Week 6 kicks off with Thursday night’s matchup between the Eagles and the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers.
The Eagles have a little bit of momentum on their side for this game, as they got their first win since Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday. The Buccaneers are a completely different animal, though as they feature Tom Brady and an incredibly potent offense. Tampa Bay is coming off a decisive win against the Dolphins last week, where Brady threw for five touchdowns. The Eagles will have to be on top of things defensively if they want a home victory here.
Here is TGH’s preview of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Improve the passing game
Jalen Hurts did not throw a touchdown last week against the Carolina Panthers. This is going to have to change this week as Tampa Bay ranks second in offense in the League. They rank third in the league in points per game, averaging 33.4 points. Hurts is going to have to be careful with the ball and not throw any bad interceptions into coverage like he did last week against Carolina.
The receivers will also need to help Hurts out. Philadelphia noticeably dropped a few big passes last week against Carolina. They will need to hold on to the ball and avoid these fixable mistakes. Their best chance is to use little of Tampa Bays own medicine on them, which is the play action game and maybe find  one of their big tight ends in Zach Ertz or Jack Stoll down the field, as Dallas Goedert is out due to Covid protocol.
Keep up the defensive pressure
The Eagles had one of their best defensive games of the year on Sunday. Three different Eagles got sacks last week, which was instrumental in the win.
Javon Hargrave has been the most reliable player in this Category as he has six sacks on the year. Hargrave will be a key player this week in bringing pressure to Tom Brady. Fletcher Cox has not produced as much as previous years thus far, but maybe that sack last week will get him going.
Another aspect of the Eagles defense that stood out last week was their ability to force turnovers. Darius Slay had 2 interceptions in the game against Carolina. This resulted in points for the Eagles, which they will definitely need this week in bunches. If the Eagles can force at least two turnovers against this Tampa offense, then they should have a really good shot at winning this game.
Get the rushing attack going
The Eagles need to get Miles Sanders going this week.
Last week, the Eagles did a better job with giving him more reps, as he had 11 carries for 45 yards. This is a step up from the previous two  weeks, where he got less than 10 carries. Giving Sanders a lot of carries this week will put this Tampa Bay defense a little bit more on their heels, as they will probably be focusing more on Hurts and his quickness on his feet.
Kenneth Gainwell also needs to be utilized as well. He has given the Eagles sparks on offense when he has the ball, as he is quick and elusive. Sanders should get most of the carries in this game on the ground, but they should definitely keep utilizing Gainwell in the passing attack.
Final Prediction
For the Eagles to win this game they will need to be consistent passing and rushing the ball on offense. As for the defense, the Eagles main priority will be bringing pressure to Tom Brady and limiting Tampa Bay’s explosive plays on offense. Antonio Brown and Mike Evans should be the Eagles’ main focus within Tampa Bay’s passing attack. They both had 100 yards receiving a week ago and Philadelphia will need to focus on locking them down this week.
With that being said, Tampa Bay has the edge in most categories in this matchup. Philadelphia should keep it close for a lot of the game, but Tampa Bay’s offense will be too much and could end up winning by a couple touchdowns.
Prediction: Buccaneers- 35, Eagles- 21
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images.
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