Philadelphia ? Andy Reid had five months to prepare a game plan for Tampa Bay. The way Philadelphia played, it seemed more like five hours.

Reid, who calls the plays instead of offensive coordinator Brad Childress, came under heavy scrutiny Tuesday, a day after a 17-0 loss to the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers in the season opener.

“I need to do a better job of preparing this football team,” Reid, the Eagles’ fifth-year coach, said. “It starts with me.”

Reid’s most questionable call was a fake field goal on fourth-and-goal from Tampa Bay’s 1 less than five minutes into the game. Holder Koy Detmer’s pass to rookie tight end L.J. Smith was dropped, and it seemed the Eagles never regained the momentum generated by a stirring pregame ceremony in the first regular-season game at Lincoln Financial Field.

After a pass interference penalty on John Lynch put the ball at the Bucs’ 1, Reid called a pass on first down, a run up the middle by Duce Staley on second down, and another pass on third down. None of the plays gained an inch.

On both pass plays, quarterback Donovan McNabb was under heavy pressure and had to hurry his throw. Perhaps a better call would have been to try a quarterback sneak. McNabb is 245 pounds and has been very successful on sneaks, and the Eagles offensive line is bigger than Tampa Bay’s defensive line.

“They covered the inside three people. Tampa was concerned about a sneak,” Reid said, defending his decision.

If the sneak wasn’t a viable option, Reid could have had McNabb roll out, and use his speed to either run it in or fake a run and throw. Or, the Eagles could have pounded the ball up the middle four times.

“That was a bad call on their part,” Buccaneers defensive end Simeon Rice said. “They took momentum away from themselves and gave it to us.”

Tampa Bay wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, left, catches a tipped pass for a touchdown in front of Philadelphia cornerback Sheldon Brown. The Buccaneers won, 17-0, Monday night in Philadelphia.

Reid’s decision to abandon the running game also raised some questions. Teams that have had success against the Buccaneers in recent seasons were ones that ran the ball against Tampa Bay’s speedy but undersized defensive line.

With Pro Bowl middle linebacker Shelton Quarles out with arm injury, it seemed likely the Eagles would take advantage by running the ball. But Reid gave the ball to his running backs just 10 times. In the first half, Reid called 24 passes to just nine runs.

Starting running back Correll Buckhalter, expected to be a weapon in the offense, carried once for no gain on the second series, and spent most of the night on the sidelines.

“We have certain plays for each of the backs; his plays just didn’t get dialed up,” Reid said.

Reid’s playcalling wasn’t the only reason for the offense’s inept performance. There were dropped passes by receivers, bad passes and poor decisions from McNabb and the offensive line was overwhelmed.

McNabb was 19-of-36 for 148 yards, most of which came after the outcome had been decided.