Don’t Blame Jameis; Blame Bucs
December 20th, 2017
Long-time critic of America now sees the light. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
The way some Bucs fans have freaked out on America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, in the past couple of months, you’d swear on a stack of bibles the Bucs had Blaine Gabbert at quarterback.
The haters have been out in full force, all but demanding the Bucs cut Jameis right now. Move on. Go get Brian Hoyer, or worse, Mike Glennon.
The hollering and complaining and outright b!tching was over the top.
Joe thought for a moment he was living in an alternative universe. Joe thought Jameis wasn’t playing that bad (sans the weekly fumbles) when somewhat healthy.
(And as Joe likes to point out, in four of his past six starts, Jameis either gave the Bucs a lead, tied the game, or put the Bucs in position to tie the game in the fourth quarter only to see the defense throw up all over itself.)
It seems now others are beginning to see the light. Victor Mather of the New York Times — a publication with a deep history of being far, far, far from being confused as a cheerleading prop for Jameis — seems to believe Jameis is having a fine season and not even close to being the Bucs’ problem.
Mather types the isssue with the Bucs isn’t Jameis, but the Bucs themselves. In short, Jameis is a good quarterback on a bad team.
The [Monday night loss to the Dixie Chicks] was a microcosm of Winston’s entire season, his third as the Bucs’ quarterback. He is playing as well as he ever has. His completion percentage, interception percentage, adjusted yards per attempt, and quarterback rating are all at career bests.
But because the Bucs are 4-10, and only 2-9 with Winston starting, few outside of Tampa have paid much attention.
Winston walked into a tough situation when he was drafted No. 1 overall three seasons ago. The Buccaneers had only two playoff appearances, and no playoff wins, since their Super Bowl title in 2003. The season before his arrival, the team was 2-14 with Josh McCown and Mike Glennon under center. It began to turn around with Winston; he was 6-10 and 9-7 in his first two seasons. But the improvement stopped quickly this year.
The way many Bucs fans have gone mental trying to run Jameis out of town, Joe would argue few within the Tampa Bay region are paying attention.
Does Jameis have issues he needs to clean up? You bet. The fumbles are enough for Joe to jump off the Redington Beach pier. Bombs to DeSean Jackson not working? Yes, that has to be cleaned up.
But Joe hopes folks with just a crack of an open mind watching Monday night picked up on what Joe has hinted at recently: Jameis and Jackson not being able to connect on bombs? It takes two to tango.
(Hat tip: @JCameronShow).
December 20th, 2017 at 11:05 am
Looks like they provided too many weapons for Winston
December 20th, 2017 at 11:06 am
Winston aint the problem…..its coaching….dirk and smitty in particular…..send them packing and watch this team get better and players develop the way their suppose to….GO BUCS!!!
December 20th, 2017 at 11:10 am
I count 5 games. 5 we were in to the end. But could not stop anybody. You all saw those games. Where Offenses just watzed seemingly without effort into our endzones for game winning TD’s and FG’s. To win in the NFl, you have to finish games. And to finish, you have to have a Defense with closers and rushers. In a way, I’m glad the Buc Defensive sores have erupted. Now you all see what a sorry a.s Defense we have. I’ve never worried about Jameis. He will be fine. The offense will be fine. And some of you still want to draft a RB with the first pick…..LOSERS!!!!!!!!
December 20th, 2017 at 11:13 am
JW won me over after the Buffalo game. Get him a running game and better plays he’ll become “elite” if he had a defense of any kind they’d be 7 – 7 in the playoff hunt.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:13 am
It seems there are only 2 types of Bucs fans… those that think Jameis is Joey Harrington and those that think he is Peyton Manning. The truth is he is neither. Maybe more of a Joe Flacco, where if you give him a great team he can be great. Next year will be interesting. Last off seasons weapons for winston must now shift to rb, and line improvments for winston.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:13 am
Not surprising at all.
We have a moronic fan base. Plus a lot are butt hurt gator fans still mad Jameis destroyed them.
Same idiots who ran Chucky out of town and were happy we got rid of Doug Williams.
