The Buccaneers return from their bye week with a quarterback who seems broken, again. Coach Bruce Arians still hopes to fix Jameis Winston, and Arians thinks it should be easy.
“It’s knowing why the ball is coming out of your hand and knowing when to get rid of it,” Arians told WFLA-TV, via JoeBucsFan.com. “You know, we had a screen pass to [Ronald Jones] that broke down; throw it away, all right? We end up getting a fumble. We didn’t lose that fumble. The next one, [Jameis is thinking], ‘I have to make a play.’ Those situations we have to get rid of the bad decisions of when ‘I have to make a play,’ and you hold on too long and get a sack or a fumble. Just get rid of those plays, we’re going to be all right.”
It’s far easier said than done. And it won’t be easy for the Buccaneers to turn it around. The travel to Tennessee and then Seattle before returning home to face the Cardinals, Arians’ former team. Arizona, the worst team in the league a year ago, has won three in a row.
Arians has never lost three in a row during his head coaching career (he lost three of four and four of five in 2016, and three of four in 2017). If Tampa loses the next two, Arians’ streak will be at four as the Cardinals prepare to visit.
To avoid that fate, Arians will need Winston to perform far better than he did against the Panthers in Week Six, which featured six turnovers and seven sacks.