Analyzing Jameis Winston's Week Four Interceptions for the Buccaneers

By foxsports
Published

The Buccaneers’ Jameis Winston has shown a troubling trend of inaccuracy as of late. Let’s look at  the film.

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    The Buccaneers entered the 2016 season with high hopes, and much of it was centered on the quarterback. Jameis Winston threw for over 4,000 yards last season. He entered the season with a year of experience under his belt. Vincent Jackson returned to the lineup, and he had another off-season of work with his main weapon, Mike Evans.

    The sky was the limit.

    The biggest hurdle for Winston is one a lot of young quarterbacks have to eclipse. We are talking about the hurdle known as “accuracy”. It separates the mediocre quarterbacks from the good ones, and the good ones from the great ones.

    In 2015, Winston completed 58% of his passes, and threw for 22 touchdowns versus 15 interceptions. It was a good start, but fans were looking for him to take the next step. So far in 2016, he as thrown eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, and still only completed 58% of his passes.

    Good Jameis has been good, but bad Jameis is troubling. That version is very inaccurate, and barely resembles the good version. Let’s go to the “Eye in the Sky”, who has a breakdown of both interceptions from the week four matchup with the Denver Broncos.

    All screenshots courtesy of NFL Game Pass (subscription required).

    Interception number one was on the third play of the game. The Bucs are lined up “trips right”, and Charles Sims has motioned out of the backfield, lined up on the outside to Winston’s right. Adam Humphries is in the first circle, slot right, closest to Jameis. Vincent Jackson is the third receiver in the bunch to the right.

    At the snap, Jackson and Humphries run a double in cut. Jackson will actually cut to the inside in front of Humphries, and Adam will trail in behind him. But the throw is very strange. If you look closely as we move ahead, it is tough even to tell who he is throwing to. Take a look.

    We stop it right here. In the book, he was credited with a pass intended for Humphries, but was it? Look at Winston’s stride, and where the hips are facing. It looks like he is looking to throw it to where Vincent Jackson is heading. Humphries and the interceptor, Aqib Talib, haven’t even entered the picture yet.

    It seems he might be looking for V-Jax, and the ball sailed. We know it’s either that or a pass for Humphries that left his hand far too early. Let’s roll the tape:

    See the ball in flight? It’s behind Jackson, and Humphries is not even close. What is Winston doing? He was able to step into the throw, it’s not like he had to rush.

    Talib makes a play on the ball and it’s an early turnover for the Bucs.

    It’s not just the fact that he turned the ball over, it’s the fact that the pass was bad. We love Jameis, and I agree with the sentiment. But this one, my friends, was not even close.

    Let’s move ahead to the second interception.

    Here we are in the second quarter with Jameis Winston lined up in the shotgun. Mike Evans is lined up wide to the right, with Aqib Talib lined up opposite him. Evans is going to make move to the inside, finding what he thinks is a soft spot behind the cornerback and in front of the safety.

    As we move ahead, Winston has been given a nice pocket. He has plenty of room to step up and make the throw. Unfortunately, he either doesn’t notice Talib undercutting the play, or he thinks he can throw a fastball that will make it to his main squeeze, Mike Evans.

    I wrote “Come back Mike” because he needs to sense the presence of Talib and drive on the spot, rather than way for the football to come to him. Let’s see how it unfolds.

    The pass is coming, but it is underthrown and behind Evans. It’s a catchable ball for Talib, and Evans is late coming back to make a difference.

    Talib makes his second pick of the afternoon, and it turns into a really rough day for Winston and company.

    Every quarterback throws interceptions. Ask New York Jets’ fans that question if you don’t believe me. But the troubling part is the inaccuracy. This is what needs to get better, and quickly. Winston needs to make the next step, and accuracy will be the biggest key.

    Tune in next week for the “Eye in the Sky”. Hopefully he will have happier plays to break down.

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