Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston is 2-8 this season as a starter.
He’s battled through some shoulder problems and has missed three games, but his inconsistent play and turnovers have hurt the Bucs.
However, Winston has played well against the Falcons. He’s 3-1 against the Falcons and has a 104.3 passer rating. His overall career passer rating is 86.2, and he’s 14-24 as a starter against other NFL teams.
Winston has completed 206 of 329 passes (62.9 percent) for 2,475 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has a subpar passer rating of 89.7. He’s the 14th-ranked quarterback in the league by analytics website Football Outsiders.
Despite his woes, the Falcons still consider him dangerous.
“One of the better competitors in this game, Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel said. “That’s what he is. Will fight for the last yard and the last play of the game. That’s what he’s been about from the first time that we saw him even at Florida State.”
The Falcons faced Ryan Fitzpatrick in the 34-20 win on Nov. 26. Winston was out with a shoulder injury. He’ll test the Falcons’ deep, where Fitzpatrick worked the shorter passing routes.
“We have to do a good job plastering (receivers) on the back end and rushing him consistently,” Manuel said.
There are some other differences with Winston at the controls.
“You’ve seen the screen game pick up a little bit,” Manuel said. “They are running the ball a lot better than they were previously. They are not asking Jameis to do a lot, but be consistent drive-in and drive-out.”
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