Watch Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie linebacker deliver a postgame speech to his team after the Bucs’ 28-11 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tamed the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road Sunday, dominating from start to finish in an impressive 28-11 win that gave the Bucs their first back-to-back wins of the season.
At 5-7, Tampa Bay now sits in second place in the NFC South. One of the big reasons for their win was the stellar performance of rookie first-round pick Devin White, who showed why many people had him pegged as a preseason favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.
The former LSU product had an interception, fumble recovery and defensive touchdown in the first quarter, helping the Bucs jump out to an early 15-0 lead.
Not surprisingly, after the game, White was the one to deliver an inspiring postgame speech in the locker room to his team.
See who the heroes of the game were for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their 28-11 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It may have taken 13 weeks, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are beginning to look more and more like the team we all thought we were going to see when Bruce Arians came aboard as head coach.
The Bucs, fresh off last week’s big road win over the Atlanta Falcons, kept the momentum going in their 28-11 thrashing of the in-state rival Jacksonville Jaguars. It was an another complete performance by this team and there are several players worthy of recognition.
With that, here are some instant thoughts and analysis from Tampa Bay’s big win.
Good Jameis shows up (mostly)
Quarterback Jameis Winston entered today with 20 interceptions on the year, already a career high for a season. While Winston had no touchdown passes in the team’s win, he also didn’t throw an interception. He’d thrown eight picks in his last three games, so he deserves credit for not making bad choices and forcing throws like he’s done in the past. He did have another lost fumble, but his performance today is worth celebrating. Winston has taken a lot of heat this season for his turnover problems, and rightfully so, but today was a good example of how well this offense can operate when the quarterback takes care of the ball.
Rookies shine on defense
Linebacker Devin White had a monster first quarter today, which really set the tone for this team. The rookie out of LSU had an interception on Jacksonville’s first drive, ultimately leading to a Peyton Barber 15-yard touchdown run, and then had a fumble recovery and touchdown on Jacksonville’s next possession when Nick Foles fumbled the ball after being sacked by Shaq Barrett. Then, after Foles was replaced in the second half by Gardner Minshew, rookie cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting helped stop a Jags comeback attempt by intercepting Minshew on a 3rd-and-goal from the Tampa Bay 2-yard line. A touchdown and extra point would’ve cut the Bucs’ lead to 25-18. That interception by Murphy-Bunting helped seal the win.
Unlikely receiving duo
While Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have been the dynamic receiving duo for the Buccaneers this season, they took a backseat today to Breshad Perriman and O.J. Howard, who were the top two receivers against the Jags. Perriman finished with a season-high five receptions for 87 yards, while Howard, who has had a tumultuous season, finished the day with five catches for 61 yards. Evans, meanwhile, had four receptions for 53 yards, while Godwin finished with four receptions for 50 yards. If the Buccaneers can spread the ball around and get guys like Perriman and Howard involved more often, this team will be unstoppable.
Tampa Bay returns home next week to take on the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jaguars probably are stuck with quarterback Nick Foles because of his huge contract.
Nick Foles was supposed to be the missing link for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead, he’s just missing.
The quarterback signed a four-year, $88 million contract (including $50 million in guaranteed money) with Jacksonville in the offseason. The expectation was that Foles would help the Jaguars play more like they did in 2017 when they made it to the AFC Championship before having a disappointing 2018.
It hasn’t worked out that way. Foles broke his collarbone in the season opener and didn’t return until Week 10. He’s lost all three games he’s started and it looks like he’ll had a fourth Sunday against Tampa Bay.
Foles already is done for the day. He was benched in favor of rookie Gardner Minshew at halftime with the Jaguars trailing 25-0 after completing seven of 14 passes for 93 yards with an interception in the first half. Minshew led the Jaguars to a 4-4 record while Foles was injured. Minshew came into the game with 2,285 yards and four interception.
Could Foles benching be permanent? Probably not. The Jaguars have too much money invested in Foles in the first two years of his contract. Cutting Foles before next season would cost the Jaguars nearly $34 million in dead money.
But there is a way the Jaguars can void Foles’ contract before the 2021 season. That’s likely when Minshew takes over on a permanent basis.
Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After another poor day by Nick Foles, the Jags have turned back to Gardner Minshew II against the Bucs.
The Jacksonville Jaguars apparently have seen enough of Nick Foles, who has been struggling since returning from collarbone surgery and turned the ball over three times against the Tampa Bay Bucs Sunday. As a result, they benched the veteran during the second half of Week 13’s game and put in Gardner Minshew II to try and propel the Jags from their 25-0 deficit.
Foles, who returned Week 11 against the Indianapolis Colts, could never find his rhythm and all of the Jags’ game since have been blowouts. That said, it appears Doug Marrone felt a change was and spark was needed.
Minshew took the NFL by storm this season, winning six Pepsi Rookie of the Week awards. He was able to garner a 4-4 record while starting and was 188-of-307 (61.2%) for 2,285 yards, 14 touchdowns and four picks before Foles replaced him.
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Tom Brady might be the best quarterback ever, but he’s not the best in the NFL right now. He certainly won’t be the best in 2022.
He’s human, after all, and at age 42, regression is inevitable even for someone with six Super Bowl rings. That puts the New England Patriots in an uncertain situation at quarterback two or three years down the road. The New Orleans Saints, with 40-year-old Drew Brees under center, find themselves in a similar scenario.
Other teams, such as the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, likely will face difficult personnel decisions at the quarterback position much sooner than that. Only a handful of teams, notably the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, appear secure in their quarterback situation for years to come.
