Oh, poor, sweet, innocent Jameis Winston. The man brings a child’s wonder to the football field at times, and that includes his obliviousness to danger. In a classic Jameis Winston performance, the Cleveland Browns quarterback threw for nearly 500 yards Monday night. He hit on six passes for touchdowns as well—the only problem being two went the other way.
With under two minutes left, down two, Jameis Winston threw his second pick-six of the game. Lord, protect that darling summer child from the pain he is feeling after that bitter loss. No, really, please. He’s asking, not me.
“I’ve got to play better. The team doesn’t deserve that”, a visibly disappointed Jameis Winston said after the Browns’ 41-32 loss to the Denver Broncos, via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “I have to finish fourth quarters when it matters most. Can’t have bad throws”.
Though he doesn’t capture the quote in the attached video, Oyefusi also quotes Winston as saying, “I’m just praying for the Lord to deliver me from pick-sixes”.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, and Winston now has 14 in his regular-season career. That moves him from a billion-way tie for 53rd place all-time to a five-way tie for 33rd. He now nestles comfortably next to Mark Brunell, Joey Harrington, Matt Schaub—and Joe Flacco.
As you might have been able to guess, Joe Flacco is the last Browns quarterback to throw two pick-sixes in a game. He managed that feat last year, although unlike Winston, that was in the playoffs. He also threw a pick-six earlier in the season.
These two interceptions, though, are the first defensive points the Browns have allowed this year. They have allowed a touchdown on a kick return and a touchdown on a punt return but none defensively. Not until Jameis Winston faced the Broncos, anyway.
Winston is, of course, the poster boy for the modern boom-or-bust quarterback. That used to be a lot more common back when it was a lot easier to pick passes off. According to Pro Football Reference, he is only one of three quarterbacks since 2000 with 3,000 career attempts and an interception percentage north of 3.4 percent, and one of 17 since 1980. Because if your interception is much higher than that these days, you don’t get to throw 3,000 passes.
Following his three-interception performance, Jameis Winston now has seven on the season on 230 pass attempts. That’s actually still under his career average, at 3.04 percent. But it’s also the seventh-highest mark in the NFL, and nearly a percentage higher than the league average. For perspective, back in 1980, the league-average interception percentage was 4.6. In 2000, it was 3.3.
Quality of play and a greater risk aversion on offense have something to do with that. But so do rule changes. It’s not as easy to throw interceptions today—or rather, it’s not as easy to get them. There are many things you can’t do today that you could to get them in decades past. And that’s why Jameis Winston is a backup. The only one who can answer his prayers is himself, by making better decisions, because the Lord has better things to do. And even if he didn’t, he’s sure as hell not a Browns fan.
