How You Like Me Now?
September 14th, 2016
A year ago today, the haters were having a jubilee.
America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, may have had the worst game of his entire life. It came at the worst possible time: his NFL debut facing the spread-option fanatics’ wet dream: Marcus Mariota, who many — including nosy Father Dungy — begged Lovie Smith to draft.
The salt in the wound is that Jameis’ very first pass attempt was a pick-six. A scar he will have the rest of his life.
Here we are a year later and Mariota not only had an injury-plagued rookie season, but suffered a nasty opening-game himself Sunday. Some suggested it was the worst of the weekend. Meanwhile, Jameis, a finalist for Offensive Rookie of the Year, led the Bucs to a road divisional win over the Dixie Chicks and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week this morning.
Data-mining Thomas Bassinger of the Tampa Bay Times took a look at the difference a year can make.
The deep ball continues to be a problem for Mariota. Against the Vikings, he failed to complete any his seven passes beyond 15 yards.
There was little problem with the deep ball from Jameis Sunday.
So for the Jameis haters who celebrated this time last year as if it were a combination of the Fourth of July, Christmas and New Year’s Eve rolled into one, how do you like Jameis now?
September 14th, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Mariota did play a top 10 defense, while Jameis played the Falcons. I think both QBs will turn out to be good over the long run though. After hearing the Joes beg n plead for Manziel to be drafted by the Bucs I was hesitant to draft any other QB they supported but Jameis is growing up right before our eyes.
September 14th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a Jameis hater… But I did heavily lobby for MM. I will now happily say that I was wrong. Furthermore, I am stoked to Jameis as the QB and is clearly the better of the two. We are going to win a lot games!! Worried though how we are going to afford to keep these key players on the roster though. Sims, Evans, Kwon and Spence. The first three will have a heafty price tag.
September 14th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Joe,
should’ve went with Kool Moe Dee “How You Like Me Now”
https://youtu.be/PCzbadALRAM
September 14th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Marpet too!
September 14th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
That “Tennessee-ready” game prep by Incompetent Lovie Smith may very well have been what got him fired. I was so pissed off watching that crap.
There were so many Bucs fans rejoicing in Winston’s miserable play which made it so much worse. Good riddance to lousy coaching and lousy fans.
September 14th, 2016 at 12:42 pm
I’m sold on him, I am very happy we have him.
September 14th, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Like him just fine. Re-print this after 3 more seasons and we’ll be sure.
September 14th, 2016 at 12:51 pm
Are there Jameis haters still? I haven’t heard anything negative about him since about halfway through last season.
September 14th, 2016 at 12:58 pm
That pick 6 last season(much like Farve’s first NFL pass) was the best thing that could’ve happen to Famous,that and those picks thrown against the cats in which he felt he let the team down afterwards. Those moments reaffirmed that nothing he had accomplished during his tenure at FSU mattered on the NFL level. My belief is it made a young player with an already healthy work ethic wanna work even harder. He won’t say it but I assure you all he has the first game against the cats circled to atone for what happened last season. To quote Mr. T-I pity the fools..
September 14th, 2016 at 1:03 pm
Is he already a perennial pro bowler or does he need another high end weapon or two?
September 14th, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Can we all finally put to bed the gossip and news from years past from a young college athlete still maturing in a fast paced college spotlight? We should all instead enjoy the fact he will only get better and prove every hater wrong as a still maturing MAN and I for one, am proud as hell to have him in Tampa!!
September 14th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
“Patrick in VA Says:
September 14th, 2016 at 12:51 pm
Are there Jameis haters still?”
There’s still a few. I do my best to publicly shame them whenever they pop up.
September 14th, 2016 at 1:31 pm
It was the beginning of the end.
September 14th, 2016 at 1:34 pm
“The statgeeks” at ProFootballFocus could have told you this last year.
September 14th, 2016 at 1:42 pm
I was never a “hater” but favored Mariota before the draft because of his mobility and our “lack” of an O-line. Once the bullets started flying though, I’m ALL Bucs! It was a rough start to his career but boy has this kid developed. Think of this, this is just the beginning still.
You da man Jameis!!!
September 14th, 2016 at 1:50 pm
DislocatedBucsFan
By the time some of these young Bucs are ready for renewal contracts the salary cap will be increased significantly……and we have $10 mil from Vjax freed up and won’t be hanging onto $7 players like Verner. Licht will work it our for good players…
September 14th, 2016 at 2:29 pm
“Jameis, a finalist for Offensive Rookie of the Year,”
MAN that still really pisses me off! How in the F*** do you give the rookie of the year honor to a RB who ran for 1100 yards, instead of a QB (an infinitely harder position) who threw for the THIRD most yards in NFL history, and only the third rookie QB ever to throw for more than 4000 yards?? Oh, and led his team to TRIPLE their win total from the year prior??
