Don’t miss the game between the Eagles and the Buccaneers, Monday from 7:15 p.m., on RDS2 and RDS.ca.
Avant-match Eagles-Buccaneers
TAMPA, Fla. – Players for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers insist they don’t listen to the “noise” outside their locker rooms.
These undefeated NFC rivals will face off in prime time Monday night, with their identical 2-0 records prompting questions about realistic expectations for the season.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles were less dominant than many observers expected after their appearance in the Super Bowl last winter. The Buccaneers are doing better than expected with Baker Mayfield replacing Tom Brady at quarterback.
“Look, are we going to play the same football that we played on February 12 last year? No not at all. Nobody will,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We are committed to this climb. We’re starting from the beginning. »
The Eagles held off the New England Patriots on the road and survived a home test against the Minnesota Vikings in the first two weeks of the season.
Thanks to Mayfield’s ability to avoid turnovers, the Buccaneers beat the Vikings on the road, then handed the Chicago Bears their 12th straight loss last week.
“What we did best last year was take things one day at a time, one game at a time. Little pieces by little pieces,” Sirianni noted.
“It’s hard to have that mindset because you want to have expectations. …And these are not necessarily our expectations. These are the expectations of the outside world. »
The “outside” talk about the Buccaneers after Brady’s retirement mostly painted a bleak picture of the upcoming campaign.
Mayfield is on his fourth team in two years and is coming off a season in which he lost eight of 10 starts with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.
The first player selected in the 2018 draft, Mayfield is used to being questioned. He said the Buccaneers didn’t let negative predictions bother them during the offseason, so there’s no need to listen to what’s being said now that they’ve won two games.
“That’s the talk that’s been going around, but we’ve known all along what we have in this locker room, the team we’re trying to build, where we’re trying to go,” Mayfield said.
“The important thing now is not to let the outside noise disturb us. We didn’t let it bother us before, why let it bother us now? »
Sirianni said the Eagles, who lost twice (including in playoff games) to Brady’s Buccaneers two years ago, are just trying to get better week to week.
“We realize that everyone is going to have opinions, and we have to focus on ourselves,” remarked the Eagles head coach.
“We must strive to improve every day. It’s as boring and monotonous as that. Just put your head down, go to work, block out the noise if you are someone who is disturbed by it. »
The Buccaneers, for their part, enthusiastically approach the challenge of facing the reigning champions in the National Association. Head coach Todd Bowles didn’t call it a litmus test for his team, however.
“We treat every week as such. The fact that they are 2-0 and went to the Super Bowl doesn’t bother us. We’re trying to get to 3-0,” Bowles said.
“We will have challenges to face every week. They will be more and more important as the weeks go by,” also mentioned the Buccaneers head coach.
“We look to improve as a team, regardless of our opponent. »
2023-09-24 07:00:00
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