September football in Tampa can best be characterized by two words.
Swamp ass.
On Sunday, the Eagles return to face the Bucs, 52 weeks to the day after a Week 4 loss there in September 2024. They’ll be heading to town on Friday, not Saturday.
“Everything we do is to try [make sure that] our process is right to give ourselves the best chance to win,” coach Nick Sirianni told reporters on Wednesday. “If your process is off, then you don’t have as much of a chance. That was part of our process when we studied some things in the offseason with the heat and everything like that. Get out there a day earlier to acclimate, one less day off the plane before you play a game.”
It’s unclear whether it will matter. Still, the eventual Super Bowl champs were on the wrong end of a 33-16 score last September. (They also were overwhelmed by the Bucs the prior January in the playoffs, 32-9.)
The Eagles have played four times in Tampa since the 2021 postseason, losing three times. This year, both teams are 3-0 — and the winner will have what could be a critical tiebreaker when the time comes to determine where a potential postseason rematch will be played.
