TB-PHI Grades: Winston, Martin pummel Eagles in blowout

– Jameis Winston (+5.2) is the real deal. What a performance from the rookie. What I came away most impressed with was Winston’s innate sense of pressure. There were many times in this one where a Bucs’ linemen would lose control of his block and Winston would immediately get the ball out of his hands to a check down or underneath route. That ability made the struggling pass protection look competent Sunday. And then Winston was his usual brilliant self when pushing the ball down the field. On throws 10+ yards he was 13 of 17 for 205 yards and five touchdowns.

– When your quarterback and running back grade out this well, chances are it’s a good day for the offense. Doug Martin (+4.4 running grade) was making the correct read play after play against the usually stout Eagles defense. Martin’s ability to hit the linebacker level already at full speed is very rare in the NFL and it directly led to bad angles from safeties on both of his long runs. Martin also broke six tackles in one of the best rushing performances we’ve seen all year.

– The Buccaneers were lucky that the big lead to start out wasn’t on the other foot because their front four were consistently getting pushed back. Defensive tackle Henry Melton (-3.0) simply couldn’t get off a block while linebacker Kwon Alexander (-2.6) was lost trying to find the Eagles running backs. The good news, though, is that defensive end William Gholston (+2.4) continued his dominance against the run to at least get some stops for the Bucs defense.

Top performers:

QB Jameis Winston (+5.2)
RB Doug Martin (+3.5)
DT Gerald McCoy (+3.4)
WR Mike Evans (+3.1)
DE William Gholston (+2.4)

Philadelphia Eagles

– Same old story at the quarterback position for the Eagles. Mark Sanchez (-2.2) couldn’t get any sort of rhythm, made multiple costly mistakes and was seemingly on a different page from his receivers on multiple occasions. And once again the Eagles downfield passing was non-existent. Only five completions were targeted 10+ yards downfield for 88 yards. It also didn’t help Sanchez’ grade that two of his sacks were the result of him scrambling out of fairly clean pockets right into defenders.

– After settling in from some early season struggles, Byron Maxwell (-1.7 coverage) was once again the weak link in the Eagles secondary. He allowed completions on all three targets his way for 51 yards. The lowlight of the day came right before the end of the first half. On the play, Jameis Winston threw up a prayer on a stop-and-go route to Charles Sims. Maxwell was in perfect position to make a play on the ball, but he went for the interception and got out jumped to the spot by Sims and allowed the touchdown.

– Kiko Alonso (-0.9) was nothing short of a liability when he had to take on a block Sunday. No play highlighted that better than Martin’s 84-yard jaunt early in the second quarter. On that lead-draw play, Alonso took on the fullback in one of the most lackluster manners I’ve seen all year from a linebacker. Alonso finished the day without a single tackle or missed tackle. On the flip side, Mychal Kendricks (+4.0) was extremely active against the run, collecting five stops on the day.

Top performers:

TE Brent Celek (+4.9)
DE Fletcher Cox (+4.2)
ILB Mychal Kendricks (+4.0)
OLB Connor Barwin (+2.6)
C Jason Kelce (+1.9)