Eagles avoid a meltdown in Tampa and stay unbeaten by holding off the Buccaneers, 31-25

Olivia Reiner, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 28, 2025

Published in Football

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TAMPA, Fla. — At long last, the Philadelphia Eagles exorcised their demons at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Even though they conceded 19 points in the second half to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles pulled out a 31-25 victory. The Eagles offense did most of the heavy lifting in the first half, scoring 24 points. The win marked just the second Eagles victory in Tampa out of six contests dating back to 2018.

Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ fourth straight victory to start the season:

Tale of two halves

On Tuesday, Kevin Patullo referred to the Eagles’ Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Rams as “a tale of two halves.” After a listless start for an offense that mustered just 33 net yards in the first half last week, the Eagles surged for 255 net yards in the second, pulling off a come-from-behind victory.

It became a tale of two halves yet again against the Buccaneers, albeit inverted. Jalen Hurts was stellar in the first half, going 15 for 16 for 130 yards and two touchdowns, which were both creatively designed plays by Patullo for Dallas Goedert. Hurts also picked up 42 rushing yards on four carries. The Eagles had a 24-6 lead at halftime.

But the game started to slip away from the Eagles in the second half. The Bucs’ defensive front overwhelmed the Eagles’ interior offensive line, as Hurts was sacked twice in the third quarter by defensive tackle Vita Vea. On third-and-7, the final play of the third quarter, Cam Jurgens snapped the ball too high for Hurts. The Eagles quarterback managed to corral the football, but he was tackled far behind the line of scrimmage to force a punt.

Hurts had zero completions on eight passing attempts in the second half. The lone bright spot was Saquon Barkley waltzing into the end zone unblocked for a touchdown on a variation of a Tush Push, taking advantage of the strong field position after Jalyx Hunt forced a fumble by Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving.

The usual Hurts-A.J. Brown connection wasn’t clicking Sunday. Brown was targeted nine times, but he had just two receptions for 7 yards.

Up-and-down defense

The Eagles weren’t playing complementary football, either, as the defense gave up 77- and 72-yard receiving touchdowns in the third quarter, one from rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka and another from Irving. The Bucs’ 14-point surge made it 31-20 going into the fourth quarter.

Egbuka slipped past the Eagles’ safety tandem of Reed Blankenship and Drew Mukuba and hauled in a 77-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to cut the Eagles’ lead to 11 points.

Two drives later, the Eagles’ four-man rush failed to pressure Mayfield, as he had plenty of time to get the ball out to Irving, who extended his route and breezed past Jihaad Campbell in coverage. Mayfield hit Irving in stride down the left sideline as he cruised into the end zone, trimming the Birds’ lead to 31-20.

A bad second half got worse when Bucs kick returner Kameron Johnson returned Braden Mann’s punt 27 yards to the Eagles’ 47-yard line. Later in the drive, Kelee Ringo was called for pass interference against Bucs wide receiver Sterling Shepherd over the intermediate middle of the field early in the fourth quarter.

Campbell stopped the bleeding when he picked off an ill-advised Mayfield throw in the end zone. The quarterback was under pressure in the red zone with Jalen Carter diving at his feet, but he opted to loft a pass intended for tight end Cade Otton. But Mayfield’s pass was too far in front of him, allowing Campbell to make the easy snag.

The Eagles continued to buckle down late in the fourth quarter. Moro Ojomo came up with a critical sack of Mayfield on second-and-long, followed by a pair of Parry Nickerson tackles short of the sticks.

Block party

Since Ben VanSumeren went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 1, the Eagles have leaned on tight end Cameron Latu as their fullback and as a special-teams contributor. Latu, the San Francisco 49ers’ 2023 third-rounder out of Alabama, was signed to the active roster on Wednesday as he was nearly out of practice-squad elevations.

He quickly made an impact, continuing the Eagles’ streak of special-teams blocks following Jordan Davis’ game-sealing field-goal block against the Rams. After the Bucs sputtered on their opening drive of the first half, the 25-year-old Latu beat Bucs running back Sean Tucker off the edge, then blocked Riley Dixon’s punt.

The ball bounced off the grass and into the arms of Sydney Brown, who returned the blocked punt 35 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles up, 7-0.

Injury report

Lane Johnson exited the game late in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Fred Johnson entered in relief at right tackle.