Category: Latest Team News

A closer look at Jameis Winston’s pick-sick problem

Take a closer look at the career numbers of Jameis Winston’s pick-sixes, including the four he’s thrown this season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 12 in a divisional matchup featuring two 3-7 teams.

The Bucs are coming off a tough home loss to the Saints last week, in which quarterback Jameis Winston threw four picks.

Winston now has 18 interceptions on the year, already matching his career-high for a season. But, while those interceptions have obviously hurt the team, it’s the four pick-sixes he’s thrown this season that is the real cause for concern.

Winston had thrown a total of four pick-sixes over the previous four seasons, entering 2019. The fact that he already has four through the first 11 weeks further proves that this team will continue going nowhere until they can find consistency at the position.

Plus, six of the eight picks that were returned for scores came in the second half of the game, a time when you want your franchise quarterback to be at his best — poised and clutch.

Winston could have a field day tomorrow against the Falcons’ 26th ranked pass defense. But, big passing numbers from the Bucs’ quarterback often includes a few turnovers.

The Falcons defense has feasted off NFC South quarterbacks the past two weeks, first against Drew Brees of the Saints and then Kyle Allen of the Carolina Panthers. In their last two games, Atlanta’s D has racked up 11.0 sacks and four interceptions.

Hopefully, Winston and the Bucs can pull off a surprise win of their own on Sunday.

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Byron Leftwich says Jameis Winston is improving despite turnovers

Typically, quarterbacks take most of the heat for their teams for all the wins and losses that occur. This is no different for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Jameis Winston. The man-under-center is often criticized for his final line in box …

Typically, quarterbacks take most of the heat for their teams for all the wins and losses that occur. This is no different for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Jameis Winston. The man-under-center is often criticized for his final line in box scores having turnovers, and as it sits right now, Winston has 18 interceptions – tied for the most of any season in his career.

As Bucs offensive coordinator, Byron Leftwich met with the media on Thursday (video below), he was asked about his thoughts on if Winston is still their guy.

“I love working with Jameis and I think Jameis is getting better.” Leftwich said of Winston. “Yes, we’ve got to fix the turnover thing, I know that and I understand that. Regardless, if they are on him or not, as an offense we’ve got to fix the turnover thing. It’s not really all Jameis, when we talk as a group, anybody that touches the football is in control as you can see the past couple games.” The point being made in reference to O.J. Howard’s crazy catch that turned into an interception during the Buccaneers’ loss to the New Orleans Saints.

The conundrum surrounding Winston continues, as the quarterback is currently third in the league in passing yards with 3,078, tied for fifth in touchdowns with 19, and, of course, has his league-leading 18 interceptions to add to his totals. Winston also has another blemish on his resume this season as he’s been sacked a total of 36 times thus far. While the Bucs only allowed two sacks on the day in Week 11, Winston was hurried on 12 of his 51 dropbacks.

As a former quarterback himself, Leftwich noted how hard it is to live to play another down in reference to just throwing the ball away. “One of the hardest things to do, is to throw the ball away. It’s hard when you’re trying to do what you can, every single play. You never know the play that’s going to win the game. You never know when that big play is going to happen.”

The Buccaneers travel to meet their division rival, the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, and protecting Winston from this suddenly red-hot Falcons defense has to be a priority.

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Bruce Arians praises the play of rookie kicker Matt Gay

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians praised kicker Matt Gay, who has bounced back in a big way since Week 3.

It wasn’t that long ago that questions were swirling around Bucs rookie kicker Matt Gay, and whether he was another Robert Aguayo in the making.

Aguayo, who was infamously selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, lasted just one season in Tampa Bay after missing nine kicks and two extra points as a rookie.

Gay, who the team took in the fifth round of this year’s draft, had a nightmare performance back in Week 3 against the New York Giants, ultimately costing his team a victory by missing a potential game-winning field goal at the end of the game.

But, as rough an outing as that was for the rookie out of Utah, Gay has bounced back in a big way since Week 3, and his play hasn’t gone unnoticed by head coach Bruce Arians.

Take a look.

Tampa Bay has been struggling for years to find stability at the kicker position. A lot of people questioned the team’s decision to draft another kicker, especially with a fifth-round pick, but the gamble seems to have paid off for Jason Licht.

Hopefully, Gay can be the franchise kicker the Bucs believe he is.

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Mike Evans just barely made it to 1,000 yards in 2017

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has a chance to make history in Week 12.

Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans has a shot at making history against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. With just seven more receiving yards, Evans will join Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss as the only other play in NFL history to start his career with six-straight 1,000-yard seasons.

