Winston completed 20 of 36 passes for 194 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions in the Buccaneers' 31-17 loss to the 49ers on Sunday. He also rushed five times for 13 yards and had two fumbles, losing one.
Winston's regular-season debut in coach Bruce Arians' offense was pretty much an abject disaster by all accounts, with his one highlight a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin to cap off an 11-play, 75-yard scoring march in the third quarter. Otherwise, Winston was under constant pressure and took three sacks overall while also throwing a pair of pick-sixes to Richard Sherman and Akello Witherspoon. In fairness, Winston's line would have looked somewhat better had either of the two touchdown passes he threw to Cameron Brate on a drive that straddled the first and second quarter counted, but each score was called back by penalty. Those tough-luck breaks aside, Winston still looks like he has plenty of work to do in order to run Arians' scheme in a much more efficient, mistake-free fashion. He'll look to make quick strides on a short turnaround, as the Buccaneers travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers in a Thursday night Week 2 tilt.