The Day After...

Sometimes in life, you get lucky. For Buccaneers kicker Matt Bryant, it was all about luck as Tampa Bay knocked off the Eagles 23-21 in a stunning game at Raymond James Stadium yesterday.

After the morning Flyers press conference, it appeared the day could only get better. The Eagles would roll on to a 5-2 start, the Flyers would be heading in a new direction, and everything would be grand in Philadelphia. Too bad the Eagles couldn't hold up their end of the deal on a wild Sunday in the city of brotherly love.

Maybe the Eagles knew it just wasn't going to be their day when Jason Avant fumbled after catching a ball inside the Tampa red zone. Maybe they knew it wasn't going to be their day after Donovan McNabb threw an interception to cornerback Juran Bolden. And heck, maybe they knew it wasn't going to be their day after McNabb was picked off twice by Ronde Barber for touchdowns. But the bottom line is, good teams win these games, and the Eagles proved yesterday that they are not among the elite teams in this league due to the amount of mistakes they make.

On the third play of the second quarter, Ronde Barber stepped up in front of Hank Baskett and picked off the pass for a 37 yard touchdown return to put Tampa Bay ahead 7-0. The Eagles did have a chance to get on the board at the end of the half, but a gigantic mistake cost the Eagles this football game.After a completion to L.J. Smith for a gain for 14 yards, the Eagles quickly spiked the ball and stopped the clock with 10 seconds remaining. With no timeouts left, the Eagles had one shot at the endzone, and then would kick a field goal. Only this team could find a way to get zero points out of a sure three and maybe even seven. McNabb threw a pass short of the goal line again to Smith, but with no timeouts and the clock ticking, there was no way to spike the ball again. Time ran out and a stunned Eagles team walked off the field down 7-0.

After a 30 yard field goal from Bryant to put the Bucs up 10-0 in the third, it was deja vu all over again for McNabb as he once more found the hands of Ronde Barber. Barber scampered 66 yards for his second interception return for a touchdown of the day, putting the Bucs ahead 17-0. Good teams don't get down 17-0. Great teams come back and win games down 17-0.After an 8 play, 79 yard drive that included an MVP-caliber play from McNabb to escape pressure in the pocket, the Eagles cut the lead to 17-7. Thomas Tapeh scored from 12 yards out on play in which McNabb was desperate to find a receiver after getting away from the pass rush. Strangely enough, the best pressure the Bucs had all day on McNabb came on a touchdown pass. Go figure. With 20 minutes left to play, the Eagles were definitely back in the thick of things.

Brian Westbrook was the main man on the Eagles' first drive of the fourth quarter. Westbrook had gains of 23, 11, and 12 respectively to help the team march right back down the field. McNabb found Reggie Brown in the back of the endzone for his 5th touchdown of the season, and the Eagles were suddenly down just three points.In last week's game vs. New Orleans, the Saints held the ball for the final 8:28 of the game. As the Bucs got the ball with 8:40 left, the thought had to at least cross the mind of some of the players. Tampa Bay did a very good job of killing as much time as possible, running a 5:58 drive down to the bone. Bryant hit from 44 yards to put Tampa Bay back up by six points, setting the stage for McNabb and the Eagles to get one more crack at it.On a 3rd and 6 from the Philadelphia 48, McNabb dropped back and looked for an open receiver. Westbrook became available in the flats, and a perfect pass was delivered and Westbrook did the rest. He broke 5 tackles on his way to the endzone, and a very loud crowd was quieted by the Eagles. David Akers added the extra point, and the Eagles went ahead 21-20 with just 46 seconds to play.

Bruce Gradkowski led the Bucs on a game-winning drive that will be remembered for the ages. In fact, he did about 10% of the work, just ask Bryant. Gradkowski threw an 11 yard pass to get the Bucs up to the 47 yard line, and then he scrambled for 9 yards down to the Eagles 44 yard line. With 10 seconds left, the Bucs had one last play to try and pick up some yards and kick a long field goal. The pass attempt was incomplete to Michael Clayton, bringing Bryant out for a 62-yard field goal try. All right, at this point what is going through the mind of a Philadelphia fan? "This can't really happen, can it?" Maybe you muttered that under your breath. "Whew, tight game but what a comeback." Something to that effect could have been called out. "5-2, first place for another week." Yeah, that all sounds good. Until... game over. 62 yard field goal. Did that really happen? You bet it did.