The Eagles’ defense was horrible in every aspect in the 45-17 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon.
This failure hurt as much as any: The Eagles simply couldn’t get off the field on third downs.
Tampa Bay converted 10 of its 16 third-down attempts (62.5 percent) and got another first on third down when the Eagles were flagged for a 12-men-on-the-field penalty.
What does the Eagles’ defense have to do to get better on third downs?
“Not beat ourselves,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “A couple of them, we jumped offsides, we had 12 men on the field at one point. A couple of them, they earned and some we gave up. Obviously, that’s a place we have to improve.”
Of the Bucs’ 10 third-down conversions, seven came through the air and three came on the ground. Of the seven through the air, three were touchdown passes. The Eagles also gave up a fourth-down conversion.
Penalties were huge too. The Eagles gave up a conversion on the 12-men-on-the-field call, Vinny Curry had an offside call that would have given the Bucs a first down had the Bucs not declined it after a 12-yard pass, and Brandon Graham’s offside set up a much more manageable 3rd-and-1 after it looked like the Eagles stopped them.
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“You always want to get off [the field],” Graham said. “For me, making the mistake I made, jumping offsides, he overthrew it, we was off the field. We just talk about every third down, just get off the field. Make sure we get them into 3rd-and-long so we can get off the field. Because the majority of times, you’re gonna win if it’s 3rd-and-long. We just didn’t do that but we’re going to get back to it this week.”
Sunday marked the Eagles’ worst defensive performance on third downs (by percentage) since Week 4 of 2013.
For the season, the Eagles have allowed their opponents to convert 61 of 145 third-down chances (42.1 percent), good for the ninth-worst percentage in the league.
Jenkins said the team needs to work on being more consistent on third downs. In some games, the Eagles are able to get off the field and in others, they just can’t.
Stopping teams on third downs is a point of pride for any defense. This one isn’t any different.
“Most definitely,” corner E.J. Biggers said. “Third downs [are] what gets you off the field. It gets the offense the ball back. Sometimes you back them up, get a good punt, we got a great returner. It gets everything else going on the team.”