Lavonte David Points Finger At Jameis Winston For Playoff Miss
May 25th, 2026
NFL players love talking about the famous Jameis Winston 30-for-30 season in 2019.
The former America’s Quarterback tossed 33 touchdowns and a whopping 30 interceptions in 16 Bucs games.
Prior to that, a quarterback hadn’t thrown 30 or more picks in a season since Vinny Testaverde for Tampa Bay in 1988, back when Ira Kaufman was a 10-year veteran NFL reporter. Since Jameis threw his 30 picks, only one NFL quarterback has thrown 20 interceptions in a season, Sam Howell in 2023.
Interceptions deflate morale, radically change games and sometimes flat out lose games. Throwing 30 picks in a season? Well, that’s an unforgiveable sin in the modern NFL.
Last week, Joe was intrigued to hear retired Bucs legend Lavonte David talk about Jameis’ 30-for-30 season. It was a subject when David appeared on The Rush With Maxx Crosby.
The Bucs won seven games in 2019 season and 10 wins qualified for the final Wild Card spot in the NFC. The Saints seized the NFC South with 13 wins. Per David, if Jameis threw half as many picks, the Bucs would have won at least three more games and made the playoffs.
“Our [2019] team, we felt like we had the team to get us to the playoffs and make a run,” David said. “You know, obviously, for every team, there’s one missing piece and everybody just needs a solid quarterback. And for us, we really thought like Jameis was that guy. You know, like if Jameis throw 15 picks, I feel like we’re in the playoffs. But at the same time, Jameis was balling that year. You can’t discredit that, but he had those interceptions.”
David’s comment really stood out to Joe. Why? Because players usually are quick to acknowledge that the NFL is a team game and while sometimes you can point a finger at a guy for screwing up a game, one guy is rarely pointed to as costing a club three wins.
The legend of Jameis lives on.