NFL

3 reasons why the Eagles were simply dominated by the Buccaneers Sunday

3 reasons why the Eagles were simply dominated by the Buccaneers Sunday
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The Eagles looked like wounded birds Sunday afternoon.

Looking to become a factor in the hunt for the playoffs, all Philadelphia needed was a win against the young and inexperienced Buccaneers.

Instead, a 45-17 setback and 4-6 record was a fitting reward for a futile and disoriented defense paired with an inconsistent and bland-looking offense.

The Eagles allowed 523total yards from Tampa, a team in the bottom third in offense heading into the game.

They also lost Zach Ertzto a concussion and relented on 10of 16third down opportunities for Jameis Winston and the Bucs.

Here are just three of the reasons Eagles fans were booing the home team at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday:

Where’s the defense?

Twice in the early going the Eagles relented long scoring marches to Winston and Tampa Bay, resulting in touchdown passes to Vincent Jackson and Evans respectively. The Birds looked futile against the screen game and vulnerable to the Buccaneers’ big wideouts.

A third Winston TD followed to Russell Shephard following Martin’s long 84-yard dart to bury the Eagles 21-7 midway through the third.

A fourth first-half touchdown was relented to Charles Sims of all people, who beat both Byron Maxwell and Mychael Kendricks to put the Bucs ahead 28-14at the half.

A Cameron Brate touchdown pass capped off a nearly 10-minute drive to start the second half and put the Eagles behind by three touchdowns.

In all Philly had its absolute worst showingdefensively all season.

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Self-inflicted wounds

Late in the first quarter, a costly Brandon Graham offsides penalty gave the Bucs a second try on third down, and gave Doug Martin a 58-yard run on a toss play. Instead of forcing a punt, the Graham blunder gave Tampa Bay a touchdown two plays later (an epic sideline overhead grab by Mike Evans).

Another big setback of the Eagles own doing came with second left in the second quarter, with the Eagles in field goal range and looking to pick off some of Tampa’s lead before halftime, Sanchez followed a near interception with an actual one, ending any hopes of quick points before the break.

The Eagles hurt themselves again in the third with 12 men on the field in the midst of a Tampa touchdown march right out of the locker room. (A key third and long conversion to Evans was a lowlight of the drive for Philly).

In his first start for the Eagles this year, Mark Sanchez really impressed no one (though he didn’t have much help). The eager to play QB went 26-for-41 for 261 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Hamster attack

The Eagles surrendered 283 rushing yards Sunday and couldn’t find a way to stop Tampa’s starting running back Martin.

The tailback fired off runs of 58 and 84 yards to set upa pair of Bucs touchdowns. In all, Martin had 235 yards on 27 carries, and his backup Charles Sims also contributed, compiling 43yards of his own.

The Bucsdominated in time of possession 35:54 to 24:06 (thought it was actually much worse before the Eagles ran quite a few garbage-time plays at the end of the game).

The Birds travel to Detroit for a Thanksgiving matchup against the suddenly hot Lions Thursday at 12:30 p.m.