Freeman Absent In First Half
September 30th, 2012
The optimist in Joe says Josh Freeman took a much-needed step forward in the second half today, looking much more confident in the pocket and making some great throws and racking up big yardage.
Then there’s the pessimist in Joe wondering what Freeman was doing in the first half, making bad throws repeatedly and getting verbally pummelled by FOX analyst Tim Ryan.
And then Freeman, with a chance to march the Bucs to a game-icing touchdown drive — not a field goal — with less than two minutes remaining made a bad decision and was rather anemic.
Now at the bye week, Bucs fans still don’t know who Freeman is, except that he hasn’t put the Bucs on his back and led them to a victory in a long while.
As Freeman said on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game, “Losing is never acceptable.”
September 30th, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Losing is not acceptable
but locking eyes on your primary receiver is?
September 30th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Sure, Freeman could have played better, but so could every man on the field. The game I saw we were leading 22-21 with 1:52 left on the clock and Josh Freeman sitting on the bench. Blame somebody else, he did not lose this game!
September 30th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Free will be fine. He got the memo about running/moving around in the pocket even in the 1st half. The 1-3 record is obviously on Free’s shoulder’s but the coaching errors (being too conservative on the final drive) keep coming up and biting us in the butt. You can really tell when Freeman is free to roam and do his thing (2nd half) and when he’s doing what he’s been trained to do (1st half).
September 30th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
I hate 50% Freeman. He is not a franchise qb. Trent Dilfer all over again. Stick with him Schiano, and we pick first next year. Go Bucs!
September 30th, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Do you guys honestly feel right now that Freeman is a champion? A winner?
September 30th, 2012 at 8:32 pm
I am not ready to give up on Free. He has had 3 OCs, and four Schemes, in 4 years. Most QBs would jave an issue as well. I think the second half Ffreeman will emerge, bur Shiano needs to let him go. Shiano is a defense guy, so we may never see it. He should open up the O, like his mentore in New England. The truth is, no one really thought the Bucs were going to be very good. it is still early, so just remember the first year Dungy was here, it may all start to click at late in the season…I hope for sooner. Maybe after the bye.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:34 pm
how can we put up 3 1/4 hours of crap football, and then turn around and do 30 min of spectacular ball. stupid
September 30th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
ONE STINKING FIRST DOWN AT THE END and
it does not matter where he was sitting,
It would have been with a victory
September 30th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
OL blocking in the first half was atrocious. Freeman barely had time to breathe most of the time. OL picked it up some in the second half.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Bright side…We are second in the NFC South! LOL! I have to be happy about sometihng.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Yeah, absent in every game so far. If he wasn’t, we would have a winning record right now!
September 30th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
We should have been in a dime package with only LaVonte David as a LB.
Assign a spy DB to monitor Griffin’s scrambling.
Bad call. U must have a fast spy to prevent QB’s like RG 3 from runnin wild.
Also, We Want Blount! We want Blount!
And big ups to Connor Barth. Keeping the streak under pressure! 25 in a row! And a 57 yder and a final second 47 yder. Wow! Great play.
Also, DJ Ware looks solid. But I still miss Blount.
Martin played ok. He looked good. I just think Blount will help make him better. Together better. No Blount? No W’s.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Ah the first “it’s just like Dungy” comparison.
No more than Rah was like Chuck Noll.
We’re four years into a rebuild, not one. Have lost 13/14….
Of course we have the best GM in the biz……..his only downside is his team doesn’t win football games. Minor point I know.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Freeman was facing the 29th rank Passing Defense, with an safety going down before the game. The Skins also didn’t blitz him as much and we know he don’t do well against the blitz. Freeman should have a better game than he had.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
How come I keep hearing this “We’re in second place in the division” argument? Who cheers for that? That means sh*t.
It’s week 4 (F.O.U.R.) and we’re 3 games behind the lead already.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
I want a refund
September 30th, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Freeman cannot throw to the right spot, to the right receiver, cannot consistently hit a receiver in stride. No deep threat because his accuracy is dismal. We are astonished at each completion he throws because they are rare. I’ve seen enough of his ineptness. Please start Free every game so we can pick first and get a real qb. Pathetic qb, another pathetic loss. Go Bucs!
