Buccaneers vs. Eagles: What's the Game Plan for Philadelphia?

The Philadelphia Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field as they try to rebound following a defeat to the Miami Dolphins last week.

The Eagles sit a half game behind the New York Giants after they blew a 13-point first-quarter lead against the Dolphins. Through 10 weeks, Philadelphia is still alive in the division with a 4-5 record. With the Giants on their bye week, the Eagles have the chance this weekend to even the score.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming into Week 11 following a 10-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Lovie Smith's team has now won three of its last five games. But the Buccaneers have not won back-to-back games in two years. At 4-5, the NFC South is likely out of reach for Tampa Bay as the Carolina Panthers continue to roll and remain undefeated. 

Additionally, the Eagles are trying to beat Tampa Bay for the fourth straight time. Philadelphia will fight not to lose two straight games like it did to start the season. With a loss, the Giants would take a one-game lead over their rivals.

Let’s take a look at the strategies and matchups the Eagles should utilize against Tampa Bay this Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Offensive Game Plan

Philadelphia’s offense lacks a true go-to performer as different players step up and put together breakout performances every week. Against the Buccaneers, tight end Zach Ertz should be a focal point of the offense.

Last week, Philadelphia’s tight ends caused problems throughout the game for Miami’s defense. Brent Celek resurfaced for a 134 yards on only four catches, including a 60-yard catch-and-run on the first offensive play of the game for the Eagles. Ertz finished with a more modest 68 yards on seven catches.

Although Ertz did not put together a huge game last week, the 25-year-old has been one of Philadelphia’s more consistent performers throughout the season. The tight end is the team’s second leading receiver with 382 yards on 36 grabs.

The Stanford product should be able to capitalize on Tampa Bay’s inability to cover the middle of the field. Part of the Bucs' struggles comes down to inside linebacker Kwon Alexander. In Smith’s Tampa 2 defensive formation, the rookie linebacker looks lost dropping deep into coverage. In fact, their defense has been tagged for a few big games already this season by tight ends.

The Washington Redskins' most dangerous weapon against Tampa Bay back in Week 6 was Jordan Reed. The pass-catching tight end scored two touchdowns, including the game-winning score on a slant route. Kirk Cousins found Reed for a total of 72 yards on the day.

Ertz basically operates in the same fashion as Reed for head coach Chip Kelly’s offense, as he can line up all over the field to create matchup problems for the opposing defense. Additionally, quarterback Mark Sanchez already looks like he has chemistry with Ertz. The quarterback found him for a 22-yard touchdown last week against Miami, but Riley Cooper committed a penalty to nullify the score.

Starting his first game of the season, Sanchez will need a safety blanket, and Ertz is a reliable target due to his large pass-catching radius. Last week, Jason Witten showed his ability to be an efficient option against the Buccaneers. Matt Cassel found his tight end five times, on only five targets, for 42 yards.

Look for Ertz to be a big factor this weekend with his 10.6 yards per catch against a Tampa Bay defense that struggles to cover tight ends.

Defensive Game Plan

The Buccaneers earned the unglamorous award of the first overall pick in the draft last year with a 2-14 record. Then with that right to pick to whomever they wanted, Tampa Bay decided to select Jameis Winston.

With the rookie quarterback under center, the team already has twice as many wins through just nine games this season as it did last season. Winston is 164-of-285 for 2,159 yards. Last week, he put the team on his back and led a 56-yard drive to win a 10-6 game over the Dallas Cowboys on a one-yard touchdown run.

Playing with a rookie quarterback also comes with its positives and negatives. So far this season, Winston has 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Back in Week 4, Carolina preyed on his inexperience, as the Panthers intercepted Winston four times.

The quarterback went on a run of four games without an interception before last week. Then the Cowboys picked off two of Winston’s passes. Inconsistency is natural for rookie quarterbacks, and Philadelphia needs to force him into poor decisions.

Billy Davis’ defense already forced 12 interceptions and eight fumbles this season. Philadelphia’s defense should put Winston under pressure this Sunday to force mistakes.

Last week, Philadelphia sacked Ryan Tannehill four times, including Walter Thurmond’s in the end zone. The safety blindsided the quarterback and sent the ball out the back of the end zone for a safety. Creatively designed blitz packages should be able to catch Winston off guard this weekend.

With the offense in flux, Philadelphia needs its defense to come up big and put Sanchez and company in favorable positions.

Player and Matchup to Watch

DeMarco Murray

Philadelphia’s backfield duo of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews has caused problems for opposing defenses the last few weeks, but now Mathews will be out due to a concussion, according to the team's injury report.

In his absence, Murray will need to step up and handle almost the entire workload out of the backfield. The former Cowboy is not going to match his 1,845 yards from last season, but he is starting to adjust to Kelly’s offense. The NFL’s leading rusher from a year ago led the Eagles with 22 carries for 61 yards last week.

But the Buccaneers' defensive line may cause problems against Philadelphia’s struggling offensive line. The Eagles could not get past Ndamukong Suh last Sunday, and Tampa Bay’s Gerald McCoy could cause similar problems this weekend.

The Eagles need to get their star running back involved in as many ways as possible this weekend. Philadelphia utilized Murray as a receiver out of the backfield last week, as he caught six passes for 58 yards. In fact, Murray is the team’s third leading receiver with 35 catches on the year.

Murray is used to a heavy workload, and the former feature back will likely relish the opportunity to carry the burden this Sunday.

Prediction

Philadelphia is a higher-profile team than Tampa Bay, but the Eagles have been anything but consistent this year. Both teams come into Week 11 with the exact same record of 4-5 but with complete opposite expectations for the season.

The NFC East is still available for the taking, but the Eagles cannot afford to keep squandering their opportunities to move up. This weekend presents Kelly and his team the opportunity to close the gap completely with New York, and a loss would mean they will have wasted yet another chance to get their season back on track.

This week, the Eagles will face the seventh-ranked defense in the NFL. Tampa Bay held the Cowboys to six points, but Dallas scored 27 against the Eagles the week before. Philadelphia will need to limit Mike Evans and company in order to take care of business at home.

Scoring may be at a premium this weekend for both teams. The Eagles' aggressive defense will make life difficult for Winston. Look for one of Philadelphia’s safeties to come up with a big interception as the quarterback hopes for one of his big targets to bail him out on a bad throw.

On the other side, Philadelphia’s offense will be without two key contributors. As previously mentioned, Mathews will be out with a concussion, but Sam Bradford will be sidelined with a concussion as well, per the team’s injury report.

In their absence, the responsibility will fall to Mark Sanchez and DeMarco Murray. Murray will relish the opportunity to be the spotlight player and rush for over 100 yards and two touchdowns this weekend.

Sanchez’s involvement in the offense brought new life to the unit last week, as it moved down the field with pace. However, the quarterback continues to still make key mistakes. Sanchez will turn the ball over this weekend, but the Eagles will survive by relying on Murray in crucial situations.

Both teams enter the game on even ground, but Philadelphia’s need to win will give it the edge. The Buccaneers are still a rebounding team that has no chance of winning the division. Meanwhile, the Eagles were a hot pick to win the Super Bowl at the start of the season, and they need a victory at home this weekend to inch closer to a playoff spot.

Prediction: Eagles 24, Buccaneers 21