The Philadelphia Eagles’ implosion is complete, bowing out of the NFL playoffs with a 32-9 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild card round.
The loss to Tampa Bay was also Philadelphia’s third-straight and its sixth from their last seven games.
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It represents a remarkable fall from grace for the Eagles, especially since they were heavy Super Bowl favourites when they held a 10-1 record at one stage.
Philadelphia rarely looked like the well-oiled machine it was in the first half of the season against the Buccaneers.
They were held scoreless in three quarters and mustered just 275 total yards compared to Tampa Bay’s 426.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield enjoyed a stunning performance, throwing for 337 yards and three touchdowns en route to victory.
As for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, he threw for 250 yards but just the one touchdown.
It was a game to forget for Hurts, with Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert appearing to rip into the $AUD385 million star on the sidelines before being pulled away by backup QB Marcus Mariota.
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Speaking to reporters after the game, Goedert clarified he had made a mistake and was frustrated with himself, adding he has a “great relationship” with Hurts, who he says he has never had an argument with.
Elsewhere, centre Jason Kelce was visibly emotional after the game as speculation swirled it could be his last game in the NFL, which would bring an end to what has been an accomplished career for the Philadelphia veteran.
Tuesday’s defeat wrapped up a 13th season in the league for Kelce, a six-time first-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who won Super Bowl LII.
Serious questions will now be asked not just of Hurts, but Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni too.
Philadelphia’s inability to find a solution to the blitz was particularly puzzling given the Eagles had struggled the week prior against the Giants for that very reason and were this week coming up against Tampa Bay team that also blitzed the QB at a high rate.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Buccaneers sent six or more blitzers at Hurts on 25.6 per cent of his dropbacks on Tuesday, with the Philadelphia quarterback completing 5 of 10 passes for 11 yards and a touchdown against it, marking a 10 per cent dropback success rate.
Hurt was also under pressure in less than 2.5 seconds 13 times against the Buccaneers defence, tying a career-high while Tampa Bay generated 10 unblocked pressures, tied for the most in a game by any defence this season.
Having led Philadelphia to the Super Bowl last season and a 10-1 record this campaign, it has been a sharp decline for the franchise.
As for the Bucs, who claimed victory in the 2021 Super Bowl with Tom Brady at quarterback, they will now head to Detroit on Monday in the divisional round.
Tuesday’s victory marked a personal triumph for Bucs’ quarterback Mayfield, who entered the NFL in 2018 after being chosen by the Cleveland Browns with the No.1 pick in the Draft.
But the 28-year-old was jettisoned by the Browns in 2022 and struggled to rebuild his career during separate stints with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams before joining Tampa Bay in 2023.
“We’ve fought so hard to get in the playoffs to get to this point,” Mayfield said afterwards. “We came out and started fast and I’m so proud. We wanted to give ourselves a chance and we did just that.
“We can play better than we did tonight but it’s on to the next one. We’re on to Detroit.”
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