It’s an accomplishment that certainly deserves recognition, especially when you consider that Evans’ streak nearly came to an end in 2017 when he played in just 15 games and totaled 1,001 yards on the season. What’s impressive is that Evans had just one game that year where he had over 100 yards — Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers (107).

Here’s a breakdown of how many 100-plus yard games Evans has had each season, along with his total yards for that year.

2014: 3 (1,051)

2015: 5 (1,206)

2016: 4 (1,321)

2017: 1 (1001)

2018: 8 (1,524)

Evans clawed his way to that 1,000-yard season in 2017, proof of just how great he is. He’s had three 100-plus yard games so far this season to go along with seven touchdowns.

The last time Evans faced the Falcons back in Week 17 of the 2018 season, he finished the game with six receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta got the last laugh, however, downing the Bucs 34-32.

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Buccaneers land on ESPN’s list of most improved defenses

See why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers found a spot on ESPN’s list of most improved defenses of 2019.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense entered the 2019 season looking to right the ship after ranking near the bottom of the league last season.

With new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles aboard, Tampa Bay has transformed themselves this season, turning out one of the NFL’s best rush defenses. The secondary has been a totally different story, but overall, Bowles has this team headed in the right direction — speed bumps aside.

Today, ESPN listed the Buccaneers’ defense as the league’s fourth most-improved this season.

Here’s part of what they had to say:

(DVOA: defense-adjusted value over average.)

“Intriguingly, this is almost all driven by a huge change in run defense DVOA. The Bucs have, by far, the best run defense DVOA in the NFL at -35.0%. Last season, they were at 3.0%, which was the second worst in the NFL… [Todd] Bowles has run an aggressive pass defense, blitzing at a 47.7% rate on dropbacks that has almost doubled the rate Tampa ran last season. Of course, that has barely touched the Bucs’ bottom-line pass defense DVOA, but their coverage players haven’t been very good, and Vernon Hargreaves was actually released. Vita Vea deserves a lot of praise for his role in buffing this run defense.”

Tampa Bay has all the pieces in place, it’s just a matter of putting it together on the field. Bowles has done a good job of making this unit respectable again, at least in the run game.

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A look at O.J. Howard’s route trees in Bruce Arians’ offense vs. Dirk Koetter’s

Take a look at the route trees of Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard in his last two offensive systems.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard has had a rough go of things this season, his first year playing under head coach Bruce Arians.

Howard, who was put on blast by Arians earlier this year for his poor play, caused an interception in last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, juggling the ball against his body and behind his back before it was eventually picked off. For the season, the third-year tight end out of Alabama has just 17 receptions for 223 yards and a touchdown.

So, what’s been the issue?

Well, looking at Howard’s route trees in Arians’ offense compared to former coach and current Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter’s, it’s clear the two systems are utilizing the tight end very differently.

Take a look.

Arians had this to say about the tight ends of the Arizona Cardinals back in 2015, when he was the team’s head coach: “We pay Larry (Fitzgerald) and those guys too much money to throw it to the tight ends. They’re here to block.”

You would’ve hoped that Arians and Byron Leftwich would’ve seen the potential in Howard and utilized him more in the offense as a pass catcher.

It’ll be interesting to see how the team proceeds with Howard at the end of the season. Remember, the New England Patriots inquired about Howard last month before the trade deadline, but were told no by Tampa Bay.

Maybe they’ll change their tune in the offseason.

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Mike Evans and Chris Godwin truly are the league’s dynamic duo

A quick look at the stats proves that Buccaneers receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin truly are the best duo in the NFL today.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be just 3-7, but their offense is once again one of the best in the league. The Bucs currently rank sixth in both overall offense and scoring offense, and a big reason for that has been the stellar play of their wide receiving duo of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

Evans, the franchise’s all-time leader in receiving yards, is inching ever-closer to another 1,000-yard season, which would tie him with Hall of Famer Randy Moss for the most 1,000-yard seasons to start a career (6).

Godwin, meanwhile, may not be the franchiser receiver Evans is (yet), but he’s made a huge impact in his third season with the Bucs. Godwin had six touchdown receptions in the team’s first five games, and has already set a new career-high in receiving yards with 887.

And, this graphic from the NFL shows just how great the duo of Evans and Godwin has been this season.

Take a look.

How about giving a little love to the NFC South here? Four of the top five receivers in the league right now are on NFC South teams. Michael Thomas, Julio Jones and Evans are names you’d usually expect to see atop this list at some point during the season, but credit Godwin for putting his stamp on this season.