Low IQ’s, frontal lobe issues, generational inbreeding, red necks. You know, bucs fans.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:13 am
Every young successful NFL QB has three things: Good protection, a good running game, and a good defense. Jameis has none of those.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:16 am
I live up in the NYC area and I grew up watching Eli Manning evolve with the Giants.
He was BRUTAL those first few years and really only had a handful of great seasons. My point being, it’s absurd to hear people wanting to jump ship on Jameis.
Yes, the fumbles are a problem, and we have to see how the Uber stuff plays out this season; but for a team that has gone through Byron Leftwich, Josh Freeman, Mike Glennon, and Josh McCown the last 7 years, we need to have perspective.
Jameis is not perfect, and he probably will never be. But the kid has talent and is only 23. Get him a better o-line and a decent running game and se what happens.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:16 am
If we get the Jameis we had Monday night every week, he would be awesome to build around. He seemed focused, without being too amped up, and didn’t force anything.
Now the defense, aiee…
December 20th, 2017 at 11:18 am
who is THAT GUY (ny columnist) ……lol great game ….I wasn’t in the faction to cut jameis loose
but just like the bad games we have seen…..im not ready to go parading down dale mabry
AND the bucs STILL cant put a big mural of Jameis up just yet can they
ALL the FULL bore no matter what Wins-a-tonians better slow there roll and hope we don’t need a QB for 4-6 games next year
does he have talent yes…..but Miami beat Atlanta too…the next two weeks give a better gauge…..
AND WE STILL AVG 20 points and LOSE!!!! open it up koetter since the shoulder is not a prob
we wont score more or win more games with that “he cant throw deep mentality
December 20th, 2017 at 11:22 am
Deep bombs to djx ain’t easy. Defense game plan his speed….
Want I don’t get is JW having complete chemistry w all the other guys but djx?? Djx is on a paid vacation
December 20th, 2017 at 11:23 am
if we had been scoring TD’s not field goals we would have won. You have to out score your opponent. 2 years we average about 20 points. Move the ball up and down the field all day if you want. If you can’t score you lose. He had a great game but not a great year. And fans have not been saying get rid of him. Just a minor few. More have said Koetter has to go. We have pointed out problems we see with our own eyes. Just maybe he needs to settle down and be Jameis and quit trying to be every HOF or future HOF rolled into one.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:35 am
Monken was right about Jackson. He came here for the money.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:38 am
Dbs
Fans have showed JW the front door. JW is a future Hof player and we are watching him grow before our eyes but not good enough.
To me JW doesn’t need to change. JW is elite already. JW will be MVP next year. Book it. U heard it first from me
December 20th, 2017 at 11:38 am
It would be really nice to see this offense with an “average” O-line and “average” running game!!!!!!!! I think the offense would flow and more than likely see the turnovers drop dramatically!!!!!!!! And maybe they just got the wrong outside WR in D-Jax, and should have replaced with a VJ clone of Alshon Jeffery that has a bigger body and huge catch radius for those close but inaccurate thrown balls!!!!!!!!
If the Deep ball had connected even with a low precentage, it would have opened up so much underneath!!!! same that we have not gotten to see that offense!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 20th, 2017 at 11:46 am
Invest at least 8 draft picks / free agent signings into adding players on both lines. That is the #1 thing the Bucs could do this offseason. The plug and play attempt to add a player here and there every year has not worked. Overstock the cupboards, let competition reign and depth and talent increase.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:47 am
People focus on inaccuracies and I focus on wr making plays. Case in point, jw threw 3 passes that would normally be TO under different circumstances. The first was the TD pass to Mike Evans which was under thrown but Evans made a great play and fought for the ball. 👍
Next the pass to Godwin across the middle that was placed behind Godwin, he made a play snatched it from behind, first down.
Last, a pass he threw away while being sacked. It fell in brates general direction but normally that’s a “bone-headed play” leading to a TO.
I think if either of these throws were made to Djax they would have been picks but at least jw got a few we who will fight and make a play.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:54 am
Nice to hear someone else confirming what many posters have pointed out in may threads already in terms of objective proof that he improved in a ton of categories this year – namely accuracy / YPA / turnover % which is what fans wanted more than anything.
