If Jameis Winston wants to become a Pittsburgh Steeler, he’ll need to talk less about the time he beat them. Pulling off a Thursday night upset in the snow in Week 12, Winston relived the moment during a Thursday interview with PFT’s Mike Florio and Chris Simms.
“It didn’t get no better than that Pittsburgh game,” Winston told the show Thursday. “My first snow game ever. The Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry. Just the magnitude of that game. It was amazing.”
Before Cleveland, Winston spent his football career down South. Alabama born, he played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before signing with the New Orleans Saints. Cleveland was a different climate. Replacing an injured Deshaun Watson, Winston got the nod mid-season and earned a big win over the Steelers in Week 12.
Coming off a hard-fought Ravens’ win, the Steelers were on upset alert. Pittsburgh being clearly gassed with a poor gameplan, Winston made enough plays to win. In a game that looked like a classic Pittsburgh victory, get down early, storm back late, make the final play, the Browns flipped the script. Braving the snow, Winston led a nine-play, 45-yard drive that ended with a Nick Chubb touchdown to take a 24-19 lead in the final minutes. His box score didn’t look spectacular, zero touchdowns and one interception, but a win was a win. Cleveland didn’t get many of those this year.
Winston delivered a viral pre-game speech captured by Amazon, telling Florio and Simms they come from the heart and from the mediation and journaling he does throughout the week.
A pending free agent, Winston hopes to get the chance to start in 2025. Turnovers have been his biggest problem and Winston admitted he likes taking chances. but also acknowledged cutting down on mistakes is the best thing he can do going forward. But at 31, tigers don’t change their stripes this late in the game. Even if Pittsburgh is truly uncertain over their starter, given their conservative, “protect the ball” mantra, Winston isn’t the man for the job.
