When Jameis Winston is your starting quarterback, every week is a roller coaster ride and the Cleveland Browns got the full Jameis Winston experience on Monday night during a wild 41-32 loss in Denver.
Winston torched the Broncos defense for nearly 500 passing yards, but he also threw two pick-sixes, which was good enough to get him in the NFL record book. With 497 yards passing in the game, Winston broke Kyle Orton’s record for most passing yards by a quarterback who also threw at least two pick sixes. Back in 2009, Orton threw for 431 yards, so Winston smashed his record.
If you include the 171 interception return yards that Denver had, then Winston finished with 668 passing yards plus interception return yards combined, which is the most by any quarterback in a single game in NFL history.
Although Winston set an NFL record, he definitely wasn’t happy about the pick-six part of the record.
“I know I’m better than this. I’m just praying for the Lord to deliver me from pick-sixes. Like that’s… not me,” Winston said following the game.
The Browns quarterback finished 34 of 58 with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Not only did Winston make NFL history, but he also etched his name into franchise history by topping Josh McCown’s team record for passing yards in a game. McCown threw for 457 yards back in 2015 and that record stood for nine years before Winston came along on Monday night.
Winston also became the first player since 2019 to finish with at least 450 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and three interceptions in the same game. The last player to pull off that feat was also Winston, who did it five years ago while playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s now the only player in NFL history to pull off that stat line twice in his career.
The Browns QB also made some Monday night history. He finished with the second-highest passing total in Monday night history, trailing only Tom Brady, who threw for 517 during a Monday game in 2011. Winston’s longest throw of the night came on a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy.
Jeudy, who finished with 235 receiving yards, also made some history by setting the record for the most receiving yards by a player against his former team.
As for Winston, he’s been on a tear since taking over the Browns’ starting QB job. In his five starts, he’s now thrown for 1,680 yards, which is the third-highest total in NFL history for a player in his first five starts with a new team. Only Drew Bledsoe (1,762 with the Bills) and Kirk Cousins (1,688 with the Vikings) have had more.
If you want a closer look at the Browns’ wild loss, you can check out our takeaways from the game here.
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