Buccaneers outlast Saints in sloppy NFC South tilt
NEW ORLEANS — Driving for a field goal that would clinch Tampa Bay’s 26-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints, rookie quarterback Jameis Winston said he could hardly believe it.
“I was amazed, I was playing against Drew Brees,” Winston said. “My teammates, they were like, ‘Jameis, get back here,’ and I was like, ‘But I’m playing against Drew Brees. This is amazing.”
Actually, Winston outplayed Brees. Although Brees surpassed Dan Marino for third on the NFL’s all-time completion list and threw a touchdown in his 37th consecutive game, it was Winston who had the higher quarterback rating: 114.6 to Brees’ lowly 80.5.
More importantly, Winston got the win.
Afterward, he took an even keel that had to please both Buccaneers management, which is paying the No. 1 overall pick millions, and fans, many of whom were grumbling the team should have gone with Marus Mariota. That grumbling grew louder last week after Mariota and the Titans beat the Buccaneers in Tampa and Winston threw a pair of interceptions.
“This was big for the whole organization,” he said, when asked about his reaction. “Last year, we only won two games and we’re halfway to that now. I think we played better as a team.”
Winston completed 14 of 21 attempts for 207 yards against the Saints. He led three consecutive drives, starting at the end of the first half and carrying into the third quarter, that netted 17 points and gave Tampa Bay a lead it would never relinquish.
The second-quarter drive was the sort of thing for which Winston became famous as a Heisman Trophy winner at Florida State. The Bucs went 63 yards in six plays and Winston capped the drive with a perfect throw to Vincent Jackson in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown with 12 seconds left.
“It was critical to make that throw at the end of the first half,” Winston said. “I just want to be a game manager, and I felt like we did it there as a team.”
Winston insisted it wasn’t difficult to weather the storm after his inglorious debut. By listening to his veteran teammates and devoting a lot of time to study, Winston said he came to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome prepared. At the outset, however, the Saints played more two-deep safety schemes than he expected.
“You may watch this but then they’re doing that,” he said, comparing his film work to the field. “But I just said, ‘Hey, this is the NFL.’ ”
By taking the division opener for both teams in what should be a wide-open race for the NFC South crown, the Bucs moved to 1-1 while the Saints dropped into a 0-2 hole.
Though a rookie, Winston insisted he knows those numbers aren’t much in a 16-game season.
“Look, I may not go to sleep tonight, this is an exciting moment, getting a win like this on the road against a good team," Winston said. "But this is in our rear view mirror now, too, and the only thing is the next game, on the road again, in Houston.”
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