We are going a different route this week and selecting a coach instead of an opposing player to stop. Bucs’ head coach Todd Bowles has had some great success against the Eagles and Jalen Hurts, who is 1-3 in his career against Tampa Bay’s defensive guru, with two of those three losses coming in the Wild Card round of the playoffs by a combined 63-24 score. Bowles’ defense held Hurts and the Eagles’ offense to three touchdowns in those playoff losses—with two of the three coming when Tampa Bay was leading 31-0 in the Bucs’ 31-15 Wild Card round victory that ended the Eagles’ 2021 season.
Bowles will attack Hurts, who has been better against the blitz this season. With Eagles’ All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson possibly out, it makes Bowles’ defensive schemes more potent.
Eagles’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore got a chance to pour over the leaks in last year’s gameplan when the Bucs demolished the Eagles, 32-9, in the playoffs and had Hurts running for his life the entire night.
“Obviously, they had a pressure plan associated with stopping the run and putting a lot of stress on the protection game,” Moore said. “So, Todd is always going to have his different flavors. He’s going to play us, there may be some stuff that falls back on that and there may be some new components that he’ll pull out and try to stress you in different ways because he knows you’ll be anticipating those.
“He does an excellent job. When I was at other places, we’ve played him multiple times and every game seems to be a different flavor. It’s not necessarily whether he won or lost, it’s going to be a different flavor and different challenge each and every week. We have to do a good job of having our answers and understanding our tools and the adjustments that we may or may not need to make.”
Hurts has had problems protecting the ball. He enters the game with 26 turnovers since 2023, which, regrettably, leads all NFL quarterbacks in that span. Over the last two seasons, Hurts has thrown an NFL-high 19 interceptions and lost seven fumbles. As a team, the Eagles are minus-4 this season and ranked tied for No. 31 in turnover ratio. Of Hurts’ four interceptions this season, two have come in the end zone.
The last time the Eagles won the turnover battle (2-1) in a game was in their 21-17 victory at Kansas City on Nov. 20, 2023, when Patrick Mahomes threw an interception and Travis Kelce lost a fumble in Week 11. Since then, the Eagles have either tied (against San Francisco and in the Tampa Bay playoff loss neither team turned the ball over) or lost the turnover battle in each game, turning the ball over 20 times and causing seven turnovers for a minus-13 over their last 11 games.
With the strong possibility of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith out, along with Johnson, Hurts will have his issues relying on Parris Campbell, Jahan Dotson and Johnny Wilson in their place. Tight end Dallas Goedert is coming off a career game in which he caught 10 passes for 170 yards—and made the play of the game with his 61-yard reception with 1:05 to play on a third-and-16 at the Eagles’ 35.
And according to Pro Football Focus, Hurts is seeing the field better and recognizing blitzes. In 2023, of his 268 dropbacks against the blitz, he completed 63.1%, with 9 touchdowns, against 8 interceptions and was sacked 17 times (6.3%). This season, under Moore, his 38 dropbacks against the blitz have produced 72.7% completions, with 1 TD, 1 interception and he was sacked twice (5.3%).
Bowles will no doubt try to force Hurts into uncomfortable situations, like pushing him left and making him throw across his body. Moore says he is prepared for that.
“Obviously any quarterback that is right-handed, you’re naturally going to roll out at times when you get off-schedule to your right,” Moore said. “Jalen has done a phenomenal job of continuing to build confidence and comfort level in that. I thought he had a few good examples. Again, this is a couple weeks in a row where not getting out-of-the-pocket, hanging in the pocket within time and when he has to scramble, he scrambles, and he found [RB Kenneth Gainwell] Kenny on one down the left sideline. He found [WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty on the left side. Both good examples of when he got into a scramble drill to his left, found a completion and still remained a passer. Those were big-time plays.”
