Jameis Winston 30 for 30: Revisiting Saints QB’s historical 2019 season

In 2019, Jameis Winston had been the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback for four years when Bruce Arians un-retired to become their head coach. Arians, noted as a quarterback genius, had the mission to fix what was wrong with Winston's game and help the former first-overall pick progress enough to keep his job.

What transpired that season was one of the greatest features to ever happen in the modern NFL - a quarterback who was never afraid to throw the ball, whether it was to his teammates or to the opponents. And the one and only 30/30 season happened.

Jameis Winston: the quarterback who was not afraid to turn the ball over

When you start 16 games and throw 30 interceptions, that has to be a record - and it also says a lot about your play style. That year, Jameis Winston threw the ball, on average, 40 times a game.

He was careless with the ball, and he was going for the difficult pass no matter what. He threw for 5,109 yards that season, the highest in the league, and 33 touchdowns are nothing to scoff at. It's just that, when you turn the ball over at such a high rate, your team is going to suffer a lot.

There was one specific game that encapsulated this perfectly. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Indianapolis Colts 38-35, a game where Winston threw four touchdowns, three interceptions and 456 yards. The Buccaneers won the game with a game-winning drive, but there were also dropped interceptions.

Tampa Bay finished the season 7-9. That year, Bruce Arians said that "We can win with this one, we can definitely win with another one, too". He was fed up with his quarterback, but that wasn't a problem for 2020, because...

Tom Brady replaced Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay

2019 was also Tom Brady's last season with the New England Patriots. With the quarterback and Bill Belichick not agreeing to a contract extension, Brady became a free agent and chose the Buccaneers, winning the Super Bowl right in his first season with the new team.

For Winston? Well, he moved to a divisional rival, turning into Drew Brees' backup with the New Orleans Saints. He's way careless with the ball today, but he's also not an explosive quarterback anymore - and currently backs up Derek Carr.