Being Jameis Winston didn't look like a ton of fun Sunday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' second-year player was the latest quarterback to get victimized by the Denver Broncos' defense.
Denver harassed Winston into 179 yards passing on 35 attempts and a pair of Aqib Talib interceptions in the Broncos' 27-7 win.
I might have tried to sneak out of Raymond James Stadium during that rain delay if I was Winston. But hey, that's why I'm the one writing this post and Winston is cashing a big game check today.
Here are some of numbers that mattered from Sunday's game:
3.3 — Yards per play Tampa Bay finished with. The Buccaneers scored a touchdown on their second drive of the day. Then on their next 11 drives, they ran 50 plays for 134 yards. Those drives ended with seven punts, one interception, one fumble, one turnover on downs and a play to run out the clock in the first half.
5 — Times Denver sacked Winston. The defense also recorded 16 QB hits. Winston took a beating. The Broncos have an NFL-best 17 sacks through four weeks. That projects to 68. The 1984 Chicago Bears have the record for the most team sacks in a season with 72.
2.5 — Sacks and five QB hits for defensive end Derek Wolfe. He's got four sacks already this year. The decision to let Malik Jackson (one sack so far) walk in free agency is looking better by the game.
12.46 — Air yards per attempt for rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch, according to Pro Football Focus. That was the most in the NFL. Lynch took over for Trevor Siemian, who suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, in the second quarter. Lynch impressed, completing 14 of 24 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown. That air yards per attempt figure is indicative that Lynch took some shots downfield.
4 — Lynch was the fourth quarterback Denver used in its last six games, dating back to last season. Brock Osweiler, Peyton Manning and Siemian are the others. The Broncos are 6-0 in those games, and are riding a nine-game winning streak.
