Eagles Score Quickly, Hold off Buccaneers 17-9 in Opener

Jameis Winston went 7 for 9 with 95 yards and a touchdown during his time on the field.

Eagles’ Carson Wentz gets flipped during the fourth-quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a preseason game on Thursday, August 11, 2016 in Philadelphia.

The former North Dakota State quarterback took multiple heavy hits Thursday night against the Buccaneers.

Winston led the Bucs to a touchdown in a hurry-up offense, the Eagles mixing in substitutes. However, only four of them have gone on to win a Super Bowl with the team that drafted them as their starting quarterback: Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, Joe Flacco with the Ravens, Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers, and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. And it was nearly as if the Birds squeezed Daniel into an unnecessary three-quarterback rotation, and at an annual fee of about $7 million, just to add sparkle to whatever Wentz would do. The “Super Bowl or bust” mentality soured McNabb’s career and stopped him from being appreciated the way he should have while he played for the Eagles, and even seven years removed from the end of that era. “A new offense, a new facility, but still football”. Aside from the speed of the game being a bit faster, he never gets nervous, especially on the football field, where he proved he was comfortable even in his pro debut. “I love his toughness; you saw some of the shots he took tonight, and he stayed in the pocket and bounced back up”. Koetter said. “We like the guy”. So just eliminating any of the unnecessary hits, trying to take care of your body on off days.

The Eagles are also changing their philosophy on defense.

By the way, this wasn’t the first of the Bucs’ fumbles in this game. “Not what I had in mind for the start, for preseason Game 1”.

The Philadelphia Eagles are now ready to alter the course of the season through the newly-hired coach Doug Pederson.

Buccaneers: Reserve tight end Brandon Myers hurt his knee in the second period and didn’t return.

The Eagles gave Wentz 35 snaps and 24 pass attempts.

“The plan for all those guys was warm up individually, a little group install, and then get them off the field”, Pederson said. The second-team O-line was overwhelmed, from center Josh Andrews to guards Stefen Wisniewski and Isaac Seumalo, to tackles Dennis Kelly and Andrew Gardner. A clip quickly made it onto the NFL’s official Twitter account to spotlight the latest mishap by Tampa Bay in one of the first preseason games of 2016. Shepherd also ran through the attempted tackle of safety Ed Reynolds for a 26-yard score.

Not that his statistics would define Wentz’s worth as a developing franchise quarterback, but they were acceptable. His first throw was high off the hands of Nelson Agholor, but his next was a sharp 15-yard throw on the run to Zach Ertz.

Carson completed 12 of his passes for 89 yards but no touchdowns and one interception. No one pounds the rock like he does trying to keep his staff, the players and management on the same page.

It was an interesting game to watch to say the least and a few different players impressed. “The first opportunity I had I’m running the two-minute drill”. The first two times, Wentz appeared to read it, adjust the call at the line, and completed both passes.

The Eagles clinched the win with an end-zone interception by C.J. Smith on a pass from Bucs backup Ryan Griffin with 0:50 left in the game.

Defensive end Steven Means made a nice play, getting a strip sack in the second half.