KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston approached head coach Dirk Koetter last Saturday about something he wanted to do for his teammates. It was a hand-written letter on a notepad that he wanted to read to them.
"Why not do it?" Winston said. "When we lost the [Atlanta] game, it was important to me to let the guys know, 'The season isn't over.'"
The Bucs lost to the Falcons at home 43-28 and, at 3-5, saw not only their NFC South title hopes but possibly also their season slipping away.
"I thought he was talking about doing it for the Chicago game," Koetter said. "He said, 'No, Coach. After we beat Chicago, I want to do it on Wednesday of Kansas City week.' I said, 'Yeah, of course. That's fantastic.'"
On Wednesday, three days after the Bucs beat the Chicago Bears at home 36-10 and before the team left at 7 p.m., Winston tucked a note into every single teammate's locker. Then he stood before them as he read the letter out loud.
"I just told them how grateful I was to be their quarterback," Winston said. "That was the main thing."
He wanted his teammates to know that it was only one game, and there was still room to grow.
Wide receiver Cecil Shorts III was touched. In his previous five seasons spent with two other NFL teams, he'd never had a teammate extend such a gesture.
"That says a lot about him," Shorts said. "That kind of hit everybody. You always want to play for a quarterback like that. At a young age like that, to be a leader and stand up like that -- he's a born leader."
Koetter was equally moved -- not just by the letter but also by his young quarterback's performance.
"It was a fantastic letter," Koetter said. "Jameis is a special guy. We would never, ever question his leadership or his toughness, but the way he controlled the game today, other than a very brief stint at the start of the third quarter, he was as accurate as I'd seen him, made great decisions and took care of the football. He played really good today.”
On Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, one of the NFL's top defenses and a team that won 17 of its past 19 games at home, Winston helped gut out a 19-17 win. He went 24-of-39 for 331 passing yards, throwing a fourth-quarter touchdown and no interceptions for a 97.3 passer rating.
It was just the third time this season that the Chiefs' secondary failed to record an interception. It was the second-most passing yardage the Chiefs' defense had given up all season, second only to the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees, and it was just the second time they gave up more than 300 passing yards in a game.
Winston got rid of the ball quickly when he needed to, completing nine of 15 snaps under pressure. His 103 passing yards under pressure were by far the most given up by the Chiefs' defense this season. His 60 percent completion percentage under pressure matched that of the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers when he played against the Chiefs, and it was better than the Oakland Raiders' Derek Carr's when he faced them (43 percent).
"Jameis was out of sight today," Koetter said. "That's as good of quarterback play of however many years I've been in the league now. Jameis -- he was awesome all day. Jameis played a great game."
Koetter didn't wait until the team got back to Tampa. After the game, he presented Winston with the game ball in the locker room.
"I've seen a lot of ball. And this dude played his tail off today, and that's No. 3, our quarterback," Koetter said via Buccaneers.com.
As teammates cheered, Winston hoisted the ball into the air.
"I told you all I was grateful for every one of y'all," he shouted, with his eyes big and his smile wide. "You see how we play as a family. You see what we can do as a family. One team, one heartbeat. It's all about us, baby!"
"And one more thing!" Winston said, still commanding his teammates' attention as he turned to his head coach. "I'm giving this ball back to Coach Koetter."