On Second Watch: Eagles-Bucs Was A Weather Game

The Buccaneers handled the extreme heat better than the Eagles.

Sep 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; a Philadelphia Eagles fan looks on during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Weather games are synonymous with professional football.

For whatever reason when you say that most automatically jump to winter and January in Green Bay or some other frigid condition over the years with legendary games like the Ice Bowl at Lambeau Field or the Freezer Bowl at the old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati where the wind chill was reported at minus-59 at one point.

The most recent example of a weather game in Philadelphia would be Shady McCoy’s dominance in the famed “Snow Bowl” route of Detroit during the 2013 season.

Few equate extreme heat as “weather games” but that’s exactly what the Eagles’ 33-16 loss to Tampa Bay was with temperatures that soared into the mid-90s and a heat index that reached 110 on the field due to the oppressive humidity in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Both teams had to play in it but common sense says the one who spends more time in the climate is better prepared for it just like those Packers have the edge on the Miami Dolphins coming to Titletown late in the season.

Safety Reed Blankenship, defensive tackle Jalen Carter, center Cam Jurgens, and cornerback Darius Slay were among the Eagles players who had issues with the conditions. Jurgens and Carter were specifically sent to the locker room for IVs to deal with cramps. 

“Gassed ain’t the word. We lost a lot of fuel, man,” safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson said after the game. “That’s something we gotta prepare ourselves for training wise. We did everything we could, but the heat beat us today. 

“Obviously, that team came out and played their game. Great credit to Tampa.”

Gardner-Johnson is no stranger to the extreme heat. He’s a Sunshine State native who played his college ball at the University of Florida.

The Bucs are also the perfect team to explore this idea further. An expansion team in 1976, Tampa Bay didn’t even win a game with a temperature under 40 degrees for 26 years, losing 21 straight before winning at Chicago in Week 17 of the 2002 season. 

Unfortunately for Eagles fans, the Bucs made it two in a row a few weeks later in the 2003 NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia. 

Conversely, Tampa is much better at dealing with the heat than most Northern “weather” cities like Philadelphia.

In August of 2022, the Eagles traveled to Miami for what turned out to be one joint practice in the stifling heat and humidity of South Florida.

Famed for “winning” joint practices in the Nick Sirianni era, the Eagles were blitzed that day after Miami emerged from stretching in the air-conditioned indoor practice field at the Baptist Health Training Complex ready to greet a Philadelphia team that was being sapped on its energy out in the sunlight.

There are bigger reasons that the Eagles were routed in Tampa beginning with the absence of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Lane Johnson but don’t dismiss the weather.

“Heat got to us today,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Shoutout to Hurricane Helene. She left the aftermath. That’s not something you can prepare for. 

“You can take as many IVs as you want, and do what you need to do. But it’s one of those games where you gotta continue to stay hydrated and keep on it.”

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