Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL over the past three weeks and, following Tampa Bay’s underdog victory over the Rams this past Sunday, was recognized for his play with the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award.
Winston was nearly perfect this past Sunday, completing over 68 percent of his passes for 385 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. The fifth-year quarterback spoke to the media on Wednesday about his performance.
“I was talking to Ali Marpet about it,” Winston said. “And it really just speaks volumes about how good we were as an offense last week, so shoutout to the whole offensive staff and the guys who played their tail off.”
Bucs LG Ali Marpet – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR
These past three weeks have exemplified the kind of talent that the Buccaneers’ organization hoped he would be, on a consistent basis, since drafting him with the first overall pick. Bruce Arians was brought in with the hopes of polishing his game and through four weeks the plan as seemingly been on track. Winston spoke about what Arians does to be such an effective teacher of the game.
“I think it’s his dialogue,” Winston said. “His awareness of the game, us being able to have conversations, day in and day out, about when to get rid of the ball or where to go with the ball when we see this or that. It’s helped tremendously.”
Often the unsung heroes of offensive production is the offensive line, a unit for the Bucs that has not only improved tremendously but has been a very solid unit in both the run game and in pass protection this season, highlighted by the minimization of star defensive tackle Ali Marpet.
Winston insisted that Marpet is a Pro Bowl-caliber talent, but also gave recognition to the rest of the offensive line.
“Ali’s doing an amazing job, he’s one of our leaders and captains,” Winston said.”But [Ryan] Jensen, his tenacity up front, really sets the tone for all of those guys.”
Winston continued.
“When you have great guys like Ali who are across from [Alex Cappa], who is learning from Ali every step of the way, they’re communicating all the time,” Winston said. “When you have a guy that’s a leader like Ali, who’s one of the best guards in the league, you’ve got one of the best left tackles in the league and one of the best veteran right tackles in the league, you can really feel the chemistry of our offensive line and they’re doing a great job.”
The award is always a welcome occurrence, but not it’s on to New Orleans for a divisional matchup with the Saints. While the Saints will be without future Hall of Famer Drew Brees, it’s always a tough task when trying to get a win out of the deafening Superdome.
“I really love the environment, honestly,” Winston said. “Anytime you’re playing indoors the noise is a factor but I love playing in the Superdome because it takes you back to college, playing in those big stadiums. Playing in Death Valley, playing in Tallahassee when it was really going, so I think everyone feeds off of that noise, I know our guys do.”
