Deshaun Clayborne Media

TAMPA, FL. –  No, Philly fans, this is not a bad dream: The real Eagles have stood up and verified that the 2023 season collapse was not just a down year, but a preview of the new direction that the team was headed.

The Eagles put yet another embarrassing performance on tape yesterday, getting routed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 33-16. This marks the fourth time out of five games in the Jalen Hurts/Nick Sirianni era that the Eagles have lost to the Bucs.

Arguably, this was the worst loss of them all – and that’s saying a lot, considering the last matchup between these two teams was a 32-9 grand finale to one of the worst collapses in NFL history.

Philadelphia failed to score in the first quarter for the fourth game in a row, making them the only team in the NFL this season to not score any points in the first quarter. Combine this with a defense that allowed two touchdowns in the first five minutes of the game and a third TD ten seconds into the second quarter, and the result is a borderline unwatchable performance that at minimum rivals the 2023 wild card round loss.

Whether or not fans will give the Eagles’ offense a pass for their performance is still up in the air. Although it looked eerily similar to their performance in the 2023 playoffs, it simply cannot be ignored that they were without their top 2 wide receivers, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, as well as all-pro right tackle Lane Johnson.

To make matters worse, the extreme feels-like temperature of 106 degrees knocked center Cameron Jurgens out of the game with cramps, forcing pro bowl left guard Landon Dickerson to play center for the rest of the game while backup Tyler Steen filled the vacant left guard spot.

However, if you think for one second that the city of Philadelphia isn’t going to be in an uproar over that abysmal defensive performance, you may want to think again.

All eleven starters were active to start the game, and once again, they were awful at every level. The defensive front was dominated all game and the secondary was atrocious, giving up 24 points in the first quarter and a half. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and his crew had no answers for Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw for 347 yards, 2 TDs, no interceptions, and completed 11 of his first 12 passes.

“I didn’t have the guys ready to start,” coach Sirianni said after the game.

That statement is 100% true, and not just for this game, but for each of Philly’s four games this season. The Eagles are now 3-8 including playoffs since the start of their 2023 season collapse in December, and they will now head into the bye week at 2-2.

It’s safe to say that Sirianni is on one of the hottest seats in the NFL right now, and if his Eagles continue to look this way moving forward, his worst nightmare will become a reality.