Now we can confidently say that the Philadelphia Eagles should or could be 7-0. The Bucs kicker Matt Bryant put the final dagger/sword in the Birds gut as he kicked a last-second 62-yard field goal. It probably would have been good from 65-66 yards out. What it was a stunning victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who started the season losing 4 straight games. Now the Bucs are at 2-4 with 2 straight wins over winning teams. The FG was also the 3rd-longest FG in NFL history behind (2) 63-yarders by Jason Elam (for Denver on Oct. 25, 1998) and Tom Dempsey (for the Saints on Nov. 8, 1970). It was another blow to the delicate psyched in which the Eagles now have thrown away 3-late game leads only to lose the ballgame. I thought I seen it all last week, but boy was I ever wrong. How can a team win after being outgained 506-196 in total yards? Or how can the Eagles lose when the defense holds the opposing QB to a paltry 104 yards passing and a lowly QB rating of 60.4. The Bucs quarterback Brad Gradkowski is still a rookie and looked like one the entire game. It was a game of missed opportunities and turnovers for the team in midnight green. The game was decided on terrible mistakes by the QB who again threw for 302 yards, his fourth time this season. Now the Eagles fall to 4-3 and unless there is a tie on Monday night, will drop to second place for the first time this year.

Again, the game became a tale of two halves just like week. This high-powered Eagle offense racked up over 500 yards and still had no points in the first half. Tampa Bay did nothing in the first half, but somehow had a 7-0 lead, mostly thanks to the Bucs Ronde Barber who returned not ‘1’, but “2” interceptions for touchdowns. The first came early in the second quarter. Barber also had a forced fumble on the Eagles first possession as they drove the field in what looked to be a TD-scoring drive. The Eagles were moving the ball and had already gained 50 yards on the drive. The Eagles rookie WR Jason Avant just caught a pass and Barber stripped him around the Bucs 20-yard line and the Bucs CB Torrie Cox recovered the ball. Then the first faithful pass happened when McNabb under thrown a pass intended for Hank Baskett on the Eagles 33-yard line. Barber jumped the route and scored easily from 37 yards out for the first of 2 INT-returns. It was just as easy as 4 years ago when he finished off the Eagles’ season and last game at the Vet during the 2002 NFC Championship Game. McNabb threw another INT to ruin another potential scoring drive right before the half. Then with 2nd-and-goal from the Bucs 6-yard line and only 9 seconds left, the Eagles were poised to score a TD or at least a FG. They scored neither as McNabb completed the pass short of the goal line to LJ Smith who was tackled at the 2-yard line ending the half. This one was clearly on McNabb this time and not coach Andy Reid. At worse, he should have thrown the ball away and let Akers kick the easy field goal. Those 3 points would of given the Birds a sure victory in the end.

Tampa Bay opened the second half and drove the field on a 14-play 58-yard drive. Though the drive ended in just a FG, it consumed over 8 minutes of game clock and extended the Bucs lead to 10-0. The drive was mostly maintained by the running of Cadillac Williams, who finished the game with 82 rushing yards on 23 carries. On this drive, Williams had gains of 6, 7,11 and 7 yards respectively. Then lightning struck again, when Ronde Barber picked off another McNabb pass intended for Reggie Brown and returned this INT for a 66-yard TD return. That made the score 17-0 in favor of Tampa Bay with just over 20 minutes left in the game. Then the light switch turned on! First, an 8-play 79-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard pass to fullback Thomas Tapeh that made the score 17-7. Then a 7-play 72-yard TD drive made it 17-14. Reggie Brown caught a 7-yard pass for the touchdown. Brown had another productive day, catching 4 passes for 77 yards. The Eagles still had about six minutes left in the game. Tampa did come back with a drive of their own, but again were forced to only a 44-yard FG by Matt Bryant. Till then, Bryant’s longest FG had only been a 33-yarder. The Eagles got the ball back with just 2:49 left in the game. It was Brian Westbrook who caught a short pass and turned it into a 52-yard TD giving the Eagles a 21-20 lead. Westbrook ended up with his first 100-100 game (100 yards passing and rushing) in his 5-year career. It was not enough, as you know the ending. Thirty-three seconds is all it took to make the Eagles feel sicker than their quarterback losing his lunch on the field. And another blow to the gut really hurts too.