Whenever I hear on the TV that Gurley won ROTY I want to throw a rock through the TV.
September 14th, 2016 at 2:34 pm
if anything, last year was a reminder to not overreact to week 1, good or bad. Jameis was never as bad as he was that day and MM was never as good as he was that day…i’m confident in the direction our QB is trending but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves on either of these QBs again like so many did last year
September 14th, 2016 at 3:01 pm
Marcus Mariota might as well have single handidly lost that game. He gave Minnesota 14 of their 25 points and the only 2 TDs they scored. One was while the Titans were in the red zone. All the Titans had to do was lean on their RBs and that game should have easily been theirs.
Vikings had no business winning with Shaun Hill and Xavier Rhodes (their best CB) out of the game while Adrian Peterson only had like 30 rushing yards. Seriously if someone said before the game – Peterson is only rushing for 30 yards and Shaun Hill is the starting QB – who would think they would have won?
I’ve said this before but Mariota could have won at least 2-3 more games last year for the Titans in moments that he choked towards the end. Coming out of college my reasoning for loving Winston way more was:
1) Pro style background and ability to diagnose defenses and make pro style anticipatory throws
2) Basically undefeated in close games where he had a chance to win at the end. ALways improved as the game went on because he got a feel for the other team
Meanwhile Mariota had a losing record in close games in college. I thought that was kind of a big deal.
September 14th, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Can’t wait to see what Jameis does against Arizona’s defense, hope he has a good game. Gonna need to keep the turnovers to a minimum in order for us to have a shot to win. Needs to throw high percentage passes while we are at our end of the field so we don’t spot ‘Zona 7 points or more this Sunday. Go BUCS!
September 14th, 2016 at 3:27 pm
Remember back in 2010. We were all lobying for WR Mike Williams to be named OROY. But Sam Bradford got the award over Williams for the reason that Bradford was a QB and Williams plays a skill position. Okay. But then in 2015 it was the opposite. We had the QB and they had the skill player. Yet the argument was reversed from what it was five years prior. It made no sense. I truly believe it’s because A) Some national types still truly do not like Jameis. Bite me. And B) the soon to be LA Rams needed a flashy OROY for flashy Hollywood, meanwhile we’re just the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the market with “no fans” as bspn has stated in the past. The team everyone would rather be a Joke than be relevant.
It just makes my blood boil remembering how many were anxiously anticipating Winston to fail. National media and 31 other fan bases labeled him a bust before training camp. Ignorantly calling him a thief, Jamarcus Russell and most maddening, the R word. All we heard was laughter after that first game. Jameis was a bust and a loser, while golden boy Mariota could do no wrong, all while personificating what the league wants to shift into. High scoring spread offenses everywhere.
But you know what, it’s going to be that much sweeter when Jameis inevitably leads this team to that second Lombardi. Jameis has that drive that QB’s like Ryan, Rivers, Cutler, Stafford, Romo, Cousins, Palmer, Mariota, Dalton, Fitzpatrick, Tannehill do not have and never will have.
September 14th, 2016 at 3:34 pm
Playing devil’s advocate, everyone overreacted about Mariota then, we could be overreacting about Jameis now. Maybe the Falcons end up with the worst defense in the league.
September 14th, 2016 at 4:24 pm
Suck it UFO Joe!
September 14th, 2016 at 4:35 pm
Learn to temper your Jubilation people. All it takes is one serious injury……
Just pray Mr. Winston last!
September 14th, 2016 at 5:14 pm
Do we have to compare the two?
I think they will both be good. MM all depends on the coaching and team built around him
JW has the advantage with all that now.
I like them both, but no doubt in my mind JW will be better.
September 14th, 2016 at 5:30 pm
I’ll keep saying it just as I said pre-draft 2015.
Mariota will be a bust.
September 14th, 2016 at 5:34 pm
Jason…lmao.
September 14th, 2016 at 8:45 pm
I’m glad I was as wrong about Winston and the Joes were wrong about Manziel
September 14th, 2016 at 11:01 pm
How would u like to be a Titan fan. Boring offense and a QB that is being coddled and if u blow on him he gets hurt. We still have a local talk show host that clearly wanted Marriotta . I’m so glad Jameis is a Buc . A great future ahead
September 15th, 2016 at 5:58 am
It’s funny how I, and others look at things so differently, Tenn. ready pic-6 was all on lovie’s bad coaching but the pic against ATL was on well we’re not sure but Coach K was never in the conversation!!)