The Buccaneers will look to make it five-straight games tomorrow when the Houston Texans come to town. Tampa Bay’s offense has been red hot over the past month, and last week Jameis Winston became the first quarterback in NFL history to post back-to-back 450-yard games.
But, Winston and this Bucs offense will need to find a way to put up points without their top two receivers as both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have been ruled out with hamstring injuries. That means Winston will need to rely on a receiving corps he’s barely worked with. The Texans will try and force him into mistakes, and one of the defenders tasked with that job will be former Buccaneer and current Houston cornerback Vernon Hargreaves.
Hargreaves, Tampa Bay’s first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, was cut by the Bucs following his benching in Week 10’s win over the Arizona Cardinals. The former University of Florida star wound up with Houston, and now has a chance to go up against the same Bucs team that released him.
Earlier this week, Hargreaves spoke about this upcoming game, saying he held no ill will towards the Bucs. He was also effusive in his praise for Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston.
“[Winston] can light it up. I’ve always known that playing with him. He’s dynamic. He can throw the ball all over the field. We got to do a good job in the secondary to slow him down.”
That’s when Hargreaves pointed out the obvious flaw in Winston’s game.
“He turns the ball over. It’s no secret. So if we can get our hands on some balls, hopefully we can come down with some balls.”
As much as Hargreaves would love to intercept Winston, I’m sure he’d be happier if the Texans just came away with a win. A victory would clinch the AFC South for Houston and punch their ticket to the postseason.
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