A Week 15 draw with St. Louis could get a little messy, but otherwise, look at the green lights: Indianapolis, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago.
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For most of the season, the Eagles have been viewed as a dysfunctional team struggling to find the balance between scheme and players’ strengths. I was even singing the fight song out there on the field. “I have never been in any type of trouble or anything, so it was a surprise to me”. Not so on Sunday, as their first five trips inside the Eagles’ 20-yard line all resulted in Winston touchdown passes, to five different receivers. His five TD passes tied the National Football League rookie record set by Detroit’s Matthew Stafford in 2009.
“We are watching a young quarterback grow before our eyes”, Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans said.
Martin had broken the Eagles’ opponent record for most rushing yards (237 by the Cowboys’ Emmitt Smith), but lost 5 yards on his last three carries late to fall 2 yards short.
Philadelphia Eagles’ Zach Ertz (86) leaps to avoid Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Lavonte David (54) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, November 22, 2015, in Philadelphia.
That improvement has helped Martin turn his game around and is helping Winston progress during a rookie season that coach Lovie Smith says has made his team “relevant again”.
Sunday’s devastating setback dropped the Eagles to 4-6 and out of control of their fate in the NFC East. As a team, the Buccaneers rushed for 283 yards and controlled the tempo of the contest throughout.
Winston, on the march leading to his fifth TD pass and a 35-14 lead, was in the grasp of Cox when he performed the switcheroo.
After an offside penalty on Brandon Graham gave Tampa another chance on third down in the first quarter, Martin broke free for 58 yards. The Eagles took advantage of Tampa Bay’s miscues by turning the new possession into a touchdown, with Josh Huff taking a Mark Sanchez pass 39 yards for the 7-0 lead.
They took the lead for good on the first play of the second quarter, when Winston hit Vincent Jackson with a 13-yard touchdown pass. DeMarco Murray fumbled on the third play of the game but the Bucs’ defense fumbled the ball back and the Eagles started over.
Martin carried the ball 27 times for 235 yards in a 45-17 rout of Philadelphia. One interception before halftime thwarted a potential scoring opportunity.
That gave the Eagles more takeaways by their offense in the past two games than by their defense. We didn’t stop the run.
The Dougernaut is having arguably the best season of his career, though his rookie performance comes close, after two extremely disappointing years. His 84-yard run was longest in franchise history.
NOTES: The Eagles placed safety Jerome Couplin (shoulder) on season-ending injured reserve on Friday and promoted safety Ed Reynolds from the practice squad. And if talented TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins ever makes it back, Winston will have another exciting target to work with.
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ALSO: Who was Eagles’ worst offseason acquisition? Shortly after, the Buccaneers scored 21 points of their own which the Eagles had no answer for. Philly’s quarterback Mark Sanchez will be filling the job of QB Sam Bradford fro Sunday’s game.
