Don't Hit the Panic Button on Jameis Winston After Putrid 1st Start

On the surface, Sept. 13, 2015 was not a good day for Jameis Winston.

It was a memorable one, since it marked the 2015 No. 1 overall pick's NFL debut, but because Winston completed just 16 of 33 passes while throwing two interceptions in a blowout loss to a team quarterbacked by the player chosen directly after him in April's draft, it wasn't an experience Winston will soon find worthy of a smile. 

But you know what? There's actually a very good chance the new face of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will one day be capable of chuckling about the fact that he posted a measly 64.0 passer rating in his very first start, as well as the fact that his very first throw was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. 

And you know why? Because successful NFL careers aren't built in a day, and busts aren't made in four quarters. 

It's 2015, the moving peak of an age of immediacy, which means many of us have been hardwired to manufacture and/or seek out knee-jerk reactions. That's why a search on Twitter of the terms "Winston" and "bust" returns voluminous results. 

Fortunately, some of those who have in recent hours used those two words in the same sentence are being sarcastic. Sadly, many are not. 

Those folks, many of whom might also be prepared to crown No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota for his pristine performance in a 42-14 victory over Winston's Bucs Sunday in Tampa, would be well-served by some quality time at Pro-Football-Reference.com. 

It's on that historical football statistics website where Winston's critics can be reminded that Nov. 10, 1991, wasn't a good day for future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. It was on that day, almost 24 years ago, when Favre pulled a Winston, throwing a pick-six to Andre Collins of the Washington Redskins on his very first pass as a professional football player. 

Favre went 0-of-4 with two interceptions that day. Two decades later, he retired with more completions, yards and touchdowns than any quarterback who had played the game. 

Those unwilling to reserve judgment might also want to pull up a Sept. 6, 1998, matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts. That day, a rookie No. 1 overall pick threw three interceptions and posted a 58.6 passer rating in a losing effort. 

His name, of course, was Peyton Manning, who is now in the process of breaking all of those aforementioned records Favre set. 

A few more dates to consider: 

Sept. 25, 1960: Making his starting debut for the Green Bay Packers, Bart Starr completes just eight of 22 passes for 68 yards and posts a passer rating of 7.4 (seriously) in a losing effort. 

Sept. 20, 1970: In his first career start, No. 1 overall pick Terry Bradshaw completes just four of 16 passes for 70 yards and posts a 19.3 passer rating in a losing effort. 

Dec. 2, 1979: Joe Montana completes just five of 12 passes for 36 yards in his first career start.

Sept. 10, 1989: Top pick Troy Aikman completes just 17 of 35 passes, throws two picks and posts a passer rating of 40.2 in a 28-0 career-starting loss. 

Sept. 19, 2004: In his first career game, Ben Roethlisberger throws a pair of interceptions in a blowout loss. 

Sept. 9, 2012: Top pick Andrew Luck throws three interceptions and posts a passer rating of 52.9 in a career-opening blowout loss. And in his debut on the same day, Russell Wilson completes just 18 of 34 passes and posts a passer rating of 62.5 in a losing effort.

Quarterback	Comp.%	TD-INT	Rating	Result
Jameis Winston	48.5	2-2	64.0	Loss
Peyton Manning	56.8	1-3	58.6	Loss
Andrew Luck	51.1	1-3	52.9	Loss
Joe Montana	41.7	0-0	49.3	Loss
Troy Aikman	48.6	0-2	40.2	Loss
Terry Bradshaw	25.0	0-1	19.3	Loss
Bart Starr	36.4	0-2	7.4	Loss
Brett Favre	0.0	0-2	0.0	Loss

I know it's hard for Bucs fans to hear this, because Winston was supposed to be "NFL-ready" and this is a franchise that is starving for a savior, but maintaining that broad perspective is important, because extreme patience is required here.  

Sunday, Winston was literally in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That's because the league's scheduling geniuses pitted his Bucs against Mariota's Tennessee Titans, and Mariota just so happened to put together the best statistical performance ever for a quarterback in his first game. The No. 2 overall pick out of Oregon completed 13 of 16 passes, four of which went for touchdowns, and became the first quarterback to post a perfect 158.3 passer rating in his debut. ESPN Stats & Info shared some Winston stats:

So Winston's performance—albeit ugly, with both unpressured interceptions clearly the fault of the 21-year-old pivot—felt just a little bit worse because of the damage Mariota was doing to Winston's team on the very same field.

But NFL careers are marathons, not sprints. Mariota will play many games that aren't as good as the one he had Sunday, and Winston will almost certainly play many that are much better than this. 

The good news is Winston appears to be aware of that. 

"I can't perform that way in a home opener," he said after the game, per ESPN. "I can always bounce back. It's not the end of the world."

He and those prepared to label him based on 33 throws need to chill.

As tempting as it'll be to condemn him this week, precedents and the nature of the game indicate that it's far too early to draw conclusions about a player who continues to possess as good a chance of becoming a star as he does a bust. 

If it's the former, he and his fans will one day look back on Sunday and laugh. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon