Lavonte David Points Finger At Jameis Winston For Playoff Miss
May 25th, 2026
NFL players love talking about the famous Jameis Winston 30-for-30 season in 2019.
The former America’s Quarterback tossed 33 touchdowns and a whopping 30 interceptions in 16 Bucs games.
Prior to that, a quarterback hadn’t thrown 30 or more picks in a season since Vinny Testaverde for Tampa Bay in 1988, back when Ira Kaufman was a 10-year veteran NFL reporter. Since Jameis threw his 30 picks, only one NFL quarterback has thrown 20 interceptions in a season, Sam Howell in 2023.
Interceptions deflate morale, radically change games and sometimes flat out lose games. Throwing 30 picks in a season? Well, that’s an unforgiveable sin in the modern NFL.
Last week, Joe was intrigued to hear retired Bucs legend Lavonte David talk about Jameis’ 30-for-30 season. It was a subject when David appeared on The Rush With Maxx Crosby.
The Bucs won seven games in 2019 season and 10 wins qualified for the final Wild Card spot in the NFC. The Saints seized the NFC South with 13 wins. Per David, if Jameis threw half as many picks, the Bucs would have won at least three more games and made the playoffs.
“Our [2019] team, we felt like we had the team to get us to the playoffs and make a run,” David said. “You know, obviously, for every team, there’s one missing piece and everybody just needs a solid quarterback. And for us, we really thought like Jameis was that guy. You know, like if Jameis throw 15 picks, I feel like we’re in the playoffs. But at the same time, Jameis was balling that year. You can’t discredit that, but he had those interceptions.”
David’s comment really stood out to Joe. Why? Because players usually are quick to acknowledge that the NFL is a team game and while sometimes you can point a finger at a guy for screwing up a game, one guy is rarely pointed to as costing a club three wins.
The legend of Jameis lives on.
May 25th, 2026 at 10:49 am
Nothing wrong with speaking the truth.
May 25th, 2026 at 10:52 am
He was the obvious reason why they missed the playoffs. His pick 6’s alone cost the team 49 points. Every game that year we essentially started down 3-0. There is a reason why the defense was way better the next year. They didn’t have a QB constantly putting them in bad situations. Jameis is one of the most entertaining QB I’ve ever seen, but it is more enjoyable to admire him from a distance on another team
May 25th, 2026 at 11:11 am
He should have stayed in college at least one more year. He was immature, and that affectes hia play.
May 25th, 2026 at 11:21 am
That’s funny. Coming from the guy that loafed last year. 3rd and 28. 4th and 14.
May 25th, 2026 at 11:24 am
It’s amazing how the bucs defense was ranked 32 in every category and the offense was ranked top 5 every year without a running game but one year in 2015 . I remember the Green Bay game Jamies drove the ball and scored and took the lead and the defense just needed one stop and they let a quarterback who was out of football the very next year drive the ball and tied up the game and then the defense gave up a TD in overtime. Jamies didn’t see the field again. The offense was ranked top 5 in every thing but rushing they were 30th .
May 25th, 2026 at 11:27 am
In 2019 the great coach Bruce Arians had him throwing 45 to 50 times a game up the field but it didn’t matter until Brady came and when Brady got 12 picks then it became a problem with the no risk it no biscuit offense. Bruce Arians is the most overrated coach I’ve ever seen in the NFL. People think he’s a good coach because he has a bad mouth and he curses in interviews.
May 25th, 2026 at 11:33 am
If our kicker that year could have made 2 chip shots THAT would have been 2 more wins
May 25th, 2026 at 11:34 am
I mowed the lawn on Saturday (large lawn, used my push mower). Didn’t do much more after that. Was I loafing or did I suffer from ARLASS (age related lose a step syndrome). I did recover on Sunday and got back at the to-do list.
May 25th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Oneil….Arians was twice named the AP NFL Coach of the Year (2012, 2014) and is the only coach to win the award with two different franchises in a three-year span.
May 25th, 2026 at 11:46 am
He’s the only Bucs player that I’ve ever truly hated. He was an embarrassment, on and off the field, and I’m glad the memory of those years was largely erased by the ultimate example of elite quarterback play. I knew we were doomed when I saw him in his hometown on Hard Knocks.
