The regular season is winding down for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and at 7-7 they will miss the playoffs for the 12th-straight season.
But, the Bucs still have a lot to play for. If they win out, they’ll finish 9-7 for their first winning record since 2016. For a team that was 3-7 just last month, riding a six-game winning-streak into the offseason would be a great way to finish out the year.
For quarterback Jameis Winston, the past month has gone a long way in convincing the Bucs that he deserves at least one more year playing for Bruce Arians. While Winston has thrown a league-leading 24 interceptions, he also has 30 touchdown passes and is on pace to surpass 5,000 passing yards. And, after his 458-yard day against the Detroit Lions in Week 15, Winston became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 450 or more yards in back-to-back games. (He had 456 against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14.)
Winston’s improved play over the past month has helped his case to remain the team’s quarterback. But, that may not have been the case had quarterback Blaine Gabbert remained healthy.
It’s easy to forget that Gabbert, a former first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was signed in the offseason to be Winston’s backup. Gabbert had played under Arians during the coach’s time with the Arizona Cardinals, so he had a familiarity with the offensive system. But, Gabbert injured his non-throwing shoulder in the third preseason game and ended up on IR shortly after.
Had Gabbert not been injured, you have to believe that he would’ve gotten a chance at some point this season to relieve Winston. Let’s go back to Week 6 in London, for example. Winston ended up throwing five interceptions in a loss to the Carolina Panthers in what was easily the worst performance of his professional career. The Bucs went into the bye week before traveling to Tennessee to take on the Titans in Week 8.
That would’ve been the best time to have Gabbert replace Winston as starter. Gabbert would have had the bye week to prepare, and, best of all, he played for the Titans in 2018, meaning he likely had a good feel for what the defense would try.
If Bruce Arians was looking for a spark, that would’ve been the time to try and make a switch. Look what happened after the Titans replaced Marcus Mariota with Ryan Tannehill. The Titans went from the doldrums of the AFC to playoff contenders under Tannehill. While there’s no way to say that would’ve been the case for the Bucs if Gabbert came in, you have to believe Arians would’ve at least given him a shot at some point, given the way Winston has struggled at times. But, with Gabbert unavailable and the team unwilling to turn to Ryan Griffin, Arians stuck with Winston through the good times and bad.
And, as the past month has shown, that decision by Arians looks to finally be paying off.
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