The Buccaneers made this personal

It’s easy to get fired up for a Dallas game, or this year’s 49ers game, or any game late in the year with tons on the line. The energy and agitation just come naturally. But a Week 3 road game against the Buccaneers? Are you wound up as much as you need to be? Let’s get you there.

Facts:

The Buccaneers have beaten the Eagles five straight times, including the playoffs. We haven’t beaten them since 2013. Unacceptable.

In 2018 when we all assumed we’d repeat as Super Bowl champs we rolled into Tampa in week two and got beat by Ryan Fitzpatrick and DeSean Jackson (!). That hurt, and deflated the joy I had carried all offseason. We’re back in Tampa early in the season after a Super Bowl run. History cannot repeat.

Fired up yet? Me either. Let’s keep going.

In 2003, the Eagles played their first ever game at the Linc. It was the primetime NFL kickoff game and they hosted the defending champion Buccaneers who shut them out 17-0. That was supposed to be the Eagles revenge game for the 2002 NFC Championship. The Buccaneers embarrassed us and stole our moment in our new house. What happened in the NFC Championship again? Take a deep breath, we’re going there.

January 19, 2003. I’ve never been more confident than I was going into this game. We OWNED this Bucs team, From 2000-02, the Eagles had won four straight including two playoff games. All we had to do was beat them one more time and we’re in the Super Bowl, and I just knew we’d win the Super Bowl if we got in. My lifelong dream was about to come true. And it was the final game at the Vet. Our precious and disgusting shrine that held so many of our memories. This was our destiny. No way we could lose. It was a weird game and they actually took the lead in the second half. I was shaken, but I was sure we’d still win it. McNabb was driving us deep into Bucs territory late in the 4th to get within one score and then…it happened.

TRIGGER WARNING The following tweet and video could bring up feelings of trauma.

I’m sorry to make you relive that. I watched it live and then never again until this week. My therapist said I needed to face the moment of trauma. He says it’s time to move on from this and while I’ve done some deep work around it, I’m not fully healed. The moment he caught that ball, I went from the highest high to the lowest low. Oh man, it hurt. Twenty years later they’ve chosen to have a big celebration for Ronde Barber’s induction into the Hall of Fame during the Eagles game. This is a calculated and deliberate move to rip off our scabs and pour salt in our wounds. Not cool. Do they think this is funny? Do they think the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans are some kind of joke?

I’m not okay with this. Here’s what I’d like to see:

73-0. Jalen Hurts throws for 6 TDs and runs for 2, Haason Reddick has 5.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles, D’Andre Swift runs for 278 yards and 2 TDs, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert all with 150+ yds receiving, Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship with two picks each.

Jump in the comments with your score predictions, your hype speeches, and your painful stories about how the Buccaneers hurt you.