The Tampa Bay Buccaneers turned in another stellar playoff performance, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 31-15. With the win, the Bucs advance to next weekend's divisional round of the playoffs.
Following the victory, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians spoke to the media and addressed smacking his own player's helmet. Early in the 3rd quarter, with the Bucs leading 17-0, Eagles kick returner Jalen Reagor muffed a punt and Tampa Bay recovered. During the scrum for the loose ball, Buccaneers' Andrew Adams began pulling Eagles players off of the pile, which can be a penalty.
That prompted Arians to run onto the field and give his player what looked like a smack to the head.
During the post game press conference, Arians confirmed this was the reason.
I asked Bruce Arians why he briefly swiped his hand at Andrew Adams’ helmet after the Eagles’ muffed punt. Adams was trying to pull Eagles players off the pile, which could be a penalty. “Yeah, that was it,” Arians said.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) January 16, 2022
That was one of the very few things that didn't go according to plan for Tampa Bay. The Bucs led the 31-0, before allowing a couple garbage time touchdowns.
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady was highly efficient, finishing 29 for 37 for 271 yards and two touchdowns. Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans set a franchise playoff record with nine catches. Evans turned that into 117 yards receiving and a touchdown.
The Bucs were without their top two running backs, Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II. That did not stop them from effectively running the football. Gio Bernard and Ke'Shawn Vaughn combined to rush for 97 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers defense dominated for most of the day. They held the vaunted Eagles rushing attack to 95 yards on the ground.
Tampa Bay will host the divisional round playoff game next week, but still await their opponent.
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