Hurts was sacked and fumbled on Philly’s next possession to essentially end the game late in the third quarter.

A three-score comeback was too much to ask for in the sweltering heat (94 degrees) and humidity in Tampa left over from last week’s Hurricane Helene. Especially considering the Eagles were playing without offensive stars Lane Johnson, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

The Eagles trailed 14-0 after Mayfield engineered two long scoring drives and completed 13 of his first 14 passes. They remain the only team in the NFL without a point in the first quarter. And if missed tackles on defense and offensive dropped passes and penalties weren’t enough, the special teams chipped in as well with rookie Cooper DeJean’s muffed punt setting up Tampa at Philly’s 22 and an ensuing touchdown that made it 21-0.

Down 24-0, the Eagles temporarily stopped the bleeding when Hurts hit Campbell on a fourth-down touchdown pass 1:54 before halftime. Saquon Barkley’s 59-yard on the first possession of the second half set up Hurts’ score and made it a game.

But unlike last week in New Orleans, Philly couldn’t produce a comeback.