  One of the key moments in the game came early in the first quarter. After a pass interference call on John Lynch in the end zone, the Eagles had the ball on the Buccaneers one yard line first and goal. They were unable to score on three consecutive plays and were left with a fourth and one when coach Andy Reid sent out his field goal unit. Instead of kicking the field goal the Eagles faked it with holder and backup quarterback Koy Detmer. Koy took the snap and rolled out to his right and lofted a pass to Smith, but the ball just glanced off his fingertips falling incomplete. What a momentum killer! It took the crowd out of the game. For Andy Reid, it was one of those calls that if the Eagles had converted he would be considered gutsy but because the Eagles were not successful he is going to be second-guessed for the call. The rest of the first quarter and all of the second was a defensive struggle. The only points scored in the first half was a 23-yard field goal by Martin Gramatica for a halftime score of: Bucs 3 and the Eagles 0. In the second half the Bucs' offense scored two touchdowns through the air to Joe Jurevicius. Each touchdown was more spectacular than the previous. The first came with 11:38 left in the third quarter. Brad Johnson threw a 13-yard pass to the corner of the end zone. Jurevicius using his height advantage was able to leap up and catch the ball then landed both feet in the end zone before falling out of bounds. That gave the Bucs a 10 to 0 lead over the Eagles and took whatever hopes they had of winning this game away. The next score came with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter. Brad Johnson threw a 7-yard pass to Jurevicius at the goal line. The ball was a little behind him, but Jurevicius was able to reach back and get a hand on the ball and tip it up into the air. He then dove to his left, located the ball and made a diving catch for a touchdown. Jurevicius seems to have his best games against the Eagles with the two touchdowns he scored on Monday Night Football and the 71 yard catch he made last year in the NFC championship game. To add insult to injury Warren Sapp also had a 14-yard reception on that final touchdown drive. Sapp has been lining up at tight end on occasions for the past two years. His duties had just been relegated to run blocking before tonight. After the Sapp reception, Lincoln Financial Field was very quiet and if you listened hard enough you could almost hear Rocky telling his trainer, "Cut me Mick!" The Eagles may have had Rocky on their side, but the Bucs Defense had the eye of the tiger. Monte Kiffin's defense was suffocating only allowing the Eagles 121 yards rushing and 124 yards passing for the game. Most of the yards came on one big play in the first quarter and the rest at the end of the game when the Bucs were in a prevent defense. The Bucs held the Eagles to 18% on third downs with them converting on 2 of 11 and 0% on fourth downs going 0 for 2. The Eagles also had no answer for Simeon Rice who had a big game rushing Donovan McNabb. Rice hit McNabb on numerous occasions and forced a fumble. He also recorded 3 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Nate Webster did a good job filling in for Shelton Quarles leading the team in tackles with 7. The final score was Bucs 17 and the Eagles 0. The Bucs looked great on both sides of the ball. They have seemed to pick things up from where they left off last season. It's very important they put this game behind them and get ready for a very physical Carolina team. My prediction is Buccaneers 24, Panthers 3. |
