The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will welcome the defending Super Bowl champions to Raymond James Stadium in Week Four as the Philadelphia Eagles visit on Sunday, September 28 in the week's only battle of undefeated teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast locally by FOX.

The Buccaneers remain undefeated due to the continued late-game heroics of quarterback Baker Mayfield, as they are the first team in NFL history to win each of its first three games with a go-ahead scoring drive in the final minute of regulation. Most recently Mayfield responded to the New York Jets' stunning return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter with a seven-play, 48-yard march that set Chase McLaughlin up for the 36-yard game-winning field goal. McLaughlin made five field goals in the game, including one from 55 yards and one from 54. Rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka continued his rapid rise into NFL stardom with six catches for 85 yards, several of the acrobatic variety.

The Eagles were on the right side of a blocked field goal touchdown in their big showdown with the Los Angeles Rams in Week Three, as the visiting Rams were lined up to try a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation only to have defensive tackle Jordan Davis block the kick, pick up the loose ball and go all the way in the other direction for a score. After a slow start to the season, Philadelphia's passing attack got on track against the Rams with Jalen Hurts throwing three touchdown passes, one each to his core trio of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. Hurts now has a 100.5 passer rating to go with 117 rushing yards and four touchdown runs. Davis and fellow defensive tackle Jalen Carter continue to dominate up front for the Eagles on defense and rookie safety Andrew Mukuba has added a playmaking element to the team's secondary with an interception and half a sack.

Here are four major storylines and four head-to-head player battles to keep an eye on as the Bucs prepare to rekindle their long-running rivalry with the Eagles.

TOP STORYLINES

Battle for NFC Supremacy – Only six teams finished Week Three with a 3-0 record and, as noted above, Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium is the only one in Week Four to feature two of those teams. The winner will be one of at most two 4-0 teams in the NFC, as the 3-0 San Francisco 49ers will be putting their undefeated status on the line against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The last time the Buccaneers had at least a share of the best record in the NFC four or more weeks into a season was when they finished the 2021 campaign tied with Green Bay with 13-4 marks. In this case, getting to 4-0 would probably label the Buccaneers as one of the top contenders for the conference championship since they would have to defeat the defending champions to get there. The Eagles lost in Tampa in Week Four of last season but have since won 19 of their last 20 games, playoffs included, and every game in which quarterback Jalen Hurts has started and finished. The Buccaneers have won six of their last seven games against Philadelphia, postseason included, but the Eagles possess one of the deepest and most talented rosters on both sides of the ball in the NFL and have already defeated two division winners from last year in the Chiefs and the Rams. The Buccaneers are seeking just the fourth 4-0 start in franchise history (1979, 1997 and 2005), and in each of the previous three they made the playoffs, including twice as a division winner.

Whither Godwin/Wirfs? – The Buccaneers have eagerly been awaiting the returns of both wide receiver Chris Godwin and left tackle Tristan Wirfs to action, and that was finally starting to look like a possibility as Week Four began. Both players practiced last week, but only in a limited fashion, and there were never any serious plans to have them play against the Jets in Week Three. However, Head Coach Todd Bowles said their return against the Eagles on Sunday was a possibility if a ramping up of their activity in practice goes well this week. Godwin's return would be extremely well-timed, given the hamstring injury sustained on Sunday by Mike Evans that is expected to cause him to miss multiple games. The Bucs are also playing without one of their other top receivers, Jalen McMillan, who is on injured reserve and not expected back until the second half of the season. At the time of his season-ending ankle injury last year, Godwin was leading all NFL receivers in receptions. Wirfs was a first-team Associated Press All-Pro in 2024, making him the first player ever to win that honor at both right and left tackle. His return would likely cause a domino effect on the starting offensive line, with Graham Barton potentially going back to center and Ben Bredeson sliding back to left guard. The Buccaneers would like to have as strong of an interior line group as possible this Sunday given the presence of the Eagles' two game-wrecking defensive linemen, Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.

The Saquon Threat – Saquon Barkley moved from one NFC East team to another in the 2024 offseason when the former New York Giant signed with the Eagles in free agency. The results were instantaneous and enormous, as – with playoffs included – Barkley set an all-time single season NFL record with 2,504 rushing yards while scoring 15 touchdowns and routinely breaking off long runs. Playing behind one of the NFL's best offensive lines and next to another rushing threat in the backfield in hurts, Barkley unlocked the full potential of the Eagles' offense and proved that big contracts for top running backs can pay off if the situation is right. So far this season, Barkley hasn't had any overwhelming outings and is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry, but he still has 194 rushing yards, 233 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. The Buccaneers, as usual in the Todd Bowles era, have one of the NFL's best run defenses, ranking sixth in the NFL with 84.0 yards allowed per game and fifth with 3.60 yards allowed per carry. They also are on a league-leading streak of 11 straight games of holding the opposing team under 100 rushing yards. Stretching that run to 12 games will be extremely challenging against Barkley, Hurts and the Eagles' front line, but slowing down Saquon would certainly improve the Bucs' chances of winning.

The Heat is On – The Buccaneers took a 23-6 lead into the fourth quarter against the winless Jets on Sunday and at that point had gotten New York's offense off the field in four snaps or fewer on each of their previous six drives. However, the Jets then mounted two extended touchdown drives, primarily by throwing the ball underneath and picking up yards after the catch, and briefly took the lead with 1:49 left on Will McDonald's block and scoring return of McLaughlin's field goal try. On Monday, Head Coach Todd Bowles indicated that fourth-quarter fatigue for the Bucs' defense on an extremely hot afternoon, may have contributed to tackling issues on those two long touchdown drives. The Bucs and Eagles kick off at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday and the long-range forecast suggests it will be another steamy afternoon, with a high of 91 and feels-like temperatures on the field well into triple digits. The Eagles are making the unusual move of flying to Tampa on Friday and will be holding their final field session of the week in the Florida heat. The Buccaneers tend to think of acclimation to the local early-season weather as an advantage after a month of August training camp practices, but that can be situationally affected if one team's defense is on the field a lot more than the other. Will the temperature and humidity have an effect on Sunday's outcome? It's a factor to keep in mind.

