Bucs Lose Their First Game Of The Season To Eagles

By Lily Belcher

The Bucs suffered their first loss of the season in a 25-11 defeat by the Philadelphia Eagles Monday night after a weak offensive showing cost the Bucs their undefeated record.

Tampa Bay had 174 total yards compared to the Philadelphia, who nearly tripled the Bucs’ production with 472 total yards. Monday night’s total was the lowest from Tampa Bay’s offense since 2014. Quarterback Baker Mayfield connected with his receivers on just 15 of his 25 attempts, including five receptions by veteran wide receiver Mike Evans.

“We just have to be better on offense as a whole. I got to be better taking advantage of just different outlets and things that I have early on,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield’s failure to connect with Evans was a crucial point for the Bucs, who has scored three of the team’s four receiving touchdowns this season.Mayfield attempted a long pass to Evans with seven minutes to go in the third quarter, but it slipped from the receiver’s hands as it rained in Tampa.

The Bucs scored a field goal in their quiet first half before giving up their first turnover of the season. Mayfield threw an interception to Eagles safety Reed Blankenship, intended for wide receiver Chris Godwin, inside the Tampa Bay 40-yard-line with just over two minutes to go in the half.

With the Eagles threatening inside the red zone, linebacker Devin White intercepted Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts but Mayfield’s hesitation cost the Bucs a competitive drive in the final minutes. Mayfield struggled to get out of the pocket throughout the game, taking a sack for 11-yards and fumbling the ball.

The fumble gave the ball back to Philadelphia, who converted the turnover for a field goal, giving the Eagles a 13-3 lead at the end of the first half. Tampa Bay had two turnovers in three snaps in the final minutes of the half.

Both teams came out with a renewed offense, but the Eagles had the edge, tacking on a touchdown, safety and field goal to bring their final score to 25. Mayfield and Evans began to connect in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late against the defending NFC champions. Evans moved the ball down the field in the Bucs’ final possession with two deep receptions for a total of 46-yards, including a one-handed grab.

“We just got into a little tempo. Mike [Evans] made a couple really good plays, an incredible catch in the air. Just taking advantage of numbers and playing fast,” Mayfield said. “Unfortunately, we screwed ourselves. We were too far behind at that point.”

Mayfield completed a short, 1-yard pass to Evans in the end zone for Tampa Bay’s first and only touchdown of the night.

The loss to the Eagles comes ahead of Tampa Bay’s trip to New Orleans, where they will face the division rival Saints on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“Disappointing as a whole just because we didn’t win the game. But, short week for us. We got divisional opponent coming up,” Mayfield said. “So, [we] got to look in the mirror, get things fixed and move on. [We] don’t got time to lick our wounds.”