NFL Playoffs 2022: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beats Philadelphia Eagles, 31-15 in NFC wild card playoffs, advance to divisional round.

Defend Super Bowl Champions, Tune-up survived. The Bucs blasted the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-15, in an NFC wild card playoff on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium to advance to the divisional round.

And reminiscent of last year’s playoff trek, the Bucs' defense was ready to rumble. It took advantage of a pedestrian Eagles offense to ensure that the outcome was never in doubt. Tampa Bay (14-4) limited the Eagles to 17 yards in the first quarter – the lowest output by Philadelphia in any quarter all season – and it was just the beginning.

2021 NFL playoffs: What we learned from Buccaneers' win over Eagles on Super Wild Card Weekend

1.. Bucs' Super Bowl title defense off to a roaring start. Tampa dominated in all three phases from the jump, squashing any hopes the upstart Eagles could keep it close. Tom Brady diced up the Philly defense with quick passes, averaging 2.17 seconds to throw, the fastest in a game this season.
2.. Jalen Hurts regresses after late-season improvement. The second-year quarterback looked overmatched most of the contest until garbage time --
3.. Bucs D dominates. Hurts struggled because the Super Bowl defense was back in Tampa. Todd Bowles’ unit flew around the field from start to finish. The Bucs stifled an Eagles top-ranked run game that came in hot. Tampa was well prepared for the run-pass options and read-options that the Eagles love to run with Hurts, smothering them from the outset.
4.. Nick Sirianni’s team was blasted with haymakers, didn’t fight back until too late. So much for showing his team Rocky before the game. All three phases got pummeled. The special teams were a disaster. The defense couldn’t make a game-changing play. But it was Sirianni’s offense that was the most depressing.
5.. Tristan Wirfs' injury something to monitor. The All-Pro right tackle injured his ankle on the opening drive of the game and had to be helped off the field. He attempted to come back just before halftime but could barely put any weight on his right leg and was swiftly ruled out.
6.. Bucs still have a few bodies on offense. Brady threw for 271 yards and had TD strikes to Mike Evans (9 catches, 117 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (5 catches, 31 yards), proving that there are still a few bodies on offense to work with. Meanwhile, Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Gio Bernard capably handled the bulk of the backfield duty.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wins NFC wild card playoffs, advance to divisional round, Best Stats.

Tom Brady notched his 35th career postseason victory. The man with the next-most is Hall of Famer Joe Montana with 16.

Tampa generated 22 QB pressures, led by Anthony Nelson’s seven on just 22 pass rushes.

What's Next for Tampa Bay Buccaneers beats Philadelphia Eagles.

Philadelphia Eagles NFL Postseason is Over, But Tt remains to be seen whether Super Bowl defending Champions are healthy enough to deal with what comes next: Dallas, Arizona or the Los Angeles Rams.

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NFL.com & usatoday.com/sports