Buccaneers Stock Report Following Victory Over Eagles
It wasn't perfect, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to pull off their fifth win of the 2021 season on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.
A handful of Bucs played their best games of the season and were pivotal parts of Tampa Bay's victory, while some players and units took a step backwards against Philadelphia. In fairness, the Eagles are certainly moving in the wrong direction as well.
This brings us to the weekly Buccaneers stock report, which you can find below!
Stock up
Leonard Fournette: Thursday marked Fournette's third game in a row with over 100 yards from scrimmage and his second with at least one touchdown. He notched a season-high in carries and receptions against the Eagles with 22 and six, respectively, tallying 81 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 46 yards through the air.
Fournette's stock began to rise in the Week 4-5 stretch as he separated himself as Tampa Bay's No. 1 running back. Given his utilization against the Eagles, it's clear now that Fournette owns that role, and his stock is soaring as such.
Shaquil Barrett: Barrett was the best defender on the field on Thursday night, for either team, constantly applying pressure on Jalen Hurts (nine times, per Pro Football Focus) and finishing with a half a sack, two tackles for loss and five total tackles.
After opening the year with one sack in three games, Barrett has been on a roll with three in as many weeks to go with three tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. The Buccaneers' pass rush created pressure but struggled to get home to begin the year, but with Barrett getting hot now, that should become less of an issue moving forward. It's amazing how his level of disruption can cause the entire defense to wreak more havoc.
O.J. Howard: A week ago, Howard was on the wrong side of the stock report after a not-great performance against Miami. He bounced back strong on Thursday with his first touchdown since Week 4 of the 2020 season and other big plays, finishing with six receptions for 49 yards and his score.
It's taken Howard some time to get back into form after missing the majority of last year and this offseason with a torn Achilles, and he may never meet his first-round potential as he struggled to do so before the injury. However, it was nice to see Howard turn things around after disappointing a week ago, especially as the Bucs' tight end position has seen a serious production dip without Rob Gronkowski available.
Stock down
Chris Godwin: Maybe this is just the way the Buccaneers' receiving corps is going to be: A bit unpredictable.
Each of Tampa's starting three receivers - Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Mike Evans - have posted at least one game with 100+ yards and 1+ touchdowns receiving this season. The unit is loaded with talent, but that doesn't always mean the talent will constantly produce - there are a lot of mouths to feed, and in certain matchups, some pass-catchers will be fed more than others.
However, Godwin has gone a bit hungry as of late. He finished ahead of Evans in catches and yards on Thursday although not significantly, and unlike Evans who scored twice on Sunday against Miami, Godwin has not scored a touchdown or broken 75 yards receiving in a game since Week 2.
The last time we included a receiver in stock down, it was Brown, and he's gone on to catch 16 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns in the two games since. Perhaps Godwin's inclusion here will work as a reverse jinx and get the fifth-year receiver rolling in Week 7.
Second-half offense: After entering halftime with a 21-7 lead and outgaining the Eagles 233-73, the tides turned in favor of Philadelphia offensively while the Tom Brady and the Bucs stalled. Philly put 15 points on the board compared to seven for Tampa Bay, and the Eagles outgained the Buccaneers 140-126.
Keep in mind, the Bucs did not abandon the pass to eat up clock, as Brady threw 16 passes across 33 plays in the second half. The offense simply stopped clicking, which memorably led to a fourth-quarter turnover on downs and a subsequent Eagles touchdown. That kept Tampa Bay from putting the game away.
Aside from the 45-17 victory over Miami on Sunday, losing juice offensively with a lead has been a problem for the Buccaneers throughout the year. It didn't end up coming back to bite Tampa Bay against Philadelphia, but it could be a bigger problem against better teams remaining on the schedule.
The Eagles: After struggling to come up with a third Buccaneers' player or unit whose stock dropped, we've resorted to the competition: This Eagles team isn't that great.
Hurts is talented but can be held back by his lack of accuracy and anticipation, as well as a coaching staff that seemingly resorted to having Hurts play hero ball on Thursday night from the get-go. To make matter worse, the Eagles' offense could use some upgrades across the board, with few playmakers besides Devonta Smith and Miles Sanders, at least when Sanders is utilized.
Philadelphia's defense has some nice pieces as well, particularly in pass defense, but help is needed badly at linebacker and upfront against the run.
This reporter in particular thought Philly would give Tampa Bay a tough game, and if you watched the entire contest rather than just look at the scoreboard, you'd know that that wasn't the case at all. This team has a long way to go before becoming a threat in the NFC.
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