The Eagles have dominated the trenches and time of possession. That’ll remain key in Week 4.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appeared to have a glimmer of hope after they scored their first touchdown and successfully converted the ensuing two-point attempt to bring them within two possessions of the Eagles.

But with 9 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in Monday’s game and the visitors possessing a 14-point lead, the Eagles hogged the ball and ran out the game clock to cement their decisive 25-11 victory over a previously unbeaten NFC foe.

The impressive, 15-play drive, which spanned 68 yards and racked up five first downs, represented a fixture of the offense and its ability to not only control but dominate the time of possession and line of scrimmage alike. Throughout the drive, the Eagles incorporated a mixture of plays (10 runs, five passes) catered toward their traditional four-minute offense, which is designated to chew time off the clock.

» READ MORE: The NFL needs to ban the Eagles’ ‘Tush Push.’ It’s hurting too many people’s feelings.

”We went into that drive with the mindset of using the clock, but not the whole clock,” tight end Dallas Goedert explained. “We wanted to put a good drive together and get the clock down. Eventually, we just looked up and it was under four minutes and we thought, ‘[shoot], we might be able to finish this thing with the ball.’

“To chew off all that clock, it’s a testament to coaching, the players we have on this team, and a little bit of luck goes into it. We technically don’t want to create too explosive of a play that gets us too far down the field. We just kept getting first downs. With our O-line and Jalen [Hurts], when you do the right things, it pays off in big ways like how we put that exclamation point on the win.”

Perhaps the largest hurdle of the final drive came on third-and-13 with five minutes remaining, when Hurts connected with wide receiver A.J. Brown for a 25-yard completion. All told, the Eagles finished with a season-high 27 first downs, 472 offensive yards, and won the time of possession battle 38:55 to 21:05.

”Nine minutes we were able to bleed off the clock … so great job by the entire group of offense, play calling by [offensive coordinator] Brian Johnson, the offensive line,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “What a tremendous [effort]; to have nine minutes run off the clock in a four-minute drill is pretty outstanding. … It was being able to run and pass in this scenario — leaning more on the run, but good job by everybody.”

During the team’s postgame celebration in the visitors’ locker room at Raymond James Stadium, Sirianni was approached by general manager Howie Roseman, who had a historical bit that he wanted to share.

Sirianni said: “I believe Howie made me very aware that the last time that nine minutes was run off a clock like that was when I was other on the other sideline in 2017, when it was the Chargers versus the Eagles at the [StubHub Center]. It was nice to be on the other side of that for sure.”

The Eagles still have room to improve. They rank 23rd in the NFL in passing offense (198.7 yards per game) and 25th in red zone efficiency, although they’re second in rushing offense (185.7).

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts plays through ‘flu-like symptoms’ in an Eagles win, but something is ailing the passing game

Regardless of how they’re moving the ball and winning games, prioritizing time of possession will be key for the Eagles at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, where they’ll host the Washington Commanders.

The Commanders, after all, handed the Eagles their first loss of the 2022 season roughly 10½ months ago when they stormed into the Linc and controlled the line of scrimmage. This led to a major advantage in time of possession (Washington 40:24, Eagles 19:36) and a 32-21 defeat for the Eagles as they fell to 8-1.

Left tackle Jordan Mailata said the Eagles want to carry their momentum into Sunday, with a mindset of controlling the trenches and maintaining possession throughout.

”We’re so effective in that part of the game in running that clock down, it’s something we pride ourselves on that we can run the ball and run that clock down,” Mailata said. “We just have to make sure we can go out there and execute it. It starts with our communication and our leader, Jason Kelce. He’s really like a player-coach.

“He wants to make sure each player knows our technique and how to convert on every single down.”