The Philadelphia Eagles stayed undefeated in the 2023 NFL season after holding off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 25-11 victory. Despite feeling under the weather with flu-like symptoms, Jalen Hurts returned to the site of his most embarrassing defeat as a pro and led a convincing win.
Hurts completed 23 of his 37 pass attempts for 227 yards and recorded two total touchdowns (though he did also throw a pair of picks) while A.J. Brown feasted against the Bucs defense to the tune of 131 yards on nine catches. D'Andre Swift again dominated, posting 130 rushing yards on 16 carries. Jalen Carter continued his track record of dominance, too, recording half a sack and forcing a fumble.
The Eagles followed Hurts' lead and helped Philly secure a win, though many of them also were far from feeling 100 percent. Jason Kelce said that other players were feeling crummy in the lead-up to the game, according to Tim McManus of ESPN.
“It feels like everyone in the world is right now,” Kelce said, via ESPN. “It's kind of ramping up again. We had a lot of guys on the team this week … it's kind of maybe that time of year right now in Philly.”
The Philadelphia weather was indeed cold and rainy in the weekend leading up to Monday night before the Eagles traveled to face the Buccaneers in the warmer Florida weather. The Eagles didn’t have to rule anyone out due to illness, though they did deal with numerous injuries in the game.
Hurts didn’t let the symptoms get to him, causing Eagles defensive lineman Brandon Graham to joke that Hurts, who recently signed with the Michael Jordan brand, was trying to be like Mike. Just as Jordan did in his Flu Game, Hurts led his team to victory. Though it wasn’t on the biggest stage, it did help his squad in its quest to get back there.
After not only clinching a win but achieving scorigami, the Eagles will look to stay undefeated in Week 4 when they face the Washington Commanders. They have a lot of improvement to strive for but being back home after a rough Week 3 will surely help.