Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 12-2-16 Online Edition

Sports
Bucs' D Must Stop Chargers' High Powered Offensive Attack Sunday
USF In AP Poll Top 25
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers (6-5) are above .500 after 11 games for the first time since 2012.
They look to turn their three-game winning streak into four with a trip to San Diego to play the 5-6 San Diego Chargers, while also hoping to gain ground in the playoff hunt. The Bucs are currently 4-1 on the road and 2-1 on trips in the Pacific Time Zone this season.
The Bucs put up two touch-
downs on the Seahawks in the first 16:30 of the game Sun- day -- with two touchdown throws from Jameis Winston to Mike Evans -- `but head coach Dirk Koetter said he was "disappointed" the of- fense failed to score after that. Considering that the Charg- ers have given up, on average, 271.3 passing yards per game, which is 26th in the league, those two should have more opportunities Sunday, al- though the Chargers have an
NFL-leading 14 interceptions on the year.
On the other side of the ball, the Bucs' defense looks to try to stop the Chargers' high-powered offense that's currently averaging 28 points per game. Philip Rivers has been pressured on 142 drop- backs, fourth-most in the league, but the Chargers' of- fensive line has given up only 20 sacks, fifth-fewest in the league, a testament to his ultra-fast release.
The USF Bulls and Pittsburgh were among six teams to enter The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, match- ing a record for the Top 25 era.
USF and Pitt are tied for No. 24.
USF players celebrate with the "War on I-4" trophy after defeating Central Florida 48-31 Saturday.
Jameis Winston – Not Prescott Or Mariota – Is The Best Young Quarterback In The NFL
This is the
fourth time six
teams entered the rankings in one week since 1989, when the AP poll expanded to in- clude 25 teams.
ton jumped two to No. 4. Michigan dropped two to fifth after its double-overtime loss to Ohio State.
No. 6 Wisconsin was fol- lowed by Oklahoma, Penn State, Colorado and Southern California.
NFL Media analyst and for- mer pro scout Daniel Jere- miah ran a Twitter poll last week asking voters to pick the young quarterback they would choose to build a team around. The choices were Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz and Jameis Winston.
It wasn’t much of a surprise that Prescott finished first. He’s put up the best numbers, and the Cowboys have one of the bigger fan bases in the NFL. It was surprising, how- ever, that Winston, the most hyped quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck, finished in last place with only 12% of the vote.
Winston should have fin- ished at the top of that list. Not only has he shown off a skillset more refined than Mariota, Prescott and Wentz have, but he’s also the youngest of the four — by a full year. Be- cause Winston has been in the spotlight for so long, it’s easy to forget that he’s only 22. He should be a senior in col- lege. Instead, he’s carrying an
line is not just a reflection of the player — it’s a reflection of the pass protection, the play- calling and the receivers catch- ing the passes.
Winston has always been a playmaker, but the knocks against him have been his low completion percentage and high turnover numbers. In order to properly interpret those numbers, you have to take into account what the Buc- caneers are asking him to do.
In short, Tampa is asking a lot of its young quarterback, in terms of both volume and de- gree of difficulty. Winston has attempted near 200 more passes than Mariota has through two seasons. Coming into the weekend, he led the league in average pass length, according to the NFL’s in- house stat keeping. At the same time, only Luck has been pres- sured on a higher percentage of dropbacks than Winston, per Football Outsiders.
Quick recap: Winston is being asked to carry the Bucs offense on his back and make the toughest throws in the NFL with some of the worst pass protection you will find in the league.
Considering all that, it’s re- markable that Winston is anywhere close to producing a league-average statline. And that’s not even taking into ac- count how young he is. Only one quarterback who has started multiple games this season is younger than Win- ston: Jared Goff.
In addition to all of his tal- ent, Winston’s leadership abil- ities — which don’t matter unless you can play — are be- yond rare. The man was born to be a quarterback.
The Buccaneers have no running game. Outside of Mike Evans, you can’t name another receiver on the active roster. The defense is giving up 24 points a game. Despite all that, Winston has led the Buccaneers to a 6-5 record and has pulled them within a half- game of the final Wild Card spot in the NFC after upsetting the Seahawks on Sunday. What else would you expect from the best young quarterback in the league?
Alabama remained a unan- imous No. 1 and Ohio State was No. 2. Clemson moved up a spot to No. 3 and Washing-
JAMEIS WINSTON
undermanned team to a win- ning record and doing so in an offense built for a veteran quar- terback.
Winston’s raw numbers are not overly impressive. His quarterback rating is sitting just below the league average. His completion percentage is sitting just over 60%. And only three quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions.
But evaluating quarterbacks from a purely statistical stand- point is a flawed practice. There are just too many factors outside the control of the quar- terback himself contributing to those numbers. A passer’s stat-
From stars like At- lanta Falcons quarter- back Matt Ryan to reserves such as Dallas Cowboys defensive end Ryan Davis, players across the NFL will be honoring their charity of choice on their feet dur- ing Week 13.
The custom cleats, more of which can be seen here, are part of My Cause My Cleats, a so- cial campaign to help raise awareness for dif- ferent causes.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.
NFL Players To Wear Custom Cleats For Causes Of Choice In Week 13
Browns Are 'Evaluating' Robert
Griffin III For This Season And 2017
Robert Griffin III will be playing for more than just a single win this season if he re- turns to the Cleveland Browns' starting lineup.
He'll be playing for his fu- ture in Cleveland.
"Yeah," coach Hue Jack- son said Tuesday, "if he [Griffin] plays quarterback, we're evaluating him to see if he can be the quarterback."
Griffin was cleared for full contact late Monday night and will be full go in practice next week. He has not played since breaking his collarbone in the season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jackson said he would not decide whether Griffin, Josh McCown or rookie Cody Kessler will start against Cincinnati on Dec. 11 until he sees next week's practices. The Browns have a bye this week and are off until Monday.
"There's still things that we need to do and see before I decide to stick him back out there," Jackson said.
Those things, he said, would be practice, getting in
ROBERT GRIFFIN III
rhythm with the offense and showing he's ready to play after missing three months of football.
"Beyond blessed to have an opportunity to get back on the field with my brothers," Griffin said in a statement released by the team. "I promise my teammates and coaches to give them every- thing I have as we work to fin- ish the season strong."
Jackson said any team's success on offense "starts with the quarterback." The Browns turned to Griffin in March and gave him a two- year, $15 million contract. The deal includes a $750,000 roster bonus in March; if the Browns don't pay the bonus, Griffin becomes a free agent.
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