Eagles-Buccaneers matchups to watch in Week 4

Eagles-Buccaneers matchups to watch in Week 4 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles (3-0) will travel to Tampa this weekend to face the Buccaneers (3-0) in a Week 4 game for the second year in a row.

Nick Sirianni is 1-4 against the Buccaneers since taking over as the Eagles head coach in 2021 and three of those losses have come at Raymond James Stadium.

Here are some key matchups to watch on Sunday:

Jalen Hurts vs. Todd Bowles’ blitzing defense

We know what this Buccaneers defense is going to do. Todd Bowles is going to blitz the heck out of Jalen Hurts.

Through the first three weeks of the season, the Bucs are seventh in the NFL in blitz rate at 35% but that’s probably going to increase this week. Bowles’ defense was third in the league in blitz rate in 2024 at 36.5% and in Week 4, they blitzed Hurts on 37.8% of his dropbacks.

Even though the Eagles have gotten better at dealing with blitzes over the last year or so, this game is going to be another test.

Here’s a look at Hurts’ numbers broken down by PFF in their Week 4 game against the Bucs in 2024:

Not blitzed: 6/10, 58 yards, 1 sack, 0 turnover worthy plays
Blitzed: 12/20, 100 yards, 1 TD, 5 sacks, 3 turnover worthy plays, 2 sacks, 1 lost fumble

There’s no doubt that if the Eagles are going to win this game, they’re going to need to find at least some success against Bowles’ blitzing defense. Hurts also has to keep an eye on Antoine Winfield Jr., who is an excellent safety. If Hurts makes a mistake, Winfield can make him pay.

Lane Johnson vs. Haason Reddick

There’s no doubt that the Eagles missed Lane Johnson when he exited Week 3’s game with a neck injury. The hope is that he’ll be back on the field in Tampa, although Fred Johnson eventually proved to be a good backup option, just like he did in 2024. Lane Johnson was a full participant in Thursday’s practice.

The Bucs obviously blitz a ton but they have some good players up front with Reddick and Yaya Diaby on the edges. Most of Reddick’s snaps come on the left side of the line, which sets up a battle against Johnson.

Since the Eagles traded Reddick to the Jets in April of 2024, Reddick’s career has not gone to plan. He held out with the Jets and eventually had just one sack in 10 games in 2024. But this season, he has one sack in three games and wants to show that he’s still a disruptive player. Now 31, Reddick had double digit sacks four stright seasons from 2020-2023.

Saquon Barkley vs. good run defense

Through three games, Saquon Barkley has 58 rushing attempts for just 194 yards and 2 touchdowns. His yards-per-carry average is down to 3.3 after he averaged 5.8 yards per carry during his 2,000-yard season in 2024.

What are the issues with the run game right now?

“I think when you look at the run game as a whole, when we line up and kind of identify what we’re trying to do, we’re getting different things this year than what we’ve gotten in the past,” Eagles OC Kevin Patullo said. “Saquon was such a big part of our offense last year. Everybody knows, ‘Hey, he’s a huge part of the offense.’ So it’s a matter of just kind of going in there and watching and seeing.

“I mean, we’ve had some good hits here and there, and we’ve been really, really close on a few to have an explosive run. I mean the touchdown that he had against Kansas City, if we were on the 50-yard line, it’s a 50-yard touchdown. I think it’s still there. It’s just been a little bit different the way it’s unfolded, and especially obviously the game the other day in the second half, we were in such a pass mode. It just didn’t happen.”

In the first three games, Barkley has made some really impressive shorter runs. His 4-yard run after a spin to move the sticks against the Rams was huge. But his longest run in three games is just 16 yards so he hasn’t been able to hit that home run yet. Barkley is seeing a stacked box on 29.3% of his runs this season, which is up from 20.6% in 2024, per NextGenStats.

The Buccaneers have a good run defense anchored by nose tackle Vita Vea. The Bucs are giving up just 84.0 rushing yards per game, which ranks sixth in the NFL and they stack the box 24.3% of the time (12th-highest rate).

