With just two games left in the regular season, the 7-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a shot at finishing the season above .500 for the first time since 2016.
The Bucs are riding a four-game winning-streak heading into Saturday’s Week 16 matchup with the Houston Texans, who can clinch the AFC South with a win over Tampa Bay.
While the Bucs have played their best football of the season over the past month, they’ll be shorthanded on offense Saturday with both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin sidelined with hamstring injuries. That means if quarterback Jameis Winston is going to continue his march towards 5,000 yards, he’ll need the help of some reserves.
The good news, though, for Winston is that he’s played in well in Week 16 games over the course of his career. In his four prior Week 16 games, Winston has averaged 318.8 yards per game, while throwing for a combined six touchdowns and three interceptions. Winston needs just 427 passing yards over the final two games to get to 5,000, so if he can hit his Week 16 average against a susceptible Texans secondary, that’d bring him that much closer to history.
The bad news for Winston? The Bucs are 0-4 in Week 16 with him under center. So, while it could be a big statistical day for the former Heisman Trophy winner, it could also be the end of the Bucs’ winning-streak.
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