Eagles-Bucs: Jalen Hurts Vs. Blitz Among 5 To Watch, With Final Score Prediction

Here are five players to watch, final score prediction, and more when the Eagles play another road game, this one in Week 4 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – This feels like a house money game, where the Eagles will be without DeVonta Smith and possibly receiver A.J. Brown and right tackle Lane Johnson.

By beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, they will be 3-1 heading into their bye. A loss and they are 2-2 with a week off. A .500 record isn’t bad scenario in an NFC East where the competition doesn’t look particularly overwhelming.

A .500 record also isn’t bad considering this will be the Eagles' third road game in their first four starts, a streak of road games stretching to five in seven games through October.

It’s a good thing, then, that head coach Nick Sirianni has the league’s second-best winning percentage on the road since 2021 when he took over for Doug Pederson as the Eagles’ head coach. He is 19-8 on the road in that time (.704 percent), trailing only Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs’ mark of 19-7 (.731) in that span.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Jalen Hurts. The quarterback has done well against the blitz so far, completing 71 percent of his passes, but defenses haven’t blitzed him as much as maybe they should have. Bucs coach Todd Bowles will, including what he calls the “big” blitz, where he will send six rushers. Hurts, his backs, and the offensive line must be on the same page.

Receivers. The Bucs have two of the best in Mike Evans – 10 straight seasons with 1,000 yards receiving - and Chris Godwin, who is tied for third with the most catches in the league through three games with 21 with eight of those catches coming on third downs that went for first downs. As for the Eagles receivers, who knows who they will be with Smith and maybe not Brown? Parris Campbell and John Ross will likely be elevated from the practice squad if Brown cannot play. Maybe both still get elevated if Brown does play...just in case.

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley at practice during Week 3 / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Saquon Barkley. Do we even need to say his last name at this point? Saquon has been good enough to lead the NFL in rushing with 351 yards and five touchdowns (four on the ground, one in the air). For all the talk of monitoring his touches to keep him healthy through the 17-game season, the Eagles need to ride him, at least for one more week, with uncertainty at receiver. After the bye, perhaps they can get Kenny Gainwell and Will Shipley more involved.

Jalen Carter. If the Eagles’ second-year defensive tackle can play every week like he did last week, he would be a sure-fire Hall of Famer. The Eagles would settle for an encore performance of a game in which he wreaked havoc beyond what the stat sheet shows, which included four takes, two tackles for loss, and two passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.

Cooper DeJean. With Britain Covey out for at least six weeks with a shoulder injury, the rookie defensive back will be the first man up to replace him as the punt returner. He averaged 13.1 yards on 31 punt returns in his final year at Iowa, with one touchdown. Still, Covey was arguably the best in the league at returning punts, so these are big shoes to fill.

BOLD PREDICTIONS

-Hurts’ streak of seven straight regular-season games win an interception ends.

-Saquon puts up his third 100-yard game with the Eagles against a Bucs run defense ranked 25th in the league.

GAME PREDICTION

This feels like a tough spot for the Eagles. The Bucs were whipped by the previously winless Broncos on their home field last week and Hurts is 1-3 against them in his career, though he won in the regular season here last year. The quarterback, however, seemed to relish the idea of other stepping up when he held his press conference earlier in the week. I’m riding a hunch.

Eagles 22, Bucs 20

Season record: 1-2

More NFL: Eagles Rule Out One Receiver, List Another As Questionable Vs. Bucs