If ever there was an NFL quarterback who was a one-man roller coaster, it is Jameis Winston.
The thrills, the spills, the heights, the frights, he's going to take you on a ride like few others can.
Perhaps no single game was more emblematic of that than Monday's.
Winston drove his Cleveland Browns to the brink of a thrilling comeback with less than two minutes to go only to throw an interception returned for a score to seal the Denver Broncos' 41-32 triumph in a turnover-filled thrill ride.
"In front of the whole world, I messed it up for us," Winston told reporters after the game. "In front of the whole wide world, but I'm going to continue to get better and we are going to put this one behind us."
In front of a prime-time audience, Winston dazzled to the tune of 497 yards and four touchdowns on 34-of-58 passing, but likewise dimmed the Browns' chances with three interceptions -- two of them returned for touchdowns.
Ultimately, Winston's transgressions added up to a Cleveland loss as the Browns lost the turnover battle, 3-2, in a game in which they outgained the Broncos, 552-400, and had nine more first downs.
"I think as a team you have to win that turnover margin," Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "That's the first key to these games. It's hard to go on the road and beat a good football team if you turn the ball over like we did. That's just the truth."
It was a whirlwind, with Winston checking all the boxes of good, bad and ugly.
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, Winston played five topsy-turvy seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His last was 2019, when he led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards and became the first and so far only member of the 30-30 QB club, throwing 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. Thereafter, he joined his Monday night adversary, head coach Sean Payton, in New Orleans, where he played the past four seasons, sometimes as a starter, sometimes as a backup. With Cleveland, he's taken over for an injured Deshaun Watson and breathed new life and excitement into the Browns' offense.
Winston's Monday showing served as a microcosm of his career truly, the full Jameis experience taking center stage.
- His 497 passing yards were a career best and franchise record
- He became the first player ever with four passing TDs, 400-plus passing yards and two pick-sixes in a game
- He registered his 14th career game with three or more INTs -- six more than anyone else since entering the league in 2015
- His combined single-game total of passing yards (497) and INT return yards (171) is the most (668) by a QB in NFL history
He's started five games to Watson's seven, but leads the team with 11 touchdowns, seven interceptions and 1,763 yards. With the good -- and sometimes great -- has come the head-scratching turnovers, though.
Winston was slinging beautiful passes all night through the Mile High air, hitting David Njoku for a pair of touchdowns, Jerry Jeudy on a 70-yarder to immediately answer a Bo Nix-to-Marvin Mims Jr. 93-yard strike and finally a 5-yarder to Nick Chubb. It was the TD toss to Chubb that propelled Cleveland to a 32-31 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
However, he was also slinging some ugly ones, such as a second-quarter ball that Nik Bonitto picked off and took the other way for a 71-yard score.
Following the Chubb score, the Broncos would forge back ahead when Nix led them on a go-ahead march that culminated with a Wil Lutz field goal for a 34-32 advantage.
Seemingly never daunted and always able to flush any past stumbles, Winston took over with his Browns trailing by two points from the Cleveland 30-yard line with 2:54 to play. Three plays later, Winston watched as his 51st pass of the game was picked off by Ja'Quan McMillian and returned 44 yards for a game-deciding score.
To put the capper on the chaos, Winston tossed one final interception, this one grasped by Cody Barton, enabling the Broncos to kneel away the craziness.
"I gotta play better, I gotta play better," Winston said. "The team doesn't deserve that. I have to finish in fourth quarters when it matters most. I can't have bad throws."
At times Monday, it seemed as though Winston couldn't have been better. Then it seemed as though he couldn't have been worse. That's the enigma of Jameis.
Amid his 10th season, the 30-year-old is still pledging improvement. And, though the Browns' postseason hopes are only alive in a mathematical sense, he's still got plenty to show in his team's final five games.
"I know I'm better than this," he said. "I know, I'm just praying for the lord to deliver me from pick-sixes. That's not me. A phenomenal game from the offense and do some great things but I messed it up."
Dang it if he didn't make it exciting, though, just like every roller-coaster ride is.
