(Tampa) Baker Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 32-9 victory over Jalen Hurts and his Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in a first-round playoff game of the NFL.
The Buccaneers (10-8) have won six of their last seven games and will face the Detroit Lions (13-5) on Sunday.
David Moore scored a 44-yard passing touchdown in the first quarter. Rookie Trey Palmer gave the home favorites a 25-9 lead with a 56-yard catch and run late in the third quarter. Both took advantage of a porous secondary to find their way to the end zone.
Mayfield, selected first overall in 2018 and playing for his fourth team in less than two years, completed 22 of his 36 passes without an interception. He finished his first playoff game since 2020 with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin.
It’s a disappointing end to the season for the Eagles (11-7), who lost to the Chiefs in the last Super Bowl and who spent a good part of the campaign looking for themselves.
The Pennsylvania team had to make do without their best receiver, AJ Brown, who injured his knee during the last game of the regular season.
Hurts started the game with a dislocated finger and connected with his receivers 25 times in 35 attempts for 250 yards and a touchdown before being replaced by Marcus Mariota in the final minute.
The Buccaneers, who lost 20-6 to the Lions in Week 6, bounced back from a six-game losing streak earlier this season. They have won five of the last six to clinch a third consecutive title in the Southern section of the Nationale.
The Eagles were looking for solutions after posting a 1-5 record at the end of the season. They had won 10 of their first 11 outings.
Chase McLaughlin made field goals of 28, 54 and 48 yards in the victory.