Eagles DL vs. depleted Tampa OL

The Buccaneers are really banged up on their offensive line and it could be a major storyline in this game. There’s a chance they could be down 3 of 5 starting offensive linemen. They’ll definitely be without starting right guard Cody Mauch (knee) and starting right tackle Luke Goedeke (foot). And they have been without All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs (knee) for the first three games of the season.

Even if Wirfs is able to return for this game, he has missed significant time and might not be at the top of his game in his return. The Bucs were obviously holding out hope for a return by this week because they didn’t keep him on PUP or put him on IR. The Bucs moved Graham Barton from center to left tackle and then moved Ben Bredeson from left guard to center. So there have been some moving parts of this line.

Here’s the line the Bucs used in Week 3:

LT: Graham Barton
LG: Elijah Klein
C: Ben Bredeson
RG: Luke Haggard
RT Charlie Heck

The Eagles got just one sack on Matthew Stafford last week but the old veteran was getting the ball out pretty quickly. Vic Fangio said he didn’t think pressure was the issue against the Rams. 

Eagles secondary vs. Baker Mayfield

Since getting to Tampa in 2023, Baker Mayfield has saved his career. He was a Pro Bowler each of the last two seasons and has the Bucs off to a 3-0 start in 2025.

“The quarterback is playing really good,” Eagles DC Vic Fangio said this week. “He’s a scrambler. He scrambled, I think, 11 times this year for close to 120 yards already, so that’s always an issue. I’ve always liked [Buccaneers QB Baker] Mayfield. I think he’s a good quarterback. Why these teams that had him didn’t keep him, I don’t know. But GMs make mistakes, just like coaches do. I’ve always liked Mayfield. And their backs run hard and good, so they’ve got balance.”

In three games, Mayfield has completed just 61.6% of his passes but has 6 touchdowns to 0 interceptions and has already led the Bucs on three game-winning drives in three weeks.

His receivers are a bit banged up. He won’t have Mike Evans (hamstring) in this game and we’ll see if Chris Godwin (ankle) will make his 2025 debut. Godwin hasn’t played yet this season. The good news for the Bucs is that they drafted a receiver in the first round who is already looking like an absolute stud. Emeka Egbuka already has 14 catches for 181 yards and 3 touchdowns this season and is the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Even though Mayfield hasn’t yet thrown an interception this season, he will put the ball in harm’s way. ProFootballFocus has a useful stat called “Turnover Worthy Plays” and Mayfield already has seven through three games. The only quarterback in the NFL with more is Saints QB Spencer Rattler with 8. Mayfield through three games has had a TWP on 5.4% of his passing attempts, which ranks third in the NFL among 28 quarterbacks with at least 80 dropbacks. If the Eagles get their chances on Sunday, they have to take advantage of them.

With Adoree’ Jackson’s status up in the air with a groin injury and with Jakorian Bennett on IR, there’s a chance Kelee Ringo could start against the Bucs. Expect Mayfield to target him a ton if that’s the case.

Eagles run D vs. Bucs rushing attack

The Eagles’ run defense got a little leaky in the Week 3 win over the Rams. Kyren Williams ended up with 94 yards on 20 attempts (4.7 average) and Blake Corum had 8 for 53 (6.6 average) against Fangio’s defense. The Eagles’ run D got better as the game went on but the final numbers weren’t great.

“It was, as usual, a conglomeration of things,” Fangio said. “One, we could have been in better calls. Two, we could have played what we were in better. They do a good job blocking, got to give them credit. Their backs ran good. So, it was a little bit of everything.”

The Bucs aren’t a great running team. Second-year running back Bucky Irving has 174 rushing yards and is averaging just 3.1 yards per attempt. Through three games, Irving is averaging -0.7 yards over expected per attempt, which ranks 33rd among 40 qualified backs. So there’s a chance to get-right against the Buccaneers’ standard running game.

But as Fangio mentioned, Mayfield is a threat to escape. He’s second in the NFL behind just Patrick Mahomes in scramble yards with 118 on 10 attempts this season. We saw how much trouble Mahomes gave the Eagles scrambling in the first half of Week 2, so this is something to watch closely in Week 4.

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