Mike Edwards prevents the Philadelphia touchdown

In the first half of the NFC wild-card game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the visitors were struggling to get any semblance of offense going. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles could not get the running game going, and the young quarterback could not get into a rhythm.

But late in the first half with Philadelphia trailing 17-0, the Eagles offense finally started to move the football. A big passing play to Quez Watkins set the Eagles up with a 1st and 10 inside the Tampa Bay 30-yard line. After a short completion to DeVonta Smith, Hurts then rolled to his left on second down and tried to find the rookie wide receiver in the end zone after the defender covering him fell down.

Hurts let fly, but reading him was Mike Edwards:

As you can see from this replay angle, Smith works himself open on the double-move, as cornerback Jamel Dean falls down. Hurts, facing pressure in the pocket, slides to his left while keeping his eyes downfield. He spots Smith open, but Edwards flies into the screen to make the play:

Perhaps the best view of this play comes from the “dots,” provided by NFL’s NextGen Stats:

The Buccaneers drop into single-high coverage at the snap, with Jordan Whitehair sliding underneath and Edwards dropping deep. As Hurts vacates the pocket, Edwards does a tremendous job of mirroring him, putting him in position to back up Dean after he slips and prevent the Eagles from finally reaching the end zone.

So far in this game, the Buccaneers safeties have made a number of great plays. Whitehair has been good against the run, helping force an early third-down stop on the Eagles’ first possession. Edwards has the interception, and fellow safety Antonie Winfield Jr. notched a sack of Hurts as well. With the Buccaneers struggling a little to protect Tom Brady, particularly with Tristan Wirfs hobbled and now ruled out of the game, the Tampa Bay defense can perhaps close this out on their own.