Special Day For Winfield
December 13th, 2020
Reason to smile.
Joe called it!
If you listen to the Ira Kaufman Podcast, you likely heard Joe yearn to see Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles use safety Antoine Winfield on more blitzes like he did earlier in the season.
Winfield, on blitzes, looks like Rondé Barber the way he fires into the opponent’s backfield. And today Joe got his wish.
With the Vikings having second-and-goal from the Bucs-8 in the fourth quarter, Winfield got the order from Bowles to blitz as he got earlier in the game, as well.
Winfield damned near caused a turnover on a sack. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins recovered his own fumble.
The Vikings came away with no points as Minnesota kicker Dan Bailey missed his third field goal of the game.
In the last month, it seemed Winfield had hit a rookie wall as he wasn’t dominating like he once was. Today he was back.
After the game, Bucco Bruce Arians mentioned how special it is for players who play against the same team they grew up watching and especially when their dad played for the team. Winfield grew up in the Minneapolis area and his dad was a long-time fixture and a Pro Bowler in the secondary for the Vikings.
“I am sure he is elated, his family is probably elated,” Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians said. “When you play the team you grew up watching and [were] in the locker room, it’s huge. Peyton [Manning] was the same way when he played the Saints.
“When he got the blitz/sack, oh I would have loved to have seen him pick up that fumble and score. But that was a great job by him.”
Winfield led the team in tackles with 11. He looked today like the same player that won NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.
If Winfield can have more games like today, it will be a huge boost for the playoff push.
December 13th, 2020 at 5:18 pm
Great kid ! .. great pick !
I’d love to know which scout was lobbying for him !
December 13th, 2020 at 5:19 pm
This kid will be a cornerstone of this defense for a decade I predict
December 13th, 2020 at 5:38 pm
Going out on a limb TBA? Dumb@ss!!
December 13th, 2020 at 5:54 pm
On tackling he has great instincts of when to wrap or blow the legs out! Conducive to staying healthy!
December 13th, 2020 at 6:29 pm
Winfield, white , vea , Davis we got some good skilled players that are young and improving. Like where we are sitting. Hopefully we keeping adding specially pass rushers please
December 13th, 2020 at 6:54 pm
No wall for Winfield or Wirfs
December 13th, 2020 at 7:18 pm
^^^Bucs Rookie of the day is Winfield. Rookie of the Year is Wirfs. Is there a Bucs rookie of the Decade award?
December 13th, 2020 at 8:26 pm
Perhaps the luck of the draw with the late bye week helped eradicate rookie walls on our team.
The Bye certainly helped…especially in the 2nd half when it seemed like the Bucs began to wear the Vikes down physically unlike the first half when they dominated the early going.
December 14th, 2020 at 12:15 am
Bucs need to find a way to put Weinfield in the nickel. Good coverage, blitzing, and can still fly to make a hit. Like all the easy screens against us when we show so much blitz and the CB are Smitty deep. It’s a theory.
December 14th, 2020 at 2:32 am
me luvin’ this yung rook !
December 14th, 2020 at 11:20 am
Winfield blitzing > White blitzing
White has a lot to learn still. Outside of maybe a 3 game stretch this season, he’s been pretty disappointing.
He should spend more time remembering how to tackle, and less time running his mouth. Overall, the tackling by our defense as a whole has been p!ss poor for the last month besides our D-linemen. Totally unacceptable.