Bucs play their best game in years in drubbing Philadelphia

Jameis Winston grew up rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sensational rookie quarterback Jameis Winston is one of the reasons why the Bucs are looking much better, and he’ll be the key figure if they want to win consecutive games for the first time in a couple of years. Asked if he believed he’d still had control of the team, he said, ‘Yes, I do.’ Asked if he thought his players quit in the second half, he said, ‘No, I don’t.’ Asked if he remained confident that his staff was emphasizing the right things, he said, ‘Yes, I am.’ And asked if he were certain that he had assembled enough talented players for a turn-around, he said, ‘Yes, I do. “I’ve always wanted to play here since I was a little boy”. I went out there today to fight. “It’s a special day, but it’s just one day”.

The visitors took the lead when Winston fired a short completion to Vincent Jackson to record a 13-yard score, and another huge run Martin moved the Buccaneers back into range, which allowed Russell Shepard to collect a four-yard touchdown from the 21-year-old.

The Bucs marched 80 yards in 15 plays, ending a 9-minute, 47-second drive on Winston’s 8-yard TD to Cameron Brate for a 35-14 advantage.

And in Atlanta, Matt Hasselbeck gets his third start of the season for the Colts with Andrew Luck sidelined with a lacerated kidney he sustained on a hard hit two weeks ago from Denver’s Vance Walker and Danny Trevathan.

Lovie loves the underdog and says he isn’t anxious the Bucs are down to one healthy starting receiver in Mike Evans.

“I think there are times where we had opportunities on the defensive side of the ball to make plays, and we didn’t make them”, the head coach said. “We’ve talked a lot about being relevant again”. In falling to 4-6, the Eagles would have to win the rest of their regular-season games just to match their record in Kelly’s first two seasons.

The Buccaneers’ offense gashed the Eagles for 521 yards and 25 first downs in a 45-17 victory Sunday afternoon at the Linc.

The Eagles have a very short week before traveling to Detroit to face the Lions in a 12:30 p.m. game on Thanksgiving. His 84-yard gain is a franchise record.

The Green Bay defence was masterful, stonewalling Vikings running back Adrian Peterson for just 45 yards and pummelling quarterback Teddy Bridgewater throughout. Martin had several long runs on the day including gains of 84 and 58 yards.

Mark Sanchez threw a pair of TD passes and three interceptions in his first start replacing injured Sam Bradford, but Chip Kelly’s offense couldn’t keep up with Winston and the Buccaneers. Jacquies Smith recovered but was stripped by Zach Ertz and Philadelphia got the ball back at its 14.

For two-plus seasons in Philadelphia, football fans have been subjected to a rash of puff pieces about the dynamic program taking shape under coach Chip Kelly.

– Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox.

NOTES: Martin joins O.J. Simpson and Corey Dillon as the only RBs with two games with 235 yards rushing. Martin in his fifth season in the league put together a performance like he had during his rookie season. Yates and Hopkins linked up for a 20-yard score on the next possession. Eagles TE Zach Ertz suffered a concussion…. The Bucs played without out two starters, RG Ali Marpet (ankle) and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins (shoulder). “We play good as a team and we played terrible as a team today”.