This Matchup Never Seems To Favor Jalen Hurts
There are few things more daunting than the Eagles injury report at the moment, but the looming matchup in Tampa Bay in advance of the bye week looks like a monumental challenge. If there already weren’t a lot of things stacked against them, the history between Jalen Hurts and Buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles could be the origin story of a Marvel villain. How the Eagles will navigate the injuries while trying to solve the puzzle that Bowles has been will be fascinating.
How will they cover for all of these injuries?
The trip to New Orleans may have ended with a victory, but the injuries that occurred add to what was already a complicated situation. The Eagles have played the last two games without their star receiver AJ Brown and the results have been obvious. Brown unlocks the entire playbook for Kellen Moore and he still had the services of DeVonta Smith and Britain Covey to lean on.
This week will be a different story at Tampa. With Covey on IR and Smith recovering from a concussion they need other options to catch the ball. More Saquon in the slot could be an option and thankfully the Buccaneers rush defense has been problematic.
Running the ball could be an issue with both Lane Johnson and Mekhi Becton potentially being missing on the right side of the offensive line. Having quality replacements is important and Tyler Steen and Fred Johnson did a fantastic job. Tampa Bay will be game-planning to exploit their inexperience so Moore will have to adjust his plans.
The troubling math when Jalen Hurts faces off with a Todd Bowles defense
Jalen Hurts has faced off against Tampa in the regular season in 2021 and in 2023. In both of those years he ended up meeting them again in the playoffs. The bad news is that he has only managed to emerge victorious once. That 1-3 record is something that Hurts would like to improve on but it’s going to be tough. When raving a Bowles defense these are the ugly truths.
Hurts is 80/141 passing, translating to a 57% completion percentage that is below his career numbers. The Bowles defensive scheme has done a great job of showing one thing and then doing another. It has confused Hurts and caused him to turn the ball over repeatedly.
That is the next bad news. In those 4 career games Hurts has thrown 5 interceptions while passing for only 4 touchdowns. Worse yet, the passing yards he has accumulated have been mostly during garbage time. The team has fallen behind often and then against a soft defensive scheme Hurts has put up those empty-calorie yards.
What will Kellen manage to do?
The Buccaneers poor rush defense creates a window of opportunity, but without the potential threat of top receivers to create balance it might be easier to defend the Eagles backs. If he can come up with a plan that brings the Eagles to a 3-1 record before the bye he will deserve the game ball. Jalen needs to be the reason his team has a chance to win, not the reason that they lose.