The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a very successful playoff rematch with the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon at Ford Field, defeating the defending NFC North champions 20-16.
It appears the Bucs likely have just gained a big advantage against their other 2023 playoff foe ahead of their rematch later this month.
Philadelphia WR A.J. Brown was inactive for the Eagles' Monday Night Football matchup with Atlanta, which the Falcons won 22-21. According to the broadcast, Brown said he's expecting to miss a couple of weeks.
The Eagles face the Saints on Sunday in New Orleans, then take on the Bucs on Sunday, September 29 in Tampa.
Brown suffered a hamstring injury on Friday during practice, popping up on the injury report that day as a limited participant. He missed the final day of practice and was listed as questionable on the final injury report.
Brown is obviously the straw that stirs the Eagles' passing game, as evidenced last night with the struggles of the Eagles to move the ball well through the air. He's a matchup-proof player who can tilt any game in Philadelphia's favor.
Tampa Bay knows all too well how important Brown is, as the latter missed the teams' Wild Card round clash back in January with a knee injury, which the Bucs won in blowout fashion 32-9. Devonta Smith ended up with a productive game statistically (148 yards on 8 catches), but outside of Smith, the Eagles weren't able to do hardly anything in their passing game.
Conversely, with Brown, the Eagles looked like a different team against Tampa Bay in their regular season matchup last year, which Philadelphia won 25-11. Brown had 9 catches for 131 yards, menacing the Bucs' defense throughout the evening.
Games against NFC playoff contenders are important, as you never know when you might be going head-to-head with a team for a playoff spot, or when a result or record against a particular team can come into play for divisional tiebreaker purposes (i.e., record against common opponents). The Eagles are certainly a team that should see their name among the playoff contenders late in the season.
As such, this is the kind of early season game that can be very important late in the year. And - provided Brown's prognosis is accurate - it's one that the Bucs appear to be in even better shape to navigate on September 29.
