Buccaneers On The Road Against The Eagles On Thursday

It’s a short week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who will play Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Buccaneers are coming off a dominating win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 5. Tom Brady threw for five touchdowns for 411 yards. The Eagles, are coming off a win over the Carolina Panthers where Jalen Hurts threw for 198 yards and had one interception. The Eagles are 2-3 on the season and looking to go .500 on the year if they get a win on Thursday night. Meanwhile, the defending Super Bowl Champions are 4-1 and looking to get another win on the road.

Tom Brady did suffer a thumb injury on his throwing hand on Sunday in the win over the Dolphins. However, don’t expect him to miss any games. Last year he played a full season with a bad knee that required surgery and won the Super Bowl. The only time he’s missed for an injury was the 2008 season with the Patriots when he tore his ACL. He never likes talking about injuries and downplays how severe the injury is all the time.  A thumb injury to him is like getting a paper cut. He will be fine and ready to go Thursday night.

Buccaneers Tight End Rob Gronkowski Is Out

On the offensive side for the Buccaneers, they may have their work cut out for them. The Eagles defense ranks third in passing but I’m sure Brady will find a way to work around the defense and find the open receiver like he always does. Brady has thrown 15 touchdown passes already this season and his projection is to throw 51 touchdown passes this season. At age 44 I still don’t see any slowing down from the greatest of all time.

Rob Gronkowski won’t be playing on Thursday with a rib injury. Expect Mike Evans, and Antonio Brown to make some big plays and Cameron Brate to be effective as well. The Eagles rank 30th in rush defense so the running game should be a focus for the Bucs. Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones should both have good games. The blocking from the offensive line will allow holes for them to run through and gain yardage.

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Buccaneer Defense Will Have It’s Hands Full With Jalen Hurts

On the defensive side they will have their hands full with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. He is one of the best running quarterbacks in the league and could be a handful with injuries on the Buccaneers’ defense.

Linebacker Lavonte David is out with an ankle injury and Antoine Winfield Jr. is out with a concussion. In the win over the Panthers in Week 4, Hurts rushed for 30 yards and two touchdowns. The Buccaneers played better against Miami but they still aren’t the same defense they were a year ago. They have given up 24.4 points per game so far this year which ranks 19th in the NFL. The Eagles on the other hand rank 21st overall in points per game with 24.8

I think the Buccaneers win this game but with a short week, it won’t be easy. They are on the road and dealing with injuries on offense and defense. Hopefully, they can play well on both sides of the ball and improve their record to 5-1 on the season.