Antoine Winfield Isn’t Looking Past The Slimy Saints
December 5th, 2025
This is one of two touchdowns stolen from Antoine Winfield in New Orleans.
Joe hopes to see Bucs All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield play out of his mind on Sunday.
The last time the Bucs and slimy Saints played, Winfield did play out of his mind.
In Lincoln’s Tomb in Louisiana back in October, Winfield had two defensive touchdowns stolen from him by incompetent zebras. One was called back on the ol’ inadvertent whistle trick — even if there was no whistle.
So yeah, you could say Winfield is locked in, partially for a bit of revenge and partly because Winfield knows the Bucs have little wiggle room with the Stinking Panthers breathing down their necks.
Winfield said no way he’s going to take a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach on a struggling division foe lightly.
“It’s good to have more film [on Tyler Shough] and it’s also good that we’ve played against them already, so you kind of get a feel of what it’s going to be like the next go-around,” Winfield said. “It’s nice having just played them prior to get a feel, but [we] still [have] a game plan going in.
“We still [have] to execute well and play because it’s the league, anybody can win, so we [have] to make sure we do our jobs.”
Winfield also said Shough is starting for the slimy Saints for a reason that’s not out of some weird sense of generosity or desperation.
“He can play,” Winfield said. “That’s why we [have] to make sure we do our jobs and contain him as much as possible.”
Well, the easiest way for the Bucs to put the slimy Saints away is do to what the Bucs did last year and defensively; jump all over them.
No, Joe doesn’t expect outside linebacker Anthony Nelson to tip a pass to himself and get an easy pick-six. That doesn’t mean other players can’t make big plays against Shough.
Maybe someone who had glory ripped out of his hands by part-time zebras.
December 5th, 2025 at 9:11 am
All I want for Christmas is my beloved Bucs secondary to not get torched anymore and 3rd and longs are not converted due to baby poop soft zone coverage lol
Stopping the pass is more important Todd my man
Dean, Zyon, Tykee, Parrish and of course AWJ are a formidable secondary they just need to pressure the receivers and stay sticky, the talent is there
December 5th, 2025 at 9:14 am
We got great talent in the secondary, just need to translate that into tight coverage
Lets keep 3rd and long conversions to a minimum please lol
December 5th, 2025 at 9:17 am
My bad for the double post I though my original was deleted
December 5th, 2025 at 9:22 am
Well Winfield is right , absolutely. Actually it would be nice to see him show up again in this game. Someone tell me why , but he seems to disappear often and like makes only a casual appearence. The prior Saints game being the exception. He seems to get a free pass from criticism, but I just don’t see him making plays. T Smith is all over the field, but Winfield?. It seems he often isn’t even on the field. McColumn of course is the bigger problem. Right now he looks like he is playing scared , no confidence and gets beat on a regular basis every game. I expect this week to be no exception. I think he needs to be benched at least for awhile, maybe that changes something. Anyway, yes this team not playing well enough to take the Saints for granted, that’s for sure. Yes on paper it should not even be close, but that is not what is happening out on the field.
December 5th, 2025 at 9:26 am
Better tell his 50+ OTHER teammates not to overlook the Aints. Playoffs start for us on Sunday.
December 5th, 2025 at 9:28 am
Winny can’t look past the dollar signs on his contract apparently.
December 5th, 2025 at 9:39 am
You don’t have great talent in the secondary when receivers have an automatic 5 yard cushion. Way past time to ignore an obvious lack of defensive talent and poor coaching scheme. It is not one or the other but both.
December 5th, 2025 at 9:41 am
Carolina easily sweeps the Yucs and wins the division. The silver lining is this should cost Clueless Todd his job.
December 5th, 2025 at 10:16 am
Nobody should look past the Saints….that’s a good way to get your a$$ beat
December 5th, 2025 at 10:17 am
Bowles easily has a job the next two years regardless of our record and playoff status.
Go Bucs
December 5th, 2025 at 10:42 am
one game at a time!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
December 5th, 2025 at 10:45 am
All this talk about not looking past the Saints for us to squeak out a 23-16 win at home.