It did seem like we were living in an alternate universe; considering all the media was saying he was having a sh1t season; and even fantasy sites saying he isn’t playing well after games I thought he did play well. All the while not even acting like the injury made a difference.
When Luck got hurt he had a pretty terrible season (55%, 15 TD to 13 interceptions); and people never wavered in their faith of him. The media used injury / the o-line / his team as excuses for him and have throughout his career. Yet the injury isn’t even really brought up regarding WInston’s 2017 season lol. Seems legit.
December 20th, 2017 at 11:54 am
It was so refreshing to watch Winston play a complete game. If he gets rid of his notorious slow starts and starts being more consistent then he’ll be fine.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:13 pm
I remember some other QB’s so called fans wanted to run out of town,Including Doug Williams, Vinnie Testeverdi, Trent Dilfer , Steve Young just to mention a few!
December 20th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
LC
You already know what it is brah.
Interestingly enough Winston season is equal to or better than Cam’s season but Cam is going to the playoffs. Geee I wonder why? Could it be his defense? Wtfdik.
Cam – 14 games, 2961y, 211.5 ypg, 21 TDs, 12 INTs, 85.4 rating.
Winston – 11 games, 2274y, 206.72 ypg, 17 TDs, 8 INTs, 93.6 rating
December 20th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
It takes too much effort to score under this head coach. Dirk schemes great plays to get Howard wide open but doesn’t know how to use his receivers at all. 20 points just doesn’t cut it especially with the usual 7 points in the first half, him having a great game but still scoring few points shows you it’s not Winston it’s the offensive coordinator.
If Winston is as smart as we think he is them a new play caller won’t affect his play at all. Jared Goff got a new play caller in his second year and look how he’s playing so I don’t wanna hear that we need continuity crap, dirk sucks and I don’t really care that he’s a nice guy, people hate GMC for being nice
December 20th, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Falcons are 9-0 when they score 20 points. Hmmmm?
Could it be the defense and the soft ass ice cream sundae Manning the middle? Nope that can’t be cuz he’s a perennial pro bowler , future hof’er, ring of honor, best dt to have do it while being quadruple teamed every play. Silly me, wtfdik.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:28 pm
DB, Jameis has 2774 passing yards. Pretty impressive in 11 games, only 8 healthy.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:29 pm
DB, Jameis has 2774 passing yards. Pretty impressive in 11 games, only 8 healthy. And 252 ypg.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:31 pm
We did this going against a team that has allowed the 7th highest QB rating to its opponents. With the likes Tyrod Taylor, McCown and Case Keenum being able to top 100 Passer Ratings. While I was very impressed with what I saw on Monday I will not let it get my hopes up. This weekend playing on the road against a middle of the pack defense will be a much better barometer of where he is as a QB. If he can keep a high level of play going for the final 2 weeks of the season and keep his turnovers down I might change my tune but I have seen too much bad play by him to give him a pass based on one game versus a terrible defense.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:31 pm
Jameis has walked off the field 3 times this season with either a lead or a chance to tie late in the 4th quarter and the defense has ruined all three of those opportunities.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Ha! Well I’ll be….that kid really does suck doesn’t he? No wonder we only won 4 games. I mean if you can’t compete with the other QBs in the division then what are you? Amirite?!
December 20th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
Total hyperbole.
I know no one trying to “run Jameis out of town.”
December 20th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
Son of tmax
Your like your daddy. You like to turn every single thing joe does in to a GMC story. That’s wtfik.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:58 pm
yea, DB, he’s a lost cause. never gonna pan out. if the kid can’t rush the passer, or defend the slant, what good is he? run Jameis, run.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Jameis is going to put up 20 points a game. Got to spend our picks and FAs on D and build this D back up to where it was last decade and have them carry us back to the playoffs. Like I’ve been saying for 5 years…. please get me a few defensive ends that can bring pressure. The thinking we could go out and win games 30-24 was stupid. Going in to the season counting on Spense to bring in double digit sacks was not smart.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:09 pm
Defense still wins championships.