September 30th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
@Eric,
Even though you are probably right, I just want to punch you in your face right now. I’m just joking, I think….
September 30th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
I’ll give Josh credit. In the second half, his accuracy improved dramatically, particularly on crossing routes. For the past couple of games, he’s been maddeningly throwing behind receivers on crossing routes (he did it to Mike Williams again in the first half today). Once he hit that big sideline throw to Williams, he started getting some confidence, which seems to be the key with Freeman.
We’ll see what happens in two weeks, but I’m feeling a lot better after the way they came back in the second half. They traditionally don’t play the NFC East well, and 3 of the first 4 games have been against the NFC East. They have a real legit shot at going 3-3 or maybe even 4-2 in the division, which will be a better barometer of where they are and how they are progressing.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
Freeman looked like a lower level high school Qb in the first half, and then a good NFL QB in the second. That’s not acceptable, but hopefully the second half will spark him the rest of the way. Today was the first time that I actually entertained the idea that maybe we would be better with Orlovsky. That’s not a good thing, especially for me. He has some momentum, plus 2 weeks to prepare for the mighty Kansas City Chiefs. Anything less than a great game for him is unacceptable, and downright depressing.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
I don’t put any stock in what Tim Ryan says, he is a well documented long time Buc hater. That being said, Josh and the entire team SUCKED in the first half. He seems to have regressed to his rookie year. Oh we’ll, just a game, right? Now I need to go patch my living room wall! 😉
September 30th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
New Orleans 0-4
Carolina 1-3 (we have the tiebreaker)
I guess there’s still some life.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Freeman is absent in every game. Maybe he won’t show up for the next game.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
The pessimist talk about Josh’s first half the optimists talks about the second half but the realist talks about the way freeman looks confused and out of his element, that and the past four games and freeman is a liability. Yeah you can’t blame one person for the lose but you can blame freeman for not consistently producing hell consistently may be to much all I want is three quarters and we would be very close to 4-0. This is a good team that fights I am happy with most the team we have lost all games by a possession an that’s much better than last year where we lost by 10 possession. Joe I hope the bye week is productive and we make some good adjustments oh and underwood looks good.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
3 and working on a 4 game losing streak. At least it’ll be a couple before KC decapitates the Bucs. Taking bets on they beat the 10 game losing streak from last year.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
jfro sux…..robert told you a while back……start orlovski, throw in jfro in the 4th qtr if needed.
September 30th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
What is the world coming to? The NFC South is the worst division in football, and the NFC West may be the best.
September 30th, 2012 at 10:19 pm
@Hawaiian
Totally agree with your first post
September 30th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
@Rican,
I think many people want to punch Eric. Glad you agree, lol.
September 30th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Hahahahaha that and I meant ur second post
September 30th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
@Hawaiian…I dont know you or Eric, but that was funny as hell
Back to ‘confused Freeman’, Its pretty obvious who he is after FOUR YEARS. He has the Size, big arm…but what else. This dude should be playing like Big Ben. Lets be honest he looks scared out their. Just look at his face when he walks back to the sidelines. When RG3 was in the game, I just knew he was gonna do something good, even if he didnt throw a TD, he still sliced our secondary all game. Freeman is way to inconsistent, even when he doesnt get pressure is is gonna over-throw, under-throw, throw behind. I wonder how long this is gonna go on. The Bucs could be 4-0 or 0-4 right now. A true mystery team. I just dont see Freeman as a championship QB. Hopefully things improve by the end of the season. If not its time to invest in a real signal caller.
September 30th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
I’m not worried, I am good friends with Raheem’s uncles.
October 1st, 2012 at 12:21 am
To be fair, Tim Ryan started praising Freeman for the way he began until he reverted back to his 2011 ways. It did not feel like Ryan wanted to just bash Freeman for the sake of bashing, it felt like he was very disappointed that Josh was appearing to take that downward spiral again.
October 1st, 2012 at 1:03 am
@Eric,
What about his grandmother?
October 1st, 2012 at 6:36 am
Give Freeman time, QB is a tough position to grasp. it takes years. Patience is key. Look how far Eli,Brees,Rivers,Flacco hav come from? someone post they stats when they wuz Freeman’s age?