As the Buccaneers travel to Buffalo in hopes to end a two game losing streak and get back on track, the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Jameis Winston.
There have been some recent detractors from the world of “Jameis Winston is a franchise quarterback”. We even had our own internal debates both for and against. That said, the Buccaneers can’t get back on track if Winston can’t step his game up.
Yes, he’s putting up solid stats, but it’s not passing the eyeball test right now. He’s missing open receivers regularly, starting off slow, forcing bad passes, and not getting in “his groove” until the second half. This is a recipe for continued disaster.
The rough moments don’t fall entirely on him. It’s hard to make plays when your receivers are dropping the ball, which kind of counters those passes that he’s missing. The connection with DeSean Jackson still isn’t there, so maybe it’s time that head coach Dirk Koetter stops relying so heavily on the deep ball that isn’t connecting and get Jackson involved in a different way. It appears thus far, Jameis went from forcing the ball to Mike Evans to almost ignoring him completely.
There has to be a happy middle.
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The Buffalo Bills’ defense is a pretty good one. They’re allowing the fewest points per game in the NFL (14.8) and are an opportunistic bunch, creating ten takeaways in five games. Not only that, but their offense has only turned the ball over twice, giving them a turnover differential of +8, second in the NFL.
If the Bucs are going to win this game, Winston can’t be forcing bad passes or missing receivers because that’s exactly what is going to play into the hands of a defense predicated on creating turnovers.
Winston can quiet down a lot of the newfound doubters with a solid performance Sunday – especially while playing injured. However, if his gamesmanship and competitiveness is allowing him to play when he shouldn’t – in a game that Ryan Fitzpatrick has somewhat decent luck in – that could cost the Bucs long term rather than just one week.
Next: Everything You Need To Know About Bucs vs Bills
It’s on you this week, Jameis. Gotta go blow for blow with a surprise team to steal one on the road. Make those of us that #BelieveInJameis proud.
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