The Buccaneers marched toward a Super Bowl win last season with one of the best post-season rosters, and they’ve brought back most of those players this season. Despite having one of the league’s most talented rosters (five Pro Bowlers and two players on All-Pro teams), Tampa Bay has had injuries to key players on both sides of the ball all season.
The team’s best quarterback rider Leonard Fournette wasted time with an ankle injury. Tampa Bay’s top line attacker Tristan Wirves injured his ankle early in Sunday’s game. Kris Goodwin, the receiver of the hacker-threatened holes, ruptured his ACL against the Saints in December. Antonio Brown, who was pressured by Brady to sign the team last season, was recently released by the team.
That left Evans, the third goal scorer for Brady, who was dealing with a hamstring injury. catch nine Pass for 117 yards on Sunday. After landing in the third quarter, Evans made a back flip toward the end zone, seeming to have finished any questions about his health.
After a 4-11-1 season in 2020 that was derailed by injuries and struggles by key midfielder Carson Wentz, the Eagles sacked their coach Doug Pederson, whose relationship with Wentz had deteriorated. Pederson had coached Philadelphia to win the Super Bowl in the 2017 season. Team owner Jeffrey Lowery brought in former Colts offensive coordinator Nick Siriani, an unknown candidate at the time.
After losing five of their first seven games, the Eagles won six of their eight final games and secured the playoff berth as the second team in the NFC East, behind the Dallas Cowboys, to achieve the post-season. Siriani was the only coach in the first year to lead his team to the playoffs.
Many wondered if the vultures had been adequately tested. Of those eight games, only one team, Dallas, participated in the playoffs. The Eagles have beaten the Broncos, the Saints with injury, the Giants once in two games, the Jets and the Washington soccer team.
After Sunday’s game, Evans was asked who he’d like to see in the next round of playoffs. Evans, the receiver, only took a few seconds to respond.
“Whatever team the most men play in,” he said.