Did the Buccaneers make a mistake by moving on from Jameis Winston for Tom Brady?

I know you are all going to tell me that I am a hater, or that I am clueless. I hear it all the time on Twitter, but let me break this down. I want to know your personal opinion. This year the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved on from Jameis Winston who led the entire NFL in passing yards last year with 5,109 yards. He also finished with 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. The interceptions were rough, there is no doubt about that, but let’s look at yesterday’s game and explain what we noticed.

Yesterday, Tom Brady was not too good for the Buccaneers. Tom Brady finished the game against a good Saints defense going 23-36 for 239 yards passing and completed two touchdown passes but also threw two interceptions. One of them was a pick six to former North Alabama graduate Janoris Jenkins.

Brady looked rough. Mike Evans the teams top wide receiver finished the game with 1 reception for 2 yards and it was a touchdown. I know Evans was banged up before the game, but what about Gronk?

Where was GRONK?

We heard so much about adding Rob Gronkowski and he was going to return to form, blah blah blah. He finished the game with 2 receptions for 11 yards.

The Buccaneers leading receiver was Chris Godwin who finished with 6 receptions for 79 yards. Scotty Miller a former undrafted wide out had 5 recptions for 73 yards. Do you know why those players did well? They run routes underneath. Tom Brady lacks arm strength and I will get crushed for this, but Brady is not the quarterback you want in an air raid offense. Brady does not take deep shots like that.

The Buccaneers flourished last year because Jameis would chuck the ball deep and beat the defenders. Jameis had a short memory, he was not perfect, but let’s look at the stats against he Saints last year. The Saints had the same defense for the most part.

Jameis Winston finished their week 5 game against the Saints with 204 yards passing and two interceptions. That is not very impressive considering he only threw the ball 27 times. The biggest thing you notice in this game though is Mike Evans DID NOT PLAY. Evans for Brady yesterday drew a long 45 yard defensive pass interference and scored on a two yard touchdown. So we will say that both he and Brady were without their top target. In both games Chris Godwin was the best receiver. Jameis did not have Leonard Fournette or Rob Gronkowski though either. I am not saying it is more impressive, it is pretty average overall, but let’s see what happens when the Buccaneers do have their star wide out.

In week 11 of last season, Jameis threw the ball 51 times and had 313 yards passing. He threw three touchdowns but also two interceptions. In both games last year the Buccaneers fell short to the Saints, but in week 11, Godwin had 7 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Evans on the other had was 4 for 69.

Jameis Winston throws the ball down field!

So far when breaking down the stats, the only thing I can notice in these two players is the Saints are a better team, and Jameis will throw the ball more. Jameis was not afraid to take shots. Last year, Mike Evans had a forty yard play in four different games. Chris Godwin had three games where he had a forty yard reception. Jameis can get the ball down the field. Last year, Tom Brady had 5 plays that went longer than 40 yards for a touchdown. Jameis had 9 games last year where he hit a 40 yard passing play.

Maybe my hate for Tom Brady is coming out a bit, but I am not sure they should have let a 26 year old quarterback leave in free agency and just hand the keys to a 43 year old legend. The Buccaneers tried to build an All-Star team and that never works. I hope Tom Brady is able to finish out the season because if they have to play Blaine Gabbert week in and week out, they are going to wish they kept Famous Jameis!