Roob’s Observations: Birds best the Bucs, improve to 3-0

Roob’s Observations: Birds best the Bucs, improve to 3-0 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

That was a good old-fashioned beatdown.

The Eagles went down to Tampa, took on the undefeated Buccaneers and outgained them by nearly 300 yards, held the ball for 39 minutes and left the 90-degree Gulf Coast with a 25-11 win and a 3-0 record.

With some better red-zone execution they would have scored 40.

Impressive stuff on both sides of the ball … and special teams?

Here’s our Instant Observations from a Week 3 rout:

1. My first thought was why on Earth did the Lions get rid of D’Andre Swift? My second thought was why on Earth did the Eagles only give him one carry on opening day? My third thought was … oh my goodness, D’Andre Swift is incredible. Swift followed his career-best 175-yard game against the Vikings with 130 yards on just 16 carries Monday night, and I knew he was a talented young running back, but I had no clue he was this good. Swift became only the fourth Eagles running back with 130 rushing yards in consecutive games since 1970 – the others are LeSean McCoy, Wilbert Montgomery and Bryce Brown (Bryce Brown???) – and two weeks in a row now he’s really taken over a game with his thunderous inside runs behind the Eagles’ massive offensive line. No doubt the Eagles’ passing game is still a work in progress, although we saw some encouraging signs Monday night. But if they can run for 200 yards every week they can take the pressure off the passing game until it gets back to 2022 form. Swift is second in the NFL in rushing yards and he had one carry in the opener. Maybe somebody will stop him, but so far the only team that has is the Eagles on opening day. It’s only a couple games, but Swift looks like an elite weapon, and this was against the No. 4 run defense in the league. Once the passing game gets going with a running game like this? Watch out.

2. This was a monster defensive performance on the road against a 2-0 team on national TV with a couple important pieces missing. The Eagles pressured, they stuffed the run, they covered, they hit, they tackled. This was really a big-time defensive performance against a team that had been very efficient the first two weeks of the season. The Eagles held the Bucs to 174 yards, forced two more turnovers, allowed just 12 first downs, held Tampa to 41 rushing yards and just dominated from start to finish.

3. That last drive didn’t produce any points, but it didn’t have to, and it was a thing of beauty. The Buccaneers scored their only touchdown with 9:22 left to make it a 25-11 game and they never got the ball back. The Eagles took over on their own 25-yard-line and proceeded to run 15 plays for 68 yards, recording five first downs, converted four third downs – including a 25-yarder to A.J. Brown on a 3rd-and-13 inside midfield – and ran the clock out after Hurts’ short first-down completion to Brown. The Eagles wore the Bucs down all night and that last drive the Bucs just had no answer. The Eagles ran it, they threw it and there was nothing the Bucs could do. It was one of the greatest non-scoring drives you’ll ever see.

4. I feel like I write about Jalen Carter after every game, but my goodness, this kid is impacting the game in so many ways. You simply can’t run on him. He’s getting hits on the quarterback. He forced two fumbles Monday night – one for a change of possession. He picked up half a sack and now has 1 ½. He’s 23 and he’s played three NFL games and I’m just stunned by how well he’s playing, how consistently he’s playing, how dominantly he’s playing in every facet of the game. The Eagles haven’t had a position player make a Pro Bowl as a rookie since tight end Keith Jackson in 1988 and they haven’t had a defensive player make a Pro Bowl as a rookie since Maxie Baughan in 1960. I wouldn’t bet against Carter. He’s already one of the best interior linemen in the NFL, and he’s only going to get better, and there is no ceiling with Carter. His potential is limitless.

5. I’ve been screaming for two weeks now that the Eagles had to get someone else involved in the passing game because as good as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are, you can’t run a passing game with two guys. It doesn’t work. No matter how gifted they are. It didn’t matter who it was. Could have been Dallas Goedert. Could have been Kenny Gainwell. Could have been anybody. It turned out to be Olamide Zaccheus, whose first two games as an Eagle netted no targets, no catches, nothing. But Zaccheus delivered when he finally got a chance. He caught a 24-yarder down to the Bucs’ 34 late in the second quarter and then was on the receiving end of Hurts’ 34-yard TD with 3:41 left before halftime – Zaccheaus’s longest TD in three years. He finished with just those two catches for 58 yards, but interesting to note that Zaccheaus was only getting those chances because Quez Watkins is out with a hamstring. Also interesting to note that Watkins hasn’t had 58 yards in a game since the middle of last season – 14 games ago. Plays like he made Monday night could definitely move Zaccheaus from WR4 to WR3.