December 5th, 2025 at 10:45 am
IJOE!!!! I clicked the Bobbi Fenton link and get last seasons pod cast!!!!
December 5th, 2025 at 11:13 am
Radios nemesis. Rookie QBs. And a struggling team
December 5th, 2025 at 11:26 am
Wow, I didn’t know Winfield was still on the team. I haven’t seen him on the field lately, I though he had quit the game and retired to The Villages.
December 5th, 2025 at 11:34 am
If Shough passes for less than 240 yards and 2 TD I will be SHOCKED
December 5th, 2025 at 11:36 am
This team isnt good enough to look past the USC Trojans
December 5th, 2025 at 11:38 am
Secondary is weak, coverage is soft, LBs can’t hold the edge and the D line can’t generate sacks. Adding the poor coaching by the Bucs, this could a close game.
December 5th, 2025 at 11:50 am
After watching the first half of Dallas – Lions game last night I was amazed how DLs on both sides repeatedly crash through the opposing OLs I concluded two things:
1. Trade a 6th round pick to Dallas to tell us what pass rusher to draft. And…
2. Trade a 5th round pick to Detroit to also tell us the same thing.
Maybe, then we can come up with someone who can EFFECTIVELY do it. Then just need to fix the system.
December 5th, 2025 at 11:53 am
It’s good that he’s saying this publicly.
It’s almost like a shot across the bow to all the other players on defense, and somewhat of an acknowledgment that they’ve played poorly recently.
If you were to envision the defense coming to life the next month it would start with a tough look in the mirror and the offense scoring lots of points.
More aggressive coverage calls from Todd might also help but I’m not holding my breath.
December 5th, 2025 at 12:46 pm
Not from me, and I agree with you 💯. Sure he gets the freak tips and fumble recoveries by virtue of his position. He also gets some tackles, usually after a completion and first down. More often than not, I do NOT see him flying to the ball, I do see him getting pushed around, and he is often late on coverage support. He looks slow, pudgy, and small to me, but I guess my expectations coincide with his pay grade. But be assured, nobody is going to confuse him with Ed Reed
December 5th, 2025 at 1:09 pm
3 wins and we get 2 rest weeks, you can do it boys
December 5th, 2025 at 1:17 pm
#31 needs to earn his money rest of the year
LFG Antoine!!
December 5th, 2025 at 1:22 pm
Bobbi Fenton link has been fixed. Thank you.
December 5th, 2025 at 1:41 pm
The bucs wont beat the falcons. They never win night games.
December 5th, 2025 at 1:45 pm
bucs
15-16 all time MonNF
3-9 all time in ThursNF
9-17 all time SunNF
In prime time
2025 1-2
2024 0-4
2023 0-2
December 5th, 2025 at 2:03 pm
Well Dang Janice, I will just bet the House on the Falcons then, YOU CRACKED THE CODE, NO WAY The Bucs can win that game!!!! Or…… you don’t know anything…..
December 5th, 2025 at 2:50 pm
We all know the Saints opening drive will result in a touchdown. Why pretend reality doesn’t exist.
December 5th, 2025 at 3:10 pm
Joe … ‘The easiest way for the Bucs to put the slimy Saints away is do to what the Bucs did last year and defensively; jump all over them.’
I agree with you Joe, but that’s only HALF the battle. Our offense needs to score some nice points in the first half, such that we have a comfortable lead when the 1st half ends.
Just looked at our first 12 games. A couple of things stand out:
1 – In our 7 wins, the Bucs have been AHEAD at the end of the 1st half in SIX of those, and tied at the half on the other win. We’ve also won the TOP in 5 of our 7 victories.
2 – In our 5 losses, the Bucs have been BEHIND at the end of the 1st half in all FIVE losses. Bucs have also won the TOP in 4 of our 5 losses.
Seems to me that Todd Bowles believes that sticking to our Run Game allows us to control the clock IF it’s effective in keeping the ball moving forward. Did a deeper analysis of our 7 wins & 5 losses in regards to our OFFENSE, and in the end only ONE thing really jumped out.