Hopefully, when the Bucs travel to Atlanta in Week 12, Godwin and Evans can both help carry the team to victory. That is, of course, if Jameis Winston can avoid turning the ball over.

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Bucs must overcome a surging Falcons defense in Week 12

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel on the road in Week 12 to take on a suddenly red-hot Atlanta Falcons team.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in a game featuring two 3-7 teams.

But, records can be deceiving, especially in the case of the Falcons.

Entering Week 10’s game against the New Orleans Saints, the Falcons were just 1-7, and the calls for head coach Dan Quinn’s job were at a season-high. But, the Falcons turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season that day, sacking Drew Brees six times in a stunning 26-9 road upset over one of the best teams in the NFC.

Then, last week against the Carolina Panthers — again on the road — Carolina sacked Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen five times and picked him off four times.

That means, when the Buccaneers roll into Atlanta Sunday, Jameis Winston and the offense will be going up against a defense that has 11.0 sacks and four interceptions in their last two games, both against divisional opponents.

The Bucs currently have the league’s sixth-best scoring offense, averaging 27.7 points per game. But a recharged Falcons defense would love nothing more than to keep Tampa Bay’s offense in check and further add to their disappointing season.

Jameis Winston, who had four interceptions last week against the Saints, has been a turnover machine this season, already matching his season-high in interceptions with 18. If Atlanta gets to him early, it could start a snowball effect and have the Bucs playing catch up the whole game.

Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich may want to turn to the run more against Atlanta. Asking Winston to throw the ball over 50 times like he did last week isn’t the way to go about beating a divisional opponent, especially one so familiar with Winston’s style of play.

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Bucs WR Chris Godwin lands on ESPN’s list of the top 25 players under 25

Tampa Bay Buccaneers third-year receiver Chris Godwin has landed on ESPN’s list of the top 25 players under 25 for 2019.

Entering the 2019 season, Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin was viewed by many as a player ready for a breakout season. Bruce Arians even said the third-year receiver out of Penn State could be close to a 100-catch guy this year.

Through the first 11 weeks of the season, Godwin has already exceeded expectations, setting a career-high in both receptions (63) and receiving yards (887) and tying his career-high with seven touchdown receptions.

Few people probably predicted Godwin turning into the star player he has, but now that he’s arrived on the scene, it doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. Which might explain why ESPN selected Godwin to their list of the top 25 players under 25 for 2019.

Godwin — who won’t turn 25 until February of 2021 — landed at No. 22.

Here’s part of the explanation for his inclusion on the list:

“Godwin was a relatively unheralded third-round pick in 2017, but he has emerged as a force. The restraints are off in 2019. New coach Bruce Arians converted Godwin to a slot receiver and has had him on the field for 96% of the team’s offensive snaps. The Penn State product has run a league-high 368 pass routes and has already put up a 60/840/6 receiving line, ranking no lower than sixth among receivers in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns… He and superstar Mike Evans certainly combine to form arguably the league’s best duo at the position.”

Godwin had a fast start to the season, catching six touchdowns in the team’s first five games. He had one touchdown reception in last Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints. It was Godwin’s first touchdown since he caught two against the Saints back in Week 5’s loss.

Godwin will look to keep his scoring ways going next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons on the road.

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PTI’s Tony Kornheiser had this to say about Jameis Winston’s future with the Bucs

See what ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said on “PTI” about Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and his future in Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 34-17 to the New Orleans Saints yesterday, and whether he deserves it or not, quarterback Jameis Winston is receiving the brunt of the criticism.

Winston had four interceptions yesterday, putting his season total at 18, which matches his career-high. The numbers on the quarterback don’t lie, and given that he’s playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, the Bucs aren’t obligated to keep him beyond this season.

And, it seems one ESPN personality thinks the Buccaneers would benefit by looking to the 2020 NFL Draft for a new quarterback.

On ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” today, Tony Kornheiser was asked during the show’s “Big Finish” about Winston’s performance against the Saints and what it means for his future.

Here was the exchange:

WILBON: “Jameis Winston threw four picks in a loss to the Saints. Is it time for a change?”

KORNHEISER:”I don’t know about right now. But, it’s time to look to the draft at the end of the year.”

Kornheiser is repeating what a lot of people are saying. It’s just not working out in Tampa Bay. Winston is still young and talented enough to find an opportunity elsewhere.

It might be best for him and the Buccaneers to just start fresh after five seasons.

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