When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints square off in Week 1, all eyes will be on Tom Brady and Drew Brees, two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks that are arguably two of the greatest to ever play the game.
But, let’s not ignore the other quarterback on the sideline, Jameis Winston. The former first overall pick of the Buccaneers signed a one-year deal with the Saints this offseason after Tampa Bay landed Brady, ending Winston’s five-year run with the team.
But, Winston’s career in Tampa Bay may not have happened had the Bucs won their season finale in 2014 to the Saints. The Bucs, who were 2-13 entering that game and vying for the first pick, led 20-7 at halftime. After some questionable substitutions and decisions, like sitting Mike Evans in the second half, Tampa Bay wound up losing 23-20, allowing 16 points in the fourth quarter. The loss locked up the first pick for the Bucs, which they’d use to select Winston.
And if you ask Saints coach Sean Payton, that loss to the Saints was by design, something he talked about Thursday during an interview with 105.7 The Fan when discussing his new quarterback, Winston.
“Heck, they lost the game on purpose to us at the end of the season prior with Lovie Smith. They forced Lovie to take his starters out of the game so they could get the one spot to draft Jameis.”
I think most people feel the way Payton does about that loss, but as they say, karma gets everyone in the end. The Bucs had just one winning season with Winston under center and zero trips to the postseason.
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