Buccaneer Defense: Can It Dominate Eagles QB Nick Foles?

After back-to-back losses to “elite” quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan, the mountain gets a lot smaller for the Buccaneer defense on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles, mired in the muck of eight straight losses, will have rookie Nick Foles starting against the Bucs. With the Super Bowl team from 2002 looking on, it will bring back memories of how Monte Kiffin’s defenses used to dominate inexperienced quarterbacks. A day against those units typically resulted in nightmare performances by young signal callers.

“It’s time for the Buccaneer defense to get healthy and dominate from start to finish,” said former Buc and Indianapolis Colt Booger McFarland on 98.7 The Fan, this week.

The Eagles will start Foles for the rest of the season with Michael Vick shelved and his future in Philly a total question mark. Odds are, Vick will be playing somewhere else in 2013.

Vick isn’t the only major offensive loss. Running back LeSean McCoy is out, so is wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

What the Eagles do bring to the party is Bryce Brown, a bruiser with speed. “He’s a very explosive runner,” Bucs coach Greg Schiano observed on Thursday. “He can bounce things and run away from you.”