Buccaneers: Biggest threat in Week 6 matchup against Eagles
By Rob Leeds
Jalen Hurts, like most opposing quarterbacks, will feast against the Buccaneers.
Jalen Hurts is not a top quarterback in the NFL. The mobile QB is becoming more popular in the NFL, but not at the expense of downfield passing ability. Players like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson can move the ball easily on the ground and through the air, but Hurts falls short of their passing ability. Either way, Hurts will still have a good game against the Buccaneers tonight.
Hurts is far from a bad quarterback, but his game is painfully easy to predict. Short passes and mobility are the name of the game for this Eagles offense with Hurts at the helm, and these areas have hurt the Buccaneer secondary so far this season.
Mediocre quarterbacks such as Mac Jones passed with ease against this secondary, and while the defense has started to turn the corner after its disastrous start, even Jacoby Brissett looked good against this unit.
Hurts brings everything that the Bucs struggle against. The former Alabama and Oklahoma quarterback is great at improvising after plays break down, and the Buccaneer defense has allowed for plenty of broken plays to hit hard so far this season.
For all intents and purposes, this is Jalen Hurts’ rookie season. The Buccaneers hate playing against rookie quarterbacks.
This year, Philadelphia doesn’t have a run game outside of Hurts, and their deep ball isn’t what moves the offense. Even without these strategies, Hurts has every bit of talent to make this a long night for the Buccaneer defense.
If Tampa wants to slow the Eagles and their versatile quarterback down, the edge needs to be set, Devin White needs to be patient rather than fast, and the defensive backs need to keep their heads up on all plays, but especially on the ones that last longer than three to four seconds.
The Bucs are still the obvious favorites tonight, but no one should sleep on what Jalen Hurts brings to the table against this depleted secondary.
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