Antoine Winfield Talks About A Defensive Play And Team Defense
October 12th, 2025
Happy for defense.
Joe always brings this up because it was so funny.
In Training Camp 2024, Jamel Dean had a pick in practice. In his daily post-practice press conference, Bucs coach Todd Bowles joked that he would order a drug test on Dean.
Well, Joe guesses that means Dean had to take a whiz quiz for the NFL after tonight;s 30-19 win over the pesky 49ers.
The maligned Bowles’ defense, which allowed San Francisco’s beat up backup quarterback Mac Jones to throw for 200 yards in the first half, manned up in the second half.
The Bucs defense held the 49ers, with a healthy Christian McCaffrey, to one lone field goal in the final 30 minutes of football. That’s huge!
The highlight of that second-half defense came when Dean skied high to pick off Jones at the Bucs-14.
“Huge, huge!” Winfield said of Dean’s pick. “It was a great play the way he went up for it and caught that ball.”
That pick came with just over five minutes left in regulation and the Bucs clinging to a 27-19 lead. San Francisco never seriously threatened again.
“We just have to continue that play moving forward,” Winfield said of the second half defense. “We need to continue to build off of that.”
The Bucs can ride a defense like that all the way to the playoffs, and perhaps beyond if that continues.