All this got us thinking about the quarterback situations of the future — and where each of the NFL’s 32 teams ranks in terms of preparedness at the game’s most crucial position.
By quarterback situations, we mean the full overview of each team’s quarterbacks group, including backups and a potential succession plan, if necessary. For this exercise, we will define the future as three to four years down the road.
To help form these opinions, we consulted with a blue-ribbon panel of one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager. They were asked for their thoughts on each team’s quarterback situation. They provided insight to inform our rankings.
With that in mind, we present Touchdown Wire’s future quarterback rankings for every NFL team, from worst to first:
32. Miami Dolphins
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Earlier this season, many observers accused the Dolphins of tanking to earn the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and presumably select a quarterback. Since then, Miami (2-8) has been eclipsed by the ineptitude of Cincinnati (0-10) and Washington (1-9), so the Dolphins might not get the first QB off the board. Currently, the Dolphins have Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen on their roster. Rosen has failed in his playing time. There’s no way he’ll be back next year. The Dolphins have the option to hang onto Fitzpatrick, 36, who’s currently under contract next season at $5.5 million. It makes sense to keep Fitzpatrick around for one more year to help groom a young quarterback. That could be LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagavailoa (although his recent hip injury now complicates his draft status), Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. Two members of my panel said they like Burrow better than Tagovailoa. Either way, it’s going to take some time to develop a young quarterback.
31. Chicago Bears
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For the moment, Mitchell Trubisky is Chicago’s starting quarterback. But it doesn’t appear that he will be in that role next year — although he remains under contract and the team holds a fifth-year option on the No. 2 overall pick from 2017. Given his level of play this season, it’s highly unlikely he will receive the option year, and he might not even see 2020 with the Bears — although the cap hit for cutting him would be slightly more than $9 million. The Bears are 4-6 after going 12-4 last year. There’s one main reason for the decline. That’s Trubisky. My panelists say he’s holding the offense back and could end up keeping a good team out of the playoffs. All four panelists agree Trubisky should be nothing more than a backup. Current backup Chase Daniel’s contract expires after this season. So there’s no telling who will be Chicago’s quarterback next year. Maybe the Bears will draft a quarterback. But with a talented roster already in place, the Bears should be first in line to sign New Orleans backup Teddy Bridgewater as a free agent.
30. Cincinnati Bengals
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Veteran Andy Dalton has been benched, and the Bengals are giving rookie fourth-rounder Ryan Finley a shot. There should be no turning back to Dalton, even though he remains under contract for 2020 with a $17.5 million scheduled salary. The Bengals can cut Dalton after the season without any salary cap ramifications. It’s too early to judge Finley. Cincinnati is going to end up with an early draft pick and could have a shot at Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jalen Hurts. The Bengals will be starting over. But, given their current state, that’s not a bad thing. “Dalton had more than enough time and couldn’t win consistently,” one panelist said. “I have no idea what they have in Finley. But they have to draft a quarterback if they’re sitting there at No. 1 or 2.”
29. Washington Redskins
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The current situation is a mess. Veterans Colt McCoy and Case Keenum, who clearly aren’t the answer, each is in the last year of their contract. The Redskins have little choice but to play rookie Dwayne Haskins, who has five interceptions and two touchdown passes, the rest of this season. Call it an audition for Haskins. But this situation is complicated because the Redskins currently have interim coach Bill Callahan, who took over when Jay Gruden was fired. There will be a new coach next year, and he might not like Haskins. With an early draft pick likely, the new coach might want his own guy. Give up on Haskins after only one season? Arizona did it with 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen after drafting Kyler Murray. All four of our panelists said Haskins was overrated when he was drafted.
Find out why Chris Wesseling of NFL.com thinks Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles could be in a Bucs uniform next season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a big decision to make this offseason when it comes to quarterback Jameis Winston. Do they give a new contract to the former number one overall pick, whether short term or long term? Or, do they let him walk as a free agent and start over at the position?
At 3-6, Tampa Bay may well find themselves in an envious draft position when the season ends. With a quarterback-rich 2020 NFL Draft that will likely include guys like Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow, there could be plenty of options for the Bucs.
But, it seems Chris Wesseling of NFL.com thinks there could be a veteran signal-caller under center for the Buccaneers next season: Nick Foles. In his article on the top 10 potentially available passers in 2020, Wesseling listed both Foles and Winston, and offered up the idea that Foles could find his way to Tampa Bay.
Take a look.
“As Minshew Mania entered full bloom, Foles was the quarterback name most bandied about at last month’s trade deadline. Armed with the assurance that they now have an intoxicating young fallback option under center, the Jaguars opted to keep their $88 million investment for a seven-game trial run that will offer ostensible clarity in the 2020 QB room. Should Foles succeed in transmitting his Super Bowl LII magic to a less talented supporting cast than the one he enjoyed in Philadelphia, the best course of action may be to hold Minshew in reserve as a premium insurance policy. Should Foles flounder or suffer yet another injury, however, it will behoove the Jaguars to solicit potential suitors such as the Bears, Broncos or Buccaneers. Yes, the Bucs.”
Foles had a storybook-run to the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, but I think he was in the right system, under the right circumstances. I don’t think he’s worth the big-money investment, though.
If the Buccaneers want to start over at the position, the 2020 NFL Draft is probably the best place to find a quarterback, depending on where they pick. Let a young quarterback learn and grow under Bruce Arians.
Remember, Arians served as the offensive coordinator/interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, Andrew Luck’s rookie year. Indy went 11-5 and made the playoffs, one year after going 2-14.
Translation: Arians knows how to work with young quarterbacks, not just veterans.
