Instant analysis: Jameis Winston has career day in win despite three interceptions

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to comeback and beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-35 on Sunday, despite three interceptions by Jameis Winston.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled out the win on Sunday, downing the Indianapolis Colts 38-35 to win their third-straight game and pull their record to 6-7. With the win, Tampa Bay avoided their third-straight 5-11 season, which is certainly something to celebrate.

With that, here are some initial thoughts and analysis from today’s win.

The good, the bad, and the Winston

Quarterback Jameis Winston threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game, which led to a Jacoby Brissett touchdown pass, then had another pick returned for an 80-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Things could’ve gotten worse, too, because Winston threw his third interception of the game in the fourth quarter in Tampa Bay territory, but the Colts missed a 47-yard field goal that would’ve extended their lead by seven. Fortunately, Winston also had four touchdown passes and a career-high in passing yards with 456 to go along with one rushing touchdown. Still, it’s hard to cheer his performance when the Bucs found themselves in an early hole because of his mistakes. We all know Winston can put up big yardage, but the interceptions are getting old. A win is a win, but are the Bucs feeling anymore confident about Winston or his future in Tampa Bay? Hard to say.

Evans goes down

Aside from Winston, the biggest story of the day was the hamstring injury to wide receiver Mike Evans, who went to the locker room after he came up limping following his 61-yard touchdown reception. It’s hard to say how long Evans will be out for, but an injury to their top receiver is a big setback for a team on a three-game winning-streak.

Defense takes a step back

Entering Sunday, the Bucs defense had allowed just 33 points over their last two games, but they surrendered 35 today to a Colts team that’s been decimated by injuries. Indy was without tight end Eric Ebron and receiver T.Y. Hilton, yet were still able to carve up the secondary. Tampa Bay was fortunate to get the win given how many points they gave up. The defense is heading in the right direction under Todd Bowles, so hopefully today was just a minor hiccup in the growth process.

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