May 25th, 2026 at 11:56 am
1987. His style of coaching is why Andrew Luck career was cut short and why Carson Palmer threw so many picks and got injured. I remember when Big Ben had 6 picks one game and the very next week he threw 5 picks and that’s why he got fired in Pittsburgh. He had Brady with 12 picks by week 8 I think and Brady told him let’s do another way and they went with the Patriots style offense which it should been that from the jump. People call me a Jamies fan on here but when I look at his talent the only thing the bucs had to do is give him a coach that believes in the running game. If the bucs would have given him a running game Jamies would be good here. That’s why in 2016 we went 9-7 because of the threat of Doug Martin. After that they’re was no more threat in the back field and teams knew it so they dropped everyone back in pass coverage.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
For sacks. I will give you credit at least you are honest but at the same time how can anyone believe your takes about Jamies? I know that’s why a lot of people on here say what they say about Jamies. And I know that’s why people give Baker excuses for his bad play and that’s why I know a lot of people comments on this site is driven by emotion and not facts about a player.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:05 pm
Oh yeah and remember Daniel Jones got the name Danny dimes off the same defense David is talking about.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:07 pm
If Winston doesn’t throw 30 picks he ends up staying and we never get Brady.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:11 pm
Agree. However, Winston and Brady should never be mentioned in the same sentence.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:14 pm
All I’m saying is he won Coach of the Year TWICE. Can’t be too overrated.
Plus a SB win.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:17 pm
Obviously Ariens ” No Risk it No Biscuit” wouldn’t have applied to Jamis!
May 25th, 2026 at 12:24 pm
1987. Didn’t we and others call Brady the GM of this team back then? But I get what you saying bro.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
It’s just to me when I hear all the excuses Baker Mayfield gets about injury and Jamies that year the last 7 games he didn’t have Evans or Godwin on the field that year and when you watch rasing the flags Jamies had a sprain rotator cup and a broken finger on his throwing arm and throwing hand that year and he still never got the injury excuse. And not to mention that o line was trash .
May 25th, 2026 at 12:30 pm
There’s nothing wrong with telling the truth. Jameis sure was entertaining and never had the right guidance. I believe if Jameis could have stayed 2 years as a backup to TB12, he could’ve learned how to really do it right. The one thing Jameis didn’t lack was heart.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
Also, 7 of those were pick 6’s. Winston’s first career pass was a pick 6, and his last Bucs pass a pick 6. But, he be ballin’! GO BUCS!!!
May 25th, 2026 at 12:51 pm
^^^NFL record, BTW^^^
May 25th, 2026 at 12:58 pm
I anticipated LVD doin A BUNCH of talkin’ post career, in order to remain relevant, and in hopes of boosting his HOF chances. But, he’s going to have to show that he can talk about what is relevant TODAY, and with what is going on with all of the OTHER TEAMS in the league. Otherwise, he is just EMPTY, and NO ONE will are anything about what HE has to say! He should probably just shut TF UP for right now, until he can start talking about something that actually MATTERS. Cause, NOBODY outside of TB gives the first F about the Bucs. I mean, come on. He would be smart to reflect in private, with his friends and family.
May 25th, 2026 at 1:28 pm
I don’t give a DAMN about Jameis. But, it seemed-like he just IMPLODED to point of absurdity, down the stretch of that season. It was like some kind of ‘tick’ or something, it got soooo BAD. Two other things about it… Bruce and that Defense, sure didn’t do him any favors, either. I mean, if you’ve got a QB really struggling, and throwing the ball all over the place, then it is up to YOU as the HEAD COACH, to be able to recognize it and make the necessary adjustments, to help YOUR QUARTERBACK out. Especially, with his fricking CONFIDENCE.
May 25th, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Turnovers are the fastest way to lose football games. You only get so many chances to possess the ball to put points up. To do the opposite and give the ball back to your opponents is a waste of a possession that makes it hurt to get and/or stay ahead.
David’s right, that 2019 season is probably the weirdest iteration of a Bucs offense ever. On one hand, Jameis threw 30 MF’n interceptions. On the other hand, we somehow finished 3rd in scoring, got both Godwin & Evans both 2nd team all-pro nod & pro bowls. Still, 30 interception just looking at that compared to the volume stats and you can see why we only won 7 games.
May 25th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
Jameis was a lost cause coming out of college but so many wanted to make him out to be something he was never going to be, a good QB!
Way to erratic and way to risky for that position… Only the Bucs one get the number 1 pick and chose such an epic failure…..
