Jameis Winston's Struggles Aren't Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Biggest Problems

So this is how the Jameis Winston era begins for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Even T.S. Eliot would have left Raymond James Stadium in the third quarter on Sunday, as the Bucs were lambasted at home in their 2015 regular-season opener by Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans, 42-14.

It was billed as a matchup for the history books, as both Winston and Mariota would make their NFL starting debuts against one another, the first time in NFL history the top two picks in the draft would face off in their first NFL starts under center. But just like he did in the Rose Bowl earlier this year, Mariota proved to be Winston’s kryptonite yet again, still the only quarterback to have beaten him since high school.

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While Mariota was throwing an NFL-debut-record four touchdowns in the first half, Winston struggled from the beginning, tossing a pick-six on his first NFL throw. The Titans led 21-0 halfway through the first quarter, and another poorly thrown Winston interception set up a short field for Mariota just before the half, sending the Bucs to the locker room down 35-7.

This was not how things were supposed to go on Sunday for Tampa Bay.

Months of hype and rebuilding expectations following a disappointing 2-14 record in 2014 evaporated in mere minutes for Bucs fans, as many were left already questioning if their team had picked the right quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.

At the end of the day, Winston completed just 16 of his 33 passes for 210 yards, but he bounced back from his interceptions with a pair of touchdown throws to tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Considering his porous offensive line and the absence of his best receiver, Mike Evans, Winston’s performance was about what many should have expected.

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But if Bucs fans are looking for a place to point their finger after Sunday’s devastating loss, they should turn to the sidelines and find head coach Lovie Smith.

As he did all offseason in 2014 leading up to the season-opener against the Carolina Panthers, Smith preached all throughout training camp and preseason about getting “Tennessee-ready.” He had months to get his team prepared for this game, to get his defense comfortable in its second year in his Tampa 2 scheme, to make sure the Bucs had an offensive game plan tailored to set up Winston for success.

On Sunday, Smith’s Bucs didn’t even look prepared for the Tennessee Volunteers, let alone Ken Whisenhunt’s Titans.

Despite yet another offseason full of opportunities to address their needs and build depth on defense, the Bucs’ lack of a pass rush on the edge was painfully evident yet again, as Mariota was given plenty of time to pick apart Tampa Bay’s secondary. Defenders looked confused before the snap on multiple occasions and were made to look silly by a rookie quarterback who many believed wasn’t as “NFL-ready” as Winston.

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Maybe Mariota isn’t quite ready for the NFL yet, but it’s hard to know for sure, considering it looked like he was still picking apart a team from the lower half of the Pac-12 on Sunday.

The Tampa 2 is designed to keep things in front of the defense, giving up small chunks of yardage but clamping down in the red zone and forcing field goals. Instead, Lovie’s defense gave up touchdowns on each of Tennessee’s four trips inside the 20-yard-line.

Another thing Smith preaches on defense is creating turnovers. With the Bucs facing a rookie quarterback, many expected them to take advantage and force plenty of mistakes. Instead, the Titans left a big goose egg in their turnover column, as Mariota played three quarters of mistake-free football before trading in his helmet for a Titans cap and a huge smile on the sideline for the rest of the game.

Smith recently made the decision to take over play-calling duties on defense, so the blame can’t be deflected to defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, either. He was outcoached by Whisenhunt, and his defense was outsmarted and outplayed by a rookie quarterback leading the only team other than the Bucs to finish 2-14 last season.

And then there were the penalties.

The Bucs were penalized 12 times for 97 yards on Sunday, with multiple infractions coming as a result of illegal formations. Racking up penalties is a direct reflection on the level of discipline instilled by the coaching staff, and that train of responsibility ends with Lovie Smith.

Is it just one game? Of course. Will Jameis Winston learn from his mistakes and continue to improve throughout his rookie season? Most likely. But his performance in Sunday’s loss shouldn’t be what has Bucs fans fuming over their coffee, avoiding all NFL talk at the water cooler or checking the date of the Tampa Bay Lightning's season-opener on Monday morning.

They should be looking to their head coach and wondering where his supposed knack for building a successful defense has gone. And if things don’t improve on that side of the ball in a hurry, they should be looking to the owners’ box to see how many embarrassing blowouts the Glazer family will tolerate before deciding enough is enough.

*All stats courtesy of NFL.com

Luke Easterling is a featured columnist covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NFL draft for Bleacher Report. He is also a senior NFL draft analyst for Draft Breakdown. Follow him on Twitter @Luke Easterling.