Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today The Eagles were, at one time, 10-1 and in possession of the top seed in the NFC. But down the stretch, they fell apart. They lost 42-19 to the 49ers at home, then lost road games to Dallas (33-13) and Seattle (20-17). They then stopped the bleeding for one week, beating the Giants at home 33-25 on Christmas, but followed that up by losing 35-31 to the Cardinals on New Year’s Eve. Philadelphia needed a win over New York and a Dallas loss to Washington in Week 18 to win the division, but neither came to fruition. The Cowboys won by 28 anyway, but the Eagles even failed to do their part. They lost to the Giants, 27-10, in a game that saw them fall behind 24-0 and lose quarterback Jalen Hurts, wide receiver A.J. Brown, guard Cam Jurgens, safety Reed Blankenship and safety Sydney Brown to injuries. Their statuses will be worth monitoring as the week goes on. While the Eagles were trending down in December, the Bucs were trending up. They won four games in a row to start the final month of the 2023 calendar year, beating the Panthers, Falcons, Packers and Jaguars to set up a scenario where they needed just one win over the final two weeks to wrap up the NFC South title. 
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today An embarrassing setback on New Year’s Eve — a 23-13 home loss to New Orleans — put extra pressure on Tampa Bay in Week 18. But the team handled that pressure, beating the Panthers 9-0 in Carolina. The Bucs went from 4-7 at the end of November to 9-8 six weeks later, winning five of six games to capture a third straight division title and a fourth consecutive playoff appearance. It still isn’t a surprise to see a talented Eagles team open as 2.5-point road favorites over the Bucs next weekend, but the two teams did end the season by going in opposite directions. And the visitors will come to town much more banged-up than the hosts will be. It’ll help the Eagles that they have an extra day to heal up, and it should benefit Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield as he deals with his own rib and ankle injuries as well. The playoffs are all about getting hot at the right time. The Bucs experienced that themselves in 2020, winning the last four regular season games to finish 11-5 before winning four straight games in the postseason for the franchise’s second-ever Lombardi Trophy. Whether the Bucs’ hot streak and Eagles’ cold streak is enough to close the perceived gap between the two teams on Super Wild Card Weekend, we’ll find out next Monday night. The post Bucs’ Wild Card Game Gets Date, Kickoff Time appeared first on Pewter Report. Source: https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-wild- ... koff-time/
