Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4 Observations from Week 1 loss to 49ers

Four thoughts on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season-opening home loss to the San Francisco 49ers to kick off the 2019 season.

New season, new coach, new schemes — same old Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Despite a promising first half in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers, the Bucs consistently shot themselves in the foot with multiple turnovers and penalties. Ultimately, they unraveled in a season-opening 31-17 loss to San Francisco at Raymond James Stadium.

Now facing a short week and a road trip to play the Panthers on Thursday night, the Buccaneers are in a decent-sized hole to start the season.

Here are four takeaways from the tough loss in the opener to the Niners.

Are we sure that Jameis Winston is the future quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Here’s the line: 20-of-36 for 194 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and a 45.4 rating. That was Jameis Winston‘s season-opening performance under offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and head coach Bruce Arians’ scheme.

The primary reason why Arians, Leftwich and the rest of the offensive staff was hired was to make sure Winston reached his potential as the Bucs’ franchise signal caller. However, his performance on Sunday showed they he still should not be trusted with that title.

This is a critical season for the former No. 1 overall pick. He’s playing under an option that pays him just under $21 million this year. And if he would like the long-term extension that a lot of other quarterbacks around the league have received the last few seasons, he needs to show the next steps to becoming a long term starting signal caller.

Based on his Week 1 performance, he’s not worth it. Winston threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. The third and final interception was particularly distressing.

San Francisco cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon picked off a pass that was going to literally no one and Witherspoon returned it for the final score of the game. He made a few more throws that should have been intercepted as well and bobbled a snap to kick off the second half, in addition to another fumble. After this performance, it wouldn’t hurt general manager Jason Licht and the scouting staff to start looking at potential quarterbacks in the 2020 draft class.