Pretty much every SB winner in the modern era has had at worst a top 10 scoring defense. Most have had top 5 scoring defenses.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:31 pm
@DB55- Godwin needs to start. DJax is nothing more than a mercenary and we have tried way too hard to get that loafer the ball IMO.
@LC- Say it loud brother! Defense wins championships!!!!
December 20th, 2017 at 1:48 pm
DJamiwith out looking up the stats I know you have some of your stats wrong.
Except for Aaron Rodgers, I do not think any other QB could have performed better than Winston under the same circumstances. The offensive line was depleted. The tight end position was depleted. The wide receiver position was lessened with the loss of Desean Jackson. Jameis Winston nonetheless played a perfect game.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:51 pm
DB55 some of your stats are wrong.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:42 pm
Which stat is wrong?
December 20th, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Total yards and yards per game. I thought you would check yourself.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:23 pm
Yea Gil corrected for me.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:38 pm
************
It wasn’t just the NY Times … former NFL QB Tim Hassleback said that when Jameis is at his best, no one in the NFL is any better, on NFL Live … Shannon Sharpe said Jameis is a success despite his team’s failures and that he is far better than both Mariota and Dak … Skip Bayless agreed on Jameis and the Mariota point but then went on a Cowboy-homer pro-Dak rant. Trey Wingo, Mike Golic, Colin Cowherd and some others all raved about Jameis yesterday on their shows …
What does that tell you? It tells you that MOST of the Jameis-bashers NEVER actually watch him play, they just look at team standings and spin lazy and non-researched narratives, but since Jameis was on MNF and the “only game of the night” they actually saw how elite he is AND how horrendous his TEAM is and now they’re all singing a totally different tune … LOONS!
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December 20th, 2017 at 3:38 pm
The Buc Realist Says:
December 20th, 2017 at 11:38 am
It would be really nice to see this offense with an “average” O-line and “average” running game!!!!!!!!
WRONG!!!!!!
It would be real nice to have average coaching!!!!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!!!!
December 20th, 2017 at 4:41 pm
Only a real nitwit can’t see JW’s talent out there. It seems somebody in the Bucs organization FINALLY heard what I’ve been saying for the past two years–either that, or it took these dummies 2 years to figure it out on their own: INCORPORATE the friggin short-passing game. Guys like Ryan and Brady have made a career out of throwing the short pass… if the Bucs can just get JW to STICK to that plan and not get greedy, constantly trying to force the ball downfield–in other words, go for the HIGH PERCENTAGE pass–then you will see this offense put points on the board consistently.
As a defense finally starts cheating–and it works even better if you have a running game going, which keeps the LBs in shallower drop zones–then JW can do what he does as well as any QB in the league, which is push a throw downfield (15-20yds), and possibly even deep if his accuracy/timing with receivers continues to improve.
The team’s problems are the following (in no particular order):
1) lack of talent & depth along both OL & DL
2) lack of focus, attention to detail, just not having the “winning” mentality
3) inconsistent playcalling
4) Mike Smith
December 20th, 2017 at 5:32 pm
I am an Adam Humphrey fan. You have to admit Humphrey comes through. I remember the Bills game. Imagine if Humphrey went to the Patriots.
December 20th, 2017 at 6:06 pm
When you are 4-10 there is plenty of blame to go around
December 20th, 2017 at 7:52 pm
Great article for #Jaboo haters
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/sports/football/jameis-winston-buccaneers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&referer=http://bleacherreport.com/tampa-bay-buccaneers/stream?tsm=1
December 21st, 2017 at 2:28 am
C.Alaka
Thanks for the article…MNF put him under ALL the so called pro eyes…and they realize we have what me and a few others been trying to make them realize we have an ELITE QB…and like what came out of the mouth of Belichek what more do he need to prove…he is the franchise QB…
The haters see what they want but his performance MNF made the experts check his stats instead of being lazy like most of the media and stop parroting what the going narrative is…
And yes stats matter, how else can you record TDs, yds…etc.
Go Bucs!