KEY MATCHUPS

1. Eagles WR A.J. Brown vs. Buccaneers CB Jamel Dean

Three-time Pro Bowl wideout A.J. Brown had his first big game of the season in the Eagles' win over the Rams on Sunday, catching six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Perhaps more significantly, he showed why he was one of the NFL's most dangerous and most physical receivers with several important tackle-breaking catch-and-runs late in the game, on his way to averaging 18.9 yards per catch. After a Week One Eagles win over Dallas in which Brown was targeted just once, on his 23rd and final route of the game, Hurts targeted him 10 times in Week Three. Brown is a contested-catch master; according to NFL Next Gen Stats, in 2024, he had the fifth-highest catch rate (65.3%) on targets when he had fewer than three yards of separation from the nearest defender, and he had zero drops in that situation. Jamel Dean made the biggest defensive play of the game for Tampa Bay in Week Three, with a 55-yard pick-six just before halftime, giving the Bucs their first defensive touchdown in 11 months. Dean has the size to match up with Brown and is off to a good start in 2024, with 10 tackles and four passes defensed through three games. The Bucs tend to leave each of their outside corners on the same side throughout a game and Brown splits his outside snaps pretty evenly between the two sides, so there should be plenty of one-on-one battles for these two competitors.

2. Buccaneers WR Sterling Shepard vs. Eagles CB Cooper DeJean

Sterling Shepard had his best game yet as a Buccaneer in the win over the Jets on Sunday, catching four passes for 80 yards and moving the chains in several very important moments, including the 20-yard catch-and-run that got McLaughlin in position for his game-winning field goal. With Godwin and McMillan sidelined, the 10th-year pass-catcher has filled a very significant role and is currently second on the team with 153 receiving yards, with a team-best 13.9 yards per catch. He has obvious rapport with Mayfield, his former University of Oklahoma teammate, who affectionately called Shepard his "crazy lunatic" after Sunday's win. Shepard has taken 51% of his snaps in the slot so far this season, so he should see plenty of work against Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean, who was instant star as a slot corner as a rookie in 2024. Though he has also taken several dozen snaps at outside corner in base defensive alignments this season, DeJean is still very effective covering slot receivers. Last year, he allowed just 4.9 yards per target as the nearest defender in coverage, the lowest mark in the NFL among all players with 50-plus targets.

3. Eagles G Tyler Steen vs. Buccaneers DL Elijah Roberts

Tyler Steen is the least experienced member of Philadelphia's oft-lauded offensive line, alongside three players who have been to the Pro Bowl and massive left tackle Jordan Mailata, who surprisingly hasn't had that honor yet. A third-round pick in 2023, the 6-6, 312-pound Steen started just three games over his first two seasons but the Eagles are famous for planning ahead on O-Line replacements and he has now stepped in as the full-time right guard. Steen's first shot at starting came in 2024 but he suffered an ankle injury and the subsequent strong play of Mekhi Becton meant he never got his job back. He has it now and, as All-Pro left tackle Lane Johnson said after the Eagles' opener, Steen is "strong, athletic, quick [and has] the feet of a left tackle." Steen will see a lot of reps against a player with even less experience as he goes against Bucs rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts. Roberts has been thrust into a larger role after the season-ending injury suffered by Calijah Kancey and he played 57% of the defensive snaps against the Jets. The former SMU standout has already cracked the sacks category in his rookie season, sharing one in Week Two with Lavonte David, and he has impressed throughout the preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season with his ability to get into the backfield.

4. Buccaneers Field Goal Protection Unit vs. Eagles DTs Jalen Carter & Jordan Davis

The Eagles blocked both of the Rams last two field goal attempts on Sunday, and on both occasions they lined up 314-pound defensive tackle Jalen Carter and 336-pound defensive tackle Jordan Davis – both former top-13 overall picks – right next to each other across the guard to the left of the Rams' long-snapper. And in both cases the Carter-Davis duo simply collapsed that part of the Los Angeles protection wall and got close enough to kicker Joshua Carty to reject his kicks. The blocked field goal the Buccaneers gave up at nearly the same point in the afternoon on Sunday wasn't of the same variety – Will McDonald simply jumped over the Bucs' line of blockers on that one – but the Buccaneers still need to be prepared for the threat that Carter and Davis pose in such situations. Bowles noted on Monday that all of the offensive line shuffling the Buccaneers have had to do in response to injuries has also had an affect on special teams, where lineups have been altered multiple times as well. Given that all three of the Buccaneers' first three games have come down to a score in the game's final minute, the ability to get off a clean field goal or extra point operation could prove to be crucial.

Another Key Storyline this week is our Moffitt Stories of Courage special guest, Renee Trudell. At just 35, Renee's life changed when what she thought was a pulled muscle turned out to be stage 1 ovarian cancer. A CT scan revealed a mass the size of a small watermelon, and less than a week later she underwent surgery that confirmed her diagnosis. Since then, she has leaned on the love of her husband, her dog, and her cat, while finding strength through art, painting, and crocheting, as well as returning to ballet and contemporary dance to rebuild her body. Her journey is a powerful reminder of resilience and hope. Renee's message to others is simple but inspiring: "Be kind to yourself, especially in discouraging times. Celebrate progress, no matter how small. You are stronger than you think you are." The Buccaneers are honored to host Renee and her husband at this weekend's game.