Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3 X-factors for beating the Saints in Week 9
Tampa Bay Buccaneers X-factor No. 3: Antoine Winfield Jr., S
Antoine Winfield Jr. will be praised by his teammates for his big play at the end of the game against the Giants and chastised by others for what they believed was blatant pass interference. He’d rather focus on the former option.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
The rookie from Minnesota has been a bright spot on a young secondary that has emerged along with the rest of the defense to be one of the top units in the league. Along with players such as Jamel Dean and Mike Edwards in the secondary, Winfield has enabled the backfield to be aggressive when attacking the football
Plus, having NFL bloodlines never failed to hurt anyone as his father actually intercepted a pass from Tom Brady back in 2001 as New England was marching toward their first Super Bowl.
So far this season, Winfield has 31 tackles, two sacks and an interception, which came against the Las Vegas Raiders. Not a flashy start, but extremely productive given how Todd Bowles likes to implement his style of defense on opposing offenses.
With New Orleans coming to town and their willingness to throw the football while having Alvin Kamara incorporate, the secondary in Tampa Bay will have to play at a high level in order to give the Tampa offense more opportunities to score while giving them breaks on the bench. Winfield Jr. may be a rookie, but he is playing like a veteran, a trait that would make his father proud.