May 25th, 2026 at 1:41 pm
And, “HALF” is an awfully BIG ask in that type of offense, and without a ‘running game’ of ANY kind. Maybe, Bruce should’ve made SURE to have a freaking ‘RUNNING GAME’ that year, too!!!! And, our young secondary was just CONSTANTLY lit TF UP. Those were some damn SHOOTOUTS. By the time we were obviously NOT going to the playoffs, I was rooting for Jameis to get to 30 just for the helluvit! Cause, I wanted to see-it LoL. It was very hard to watch
May 25th, 2026 at 1:59 pm
OneilBuc,
BA won in Pittsburgh, Indy, and Tampa. There is nobody in the NFL who thinks BA was overrated. If he had a more competent DC, he would have won more in Tampa. We should have gone back-to-back. BA created chaos on offense but you had to have a QB who could carry his own weight. Even Belicheat said that Tom had plays he used his whole career and plays he liked. BA was smart enough to listen and realize Tom on a new team with new teammates needed something familiar. What did Jameis have that was familiar to him? He had the same teammates for years compared to Brady. He played reckless in college too but the defensive talent wasn’t nearly at the NFL level in college so he had success there. Jameis needed to listen more and understand situational ball. But, Jameis didn’t have the mental game like Tom did. All he had was the physical tools.
May 25th, 2026 at 2:02 pm
Jameis’s problem was that he was just a very weird dude, period. And, he was SO DAMN GOOD AND TALENTED, that he’d been CODDLED for all throughout his young life. There was no one there to EVER tell him NO. He was very awkward to begin with, and then you add in ZERO self-awareness whatsoever. It was a recipe for complete FAILURE from the very beginning. When I first watched him… The very first game of his Freshman season, I was absolutely BLOWN. AWAY. He was THE BEST “Freshman” QB, that I’d ever seen. I’m not getting into all of it and breaking down his every game here, but I did notice his ‘squinting’ THEN. Very strange. Anyway, almost EVERY scout AND draft guru had HIM ranked as being every single bit the prospect as Andre Luck. So, it definitely (and obviously, IF you actually watched HIM in college) WASN’T the “talent” part being the issue… It was just what was ‘INSIDE’ HIM. He was a very weird dude lacking any ‘self-awareness’ to begin with, and from being CODDLED (so badly) throughout his entire LIFE, was never forced to deal with any real adversity before, until it was too late. Everyone always told him “YES.” NEVER “No.” Since he was 7-10 YEARS OLD. He was THAT BIG of a TALENT. But, just a real weird dude.
May 25th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Hmmmm… I wasn’t aware that Jameis had “the same” teammates as did Brady? I didn’t remember him having future HOF’ers, Gronk, AB, and Wirfs… Or, an ELITE-level Running Back, who was a Top-5 Pick, and one of THE TOP Running Back Prospects (who signed with LSU when he was in the 8TH-GRADE), in HISTORY. Who was in HIS PRIME. Hmmmm… Yeah, I completely forgot about Jameis having all of THAT. Lmao.
May 25th, 2026 at 2:24 pm
It’s kind of amazing how his defenders are still here 6 years later defending the never been QB that was going to be a first ballot hall of famer when he was not resigned by this team 6 years ago.
Yes the QB is the leader of the team. He has the most responsibility out of every single person on the squad by a huge margin. When you have Jameis you just can’t win. Dude is essentially a new age Ryan Fitzpatrick that was given 5 years as a starter every chance in the world.
May 25th, 2026 at 2:27 pm
Great Bucs Trivia question.
Which Bucs QB was worse – Dilfer or Winston?
Enjoy…
May 25th, 2026 at 2:35 pm
Again where was the defense against the Giants , Seahawks we were up 21 -3 and were was the running game to close that game out that’s on BA . I wants some one to go back and see how many times we had the lead going into the second half of those games that year? And when you find it then ask your self this why did you keep throwing the ball up the field with the lead? I remember that Titan game we were winning in the second half and yet again BA kept him throwing it up the field and not running the ball . But I also remember the fumble Devin White picked up and ran for a TD and the refs called it back and gave us the ball and took the TD off the board. But Jamies was in a situation in Tampa at the time I think he should have sat a year or 2 he was young enough at the time. That’s why I hope the bucs draft a quarterback in the first round next year regardless if they resign Baker Mayfield. That’s why we have not been able to develop a quarterback. We wait until the guy don’t have nothing around them and we expect for them to be a all pro the first year, a MVP the next year
May 25th, 2026 at 2:36 pm
And Hall of famer by year 3 and a Superbowl champion by year 3?!