1 – In our 7 wins, Bucs ran & passed at an almost equal rate.
o 193 runs – 735 yds (3.8 YPC) (per game: 28 runs – 105 yds)
o 197 passes with 140 completed (71.0%) – 1596 yds (per game: 20-of-28 completed for 228 yds average).
o 183 total points (26.1 PPG average)
o 31:10 average TOP
2 – In our 5 losses, Bucs passed considerably more than we ran (we were behind at halftime in all 5 losses, so apparently chose to prioritize the pass to catch up?).
o 117 runs – 583 yds (5.0 YPC) (per game: 23 runs – 117 yds)
o 195 passes with 111 completed (56.9%) – 1066 yds (per game: 22-of-39 completed for 213 yds average).
o 96 total points (19.2 PPG average)
o 31:55 average TOP
Strangely, it looks like our Run Game was actually MORE effective in our 5 losses (5.0 YPC) than it was in our 7 wins (3.8 YPC). However, we apparently chose to abandon it early because of being behind. And yet, our Pass Game wasn’t nearly as effective in our 5 losses (56.9% completions) as it was in our 7 wins (71.0% completions). That’s also reflected I think in the difference in average PPG scored in our wins (26.1) vs our losses (19.2).
The fact that in our 5 losses the Bucs own a 31:55 TOP against premier defenses impresses me. That despite the fact that we ran the ball about 5 fewer times per game in our losses than we did in our wins, and that Baker’s passing accuracy wasn’t nearly as good in our losses (56.9%) as it was in our wins (71.0%). The fact that 8 of our 9 giveaways have come in those 5 losses also isn’t very impressive.
Of course, the BIG gorilla in our 5 losses was our defense. Our defense gave up an average of 32.2 PPG in those 5 losses, as compared to a more better 20.0 PPG average in our 7 wins. Strange as it may seem, our offense jumping in front early (in our wins) seems to very much impact how well our defense plays & the results that it gets. Hmmm, maybe there’s something to COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL after all.
December 5th, 2025 at 5:50 pm
^^^^coaches with no feel for the game in progress, in scheme, strategy, or adjustments….at least for the 1st 8 paragraphs
December 5th, 2025 at 6:01 pm
@Janice, the stats you typed up are the proverbial straw that broke my back with this coaching staff.
Every yr I drink the kool aid, justify JL’s lack of aggression going after FAs or not drafting Dawgs, I try to see the “genius” in Todd’s defensive approach, and hope for the best….and every year, every big game is too big for this HC/DC. It is soul crushing to watch these guys come out on national TV and play completely uninspired. Its hard standing among 80k Lions fans, almost $1000 out of pocket (seat, beer, parking, etc for 1) only to watch TB’s team come out flat. Boooooo….a king’s ransom for a jokers product
December 5th, 2025 at 9:26 pm
Given how they’ve played against good and bad teams, how their offense and defense can show up and disappear week to week, they better not look past anyone.
There is not an NFL team that can’t beat them, just like when they are at full strength and clicking on all cylinders, there’s not a team they can’t beat.
December 5th, 2025 at 10:21 pm
Janice has a great point on how this team blows at night games which is why I think that Bowles and the Creamsicles will let Cousins have another career day on TNF but I do have to point out that your stats are wrong in 2023, they did beat Philly on a Monday night in the wildcard playoffs 32-9.
That win over a beaten up Eagle team is Bowles only playoff win, which brings up another stat: 1 DASH 3 in the playoffs. If the Bucs do manage to win the NFC South, no guarantee, then they will likely host someone like Green Bay or the 2nd place NFC West team, either the Rams or Hawks. Who in their right mind thinks Bowles’ D will not get boat raced? Then Todd will be 1 DASH 4 in playoff games, worse than Dungy when the Glazers launched him and if the Bucs do not make the playoffs, well that is even worse.
So, in a nutshell, I think Bowles should have a low bar of winning one playoff game or face dismissal as he will refuse to give up his DC play calling which has been the Achilles heal, However, Bowles will probably use his Special Teams Coach and injuries as an excuse to get one more year which is maddening for us Buc fans. Todd will not change, and if he stays as a defensive minded HC, the team he coaches is capped at 10 wins max. That is just how it is and if the Glazers want to go to the next level, well Todd has to go……..