Week 6 of the NFL season started with a last-quarter thriller between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles, with the reigning champions surviving a scare in the fourth quarter to walk away with a win.
The matchup had heavy pregame favoritism for the Buccaneers, but they had to keep on their toes throughout the fourth quarter in order to guarantee a third straight win. Tampa Bay survived a late comeback attempt from the home team and kept the fight for the number one seed in the NFC very much alive.
NFL Thursday Night Football: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Philadelphia Eagles
The difference between an elite, experienced quarterback and a young passer who's still in his 10 games at the professional level was evident.
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For most of the game, Tom Brady was calm and collected in the pocket, picking apart an Eagles secondary that seemed incapacitated to limit the depth of the Buccaneers' passing offense. Antonio Brown himself had a day, with nine catches for almost 100 yards, proving that he's back to his very best once again.
Jalen Hurts had a rough night. He missed lots of easy throws because of his inaccuracy, and with Brady playing at a very high level, plus a fantastic exhibition by Leonard Fournette, it became easy for Tampa Bay to score. At one point in the third quarter, the scoreboard said 28-7 for the visitors.
The Eagles may not have been excellent against the Buccaneers last night. Nevertheless, they kept fighting until the end. Philadelphia scored two touchdowns in a row to make the game 28-22, but they couldn't get the last stop to have one last possession.
Tom Brady was fantastic on the last drive of the game once again, making two good third-down conversions and enjoying an Eagles' taunting call to burn the clock and win the game.
The concerning trend for the home team has to be the lack of a running game once again. Miles Sanders finished the first half with a single carry. Philadelphia need to learn how to run the ball, or else they'll continue to lose games this season.
Final score: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-22 Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' top performers:
- QB: Tom Brady (34/42, 297 yards, 2 TDs)
- RB: Leonard Fournette (22 carries, 81 yards, 2 TDs)
- WR: Antonio Brown (9 catches, 93 yards, TD)
Philadelphia Eagles' top performers:
- QB: Jalen Hurts (12/26, 115 yards, TD, INT)
- RB: Miles Sanders (9 carries, 56 yards)
- WR: Quez Watkins (3 catches, 44 yards)
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