Eagles vs. Buccaneers: Behind the Numbers 2013

Sure, they got 2 wins in the last 2 weeks against winless teams, but Nick Foles and the Phildadelphia Eagles took care of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, winning 31-20. Though losing at halftime, the Birds used a dominant second half to come out with the W. It was a game the Eagles were supposed to win, but do the numbers support the result?

To answer that question: yes! The Eagles outplayed the Buccaneers in every facet of the game. They outscored, out gained, out ran, and out passed them. They had more first downs, and converted more third downs. They had a fairly clean game, too; only 1 turnover and only 3 penalties for 31 yards. The Birds were able to force 1 turnover by Tampa Bay, which resulted in a touchdown (capitalizing!). If you want to nitpick, the only area the Eagles failed to match the Bucs in was total plays, which they had 1 less. Key stats for the Eagles: rushing yards (138) was over 100 for the 5th time in the first 6 games, and they are averaging well over 100 per game; after the abysmal Kansas City game, the Eagles have only turned the ball over 1 time while recording 5 takeaways; they have had over 400 net yards in every single game this season, with this week's total (425) being the lowest yet.

Eagles vs. Buccaneers: Behind the Numbers

Woah, was that a win last week by the Eagles? I had forgotten what that felt like! A beautiful final drive led by Nick Foles allowed the Eagles to come out on top on the last play of the game. Do the numbers support the final score?



Pretty evenly matched teams here, with the Eagles having a slight edge in final score, plays, total yards, average gain, first downs, and 3rd down %. They also fared much better in the penalty department, committing only 2 penalties for 13 yards; the Buccaneers had 8 for 60 yards. Nick Foles definitely had his best offensive game of the year, and that was reflected in the Birds domination over the Bucs in the passing department. On the flip side, the Eagles run game was abysmal against the top ranked rushing defense of the Buccaneers, and I'm sure Bryce Brown had a wake up call. Oh, and of course the Eagles lost the turnover battle!