After a hot start to the 2023 season that saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shockingly win their first two games of the season, things got a little harder against the reigning NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles. In a battle of two 2-0 teams, the Eagles bludgeoned the Bucs on their home turf, defeating them 25-11 on Monday Night Football.
In their first season without future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, the team has turned to former No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft Baker Mayfield to be their signal-caller for the 2023 campaign after he signed a one-year contract in free agency this offseason. However, Mayfield was no match for an Eagles defense that ranks near the top of the league in terms of rushing the passer.
As a result, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles figured it would be a good idea to lean on running back Rachaad White and the Bucs’ running game. Unfortunately for Bowles and the Bucs, the team ran for just 41 yards on 17 carries in their loss to the Eagles. After the game, Bowles was asked to give his thoughts on the Bucs’ run game, to which he replied: “We didn’t have one.”
White accounted for 38 of the Bucs’ 41 rushing yards on 14 carries, averaging a measly 2.7 yards per carry. Sean Tucker, an undrafted rookie out of Syracuse University, was the only other running back to receive a carry in this game.
Bowles, White, and the Bucs run game are going to have to turn it around quickly if they want to right the ship when they travel to New Orleans to face their divisional rival Saints in Week 4.
