Buccaneers roll through Eagles with ease, 31-15, in wild-card round
The Philadelphia Eagles scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the game appear close, but the reality is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dominated in a 31-15 win Sunday to kick off their attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
Tom Brady finished with 29 completions on 37 attempts with 271 yards and two touchdowns. The Buccaneers' ground game found success, too, despite being without running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones. The combination of Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Giovani Bernard rushed for 97 yards with one touchdown each.
It was the defense that put the game out of reach, however. Philadelphia's vaunted rushing attack couldn't find any room until the fourth quarter, and Jalen Hurts was intercepted twice by the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers will advance to face either the Dallas Cowboys or the winner of the Monday night game between the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams.
The concern for Tampa Bay is that their injury issues didn't get any better Sunday. The Buccaneers were without several playmakers and lost All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs to an ankle injury. The severity of the injury is still unknown, but Wirfs attempted to return to the game but was clearly hobbled.
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