6. Was great to finally see rookie Sydney Brown in the mix after he was inactive in the opener and got just four defensive snaps against the Vikings. Brown may have saved a touchdown in the second quarter when it looked like Mayfield had Evans wide open in the end zone for what would have been a 15-yard touchdown on a 3rd-and-9. Evans didn’t catch the ball cleanly but had a chance to secure it until Brown dove with his arms outstretched and knocked the ball free. The Bucs got a field goal, but it could have been a lot worse. I get that the Eagles didn’t want to play Brown until they were sure he was ready. Same with Nolan Smith. We’re seeing flashes from those rookies and I just want to see more and more of them.

7. How ridiculously good is this Eagles’ run defense? It’s mainly Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, but really it’s everybody up front and the linebackers. They are so stout they really change the way teams can attack. The Eagles went into Monday night allowing 52 yards per game and 3.4 yards per carry and held the Bucs to 41 rushing yards on 17 carries for 2.4 yards a pop. Baker Mayfield has played well this year, but when you are in a position where you have to throw all the time, that’s tough for any quarterback. When the Bucs tried to run from their own 1-yard-line, Nick Morrow barreled through the line of scrimmage and sacked Rachaad White for a safety. The Eagles are allowing 47 yards per game, 3.0 yards per carry and they haven’t allowed a run longer than 12 yards all year. This is ferocious, fundamentally sound team defense and I’m not sure anybody is going to be able to run against this front.

8. It was another mixed bag for Jalen Hurts. The two interceptions were bad. He now has three INTs in three games. He had three in his first 13 games last year. He hasn’t played a clean game yet – a fumble in the opener, an INT last week, two INTs Monday night. But there were definitely some positives. He got A.J. Brown involved with 12 targets, seven catches, 102 yards. He got Olamide Zaccheaus involved, with a couple catches for 58 yards, including a 34-yard TD. He even got Dallas Goedert four catches for 30 yards, although that number still needs to increase. Seven different receivers caught a pass. He made some big-time passes in big moments, two huge ones on that final drive. And for the first time this year, he used the middle of the field and seemed to see the field better than he has. It’s not easy playing against a Todd Bowles defense, and Bowles really knows how to make life difficult for Hurts. There have been a lot of ugly moments so far, but the Eagles are 3-0, the offense is averaging 26 points and 384 yards per game, and I still think the passing game will be fine. I still think Hurts will be fine. No doubt in my mind.

9. We probably don’t talk enough about how good Reed Blankenship is. But, wow. The Eagles sure missed him last week, but he was back Monday, and he was all over the field against the Bucs. Seven tackles, terrific anticipation in coverage, a fantastic interception when the Eagles really needed it, a pass knockdown, a tackle for loss … Blankenship is so smart and so physical, and that’s a dangerous combination. His consistency is eye-opening. And this is a guy who was undrafted. The Eagles’ college scouting department deserves so much credit for finding him and giving him an opportunity. Thirteen months ago, he didn’t even know if he was going to make the team. Now he’s one of the more impressive young safeties the Eagles have had in some time. Probably since Michael Lewis? And that was two decades ago. This was only Blankenship’s sixth career start, and he’s really established himself already as one of the key pieces on this defense.

10. I’ve never understood why so many Eagles fans don’t like Britain Covey. What exactly do you want in a punt returner? How did his promising rookie year not validate the kid’s ability? He had the 7th-highest punt return average in the NFL the last 13 weeks of last season (minimum 13 returns) and then added a 27-yard return in the Super Bowl. How is that not good enough? Where are you going to find a better option? Beyond the fact that this is the kind of player everybody should root for – a 5-foot-8, 175-pounder who was undrafted. Don’t we root for underdogs in Philly? Covey gave the Eagles a huge boost Monday night with his career-long 52-yarder – the Eagles’ longest punt return since Jalen Reagor’s 73-yard TD in Green Bay in 2020 – and he added a 14-yarder as well. Covey now has a career average of 11.1 yards per return, which is 4th-highest in Eagles history behind three guys you might remember: Brian Westbrook (11.7), Darren Sproles (11.6) and Brian Mitchell (11.3). If you don’t appreciate what Covey has done? Definitely time to reassess.