Super Wild Card Weekend has already delivered several stunning upsets, with the Packers destroying the Cowboys in Dallas and the Texans cruising past the Browns in Cleveland. Could another underdog prevail to close out the first round of the playoffs?
Even a year removed from a Super Bowl shootout with the Chiefs, the Eagles certainly profile as a team capable of getting bounced early, entering Monday night's prime-time wild-card showdown with the Buccaneers having lost five of their last six amid reported internal turmoil. Tampa Bay barely made the playoffs as the winner of a wide-open NFC South, but Todd Bowles and Co. have a promising track record against Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, even if the visiting Birds are slight road favorites.
So who actually has the edge? And how can you tune in? Here's everything you need to know:
How to watch
- When: Monday, Jan. 15 | 8 p.m. ET
- Location: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
- TV: ESPN, ABC | Stream: fubo
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Odds: Eagles -3, O/U 43 (via SportsLine consensus odds)
Keys to the game
- Will Philly lean on the run? The Eagles beat the Bucs in fairly decisive fashion when they last met in September, but they did it in large part due to a solid workload for D'Andre Swift. Tampa's run defense has since tightened up, while the Eagles' ground game has gotten spottier. Nick Sirianni might be wise to get Swift involved early and often in an effort to control the clock.
- Who can cover Mike Evans? No one necessarily views the Bucs as a dangerous passing offense, but Baker Mayfield wisely feeds Evans on the outside, and usually it pays off. It helps they'll be up against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. Though Darius Slay is back after an injury-related absence, Philly's sorely lacked speed on the back end.
- Have the Eagles learned anything offensively? Even if we shrug off the Philly defense as a lost cause, even the most loyal of Eagles fans are desperate for some creativity from Sirianni and Brian Johnson's play-calling. Without injured No. 1 wideout A.J. Brown, will they keep forcing failed endeavors, like screens to Julio Jones? Or will they utilize the talent at their disposal?
Prediction
The Bucs have gone 5-1 in their last six games, while the Eagles have gone 1-5. That says a lot more about the Eagles than it does the Bucs, and not in an encouraging way. While Tampa Bay has benefitted a bit from weak divisional competition, the Eagles have simply fallen off a cliff in every way -- play design, ball security, fundamentals, tackling effort, etc. Yes, they were 10-1 at one point, poised to make a repeat title bid, but they've truly been one of the most uninspiring teams in football since that point.
And yet, in a world where the Cowboys can fall behind 27-0 to the Packers in their own stadium, or the Chiefs can hold Tyreek Hill and the Dolphins to seven points, is it safe to completely write off the wounded Birds here? Probably not. Dispirited as they've looked over the last month, they still have a talent advantage in some key spots, including QB, which can go a long way in masking deeper-seated issues in January. The Eagles may well be broken at their core, destined for serious changes this offseason, but they've got enough juice in the tank to sweep the Bucs and stay alive -- putting their own fans through the ringer -- one more week.
Pick: Eagles 26, Buccaneers 24
And if you're wondering who all of our experts are picking for the game, here are their against-the-spread predictions:
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles (-3) at Buccaneers |  | |  | | | | | |
