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The team owner Jeffrey Lurie brought in the former Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, a little-known candidate at the time.Īfter losing five of their first seven games, the Eagles won six of their final eight and clinched a playoff berth as the second team in the N.F.C. Pederson had coached Philadelphia to a Super Bowl win in the 2017 season. After his third-quarter touchdown, Evans did a back flip into the end zone, appearing to end any questions about his health.Īfter a 4-11-1 season in 2020 that was derailed by injuries and struggles by the starting quarterback Carson Wentz, the Eagles fired their head coach, Doug Pederson, whose relationship with Wentz had deteriorated. He caught nine passes for 117 yards on Sunday. That left Evans, Brady’s third receiving target, who had been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury. Antonio Brown, whom Brady lobbied for the team to sign last season, was recently released by the team. Chris Godwin, the Buccaneers’ threatening slot receiver, tore his anterior cruciate ligament against the Saints in December. Tampa Bay’s All-Pro offensive lineman, Tristan Wirfs, injured his ankle early in Sunday’s game. The team's top running back, Leonard Fournette, has missed time with an ankle injury.

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Despite having one of the most talented rosters in the league (five Pro Bowlers and two players on All-Pro teams), Tampa Bay faced injuries to key players on both sides of the ball all season. The Buccaneers marched to a Super Bowl victory last season with one of the healthiest rosters in the postseason, and they returned most of those players this season.

Hurts dumped the ball instead to running back Miles Sanders for a 1-yard gain, and the Eagles were forced to punt. In the first half, Hurts missed the rookie receiver DeVonta Smith, who was open on a crossing route on third-and-long. He missed several reads on open receivers and was consistently pressured by Tampa Bay’s defense, which blitzes more than most other teams in the league. He completed 23 of 43 passes for 258 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Hurts struggled in the first playoff start of his young career. So Tampa Bay eliminated Philadelphia’s strength, loading up against the run and daring quarterback Jalen Hurts to throw downfield. Philadelphia built its offensive identity on running the ball in the regular season, finishing as the league’s top rushing team. The Buccaneers knew what the Eagles liked to do. “When you have a chance to shut somebody out, you don’t relax,” he said. One of Coach Bruce Arians’s main criticisms on Sunday was that his team did not hold the Eagles scoreless. The Buccaneers drove with ease and stopped Philadelphia’s attempts at scoring almost as effortlessly.