Perils Of The First Half For Josh Freeman
October 16th, 2012
Not that long ago former Bucs quarterback Shaun King, one of only three quarterbacks to lead the Bucs to an NFC title game, suggested Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman needed a shrink.
In retrospect, there is a pattern developing with Freeman that lends credence to King’s words.
In short, Freeman needs to be hypnotized.
In the first half of games this season, Freeman is Trent Dilfer-like, only to channel his inner Joe Montana in the second half of games, so documents Dan Parr of ProFootballWeekly.com.
What the heck? QB Josh Freeman’s Jekyll-and-Hyde routine in the past couple games cannot be amusing for the Bucs. He has completed only 51 percent of his passes in the first half in the past two games before turning it on in the second half, where he has completed 70 percent of his passes in the same span. Freeman has thrown a TD and two picks in the first half in his last two outings. He has thrown three TDs and no interceptions in the second half over that span. Freeman has to end the emerging pattern of putting forth less than complete games. It works against the Chiefs, but it will not work against good teams.
Pretty striking, huh? But this likely has more to do with gameplans than anything else, and to the point, that Bucs coaches can adjust on the fly that helps Freeman and the Bucs offense.
So, yeah, if Freeman truly needs a shrink, as King advised, then Freeman (and maybe some offensive coaches) need to be hypnotized that the first half is actually the second half, and the second half is still the second half.
October 16th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
And King needs weightwatchers. Taking advice from a QB with such a weak NFL resume is unwise.
October 16th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Freeman is twice the QB King was….lol have another donut Pillsbury..
October 16th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Don’t confuse psychologist with psychiatrist. The elite QBs of today, ie, Drew Brees and Tom Brady have used Dr. Tom House to work with them on improving performance. On the recommendation of Brees, Alex Smith is consulting with Dr house to improve also (good luck there).This is not a bad idea for Freeman to seek similar help. Drew Brees swears by it and he’s not too shabby!
http://www.patspulpit.com/2012/5/13/3018030/tom-brady-worked-with-former-mlb-pitching-coach-in-march
October 16th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
They could just start bombs away. I think the first half has been too conservative. Maybe if we come out firing down the field the run will open up.
October 16th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Freeman is gonna be just fine, once he understands our offense better.
KC made a big mistake, trying to man up on our receivers.
The Saints will not make the same mistake! Freeman must be able to beat Zone Coverage, for us to win against them this week.
October 16th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
I’m anxious to see us against the Saints.
October 16th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
The saints D is much MUCH worse than the Chief’s defense. Freeman has no excuse not have a good day. He will need a great day if we are going to beat the Saints. That means being consistant for all 4 quarters or the Saints will stomp a mud hole in us regardless of what there record is.
October 16th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Just wondering…Most of the posters on this site rip on King, but they praise Jeff Carlson. I do not get it, King accomplished a great deal more than Jeff. Now, I like reading Jeff’s column, and he seems like a good coach. Being a great QB and a great coach rarely go together, so why not take some advise from King, I figure it is becasue he is a bit of a arse on the air. I used to hate jeff when he was on Bay News 9 because he was always bashing the bucs…sometimes he was probably right, but who cares…no Bucs bashing! It just makes no sense to me how most on this site hate King because he was not a great QB and love jeff even though he had even less accomplishments. I am not bashing Jeff, like I said his column is awesome.
October 16th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
@ McBuc
It’s usually the Freeman Fan boys who bash King. And it’s not just King, it’s anyone that has a negative opinion of Freeman. You can always tell them from the immature name calling that is usually the first thing typed before the rant.
October 16th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
STC…Ah, that makes sense…
October 16th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
I do think Free is getting ready to turn a corner, I just hope he does it this week. I want the Bucs to open a #10 can of whoop arse on those Saints!
October 16th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
You and me both but sadly my patience and hope for Freeman is growing thin. 4 years of inconsistancy and eratic play is disheartening.
October 16th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
@SilenceTheCritics
I know how you feel. It feels like Freeman is almost there, but there always seems to be a setback. I’m hoping that he start better in the Saints game.
October 16th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Re watch the first half. Freeman was actually just as good as he was in the second half. The difference was receivers dropping passes and running bad routes. Seriously. Watch it.
October 16th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
what a shock? the guy puts up a 40 fantasy point day on my bench, throws 330 yards on 15 completions against a bad team with a great secondary and somehow silencethecritics “patience is growing thin” can people be any more stupid on this site? what more do you want, if you think a 5,000 yard season is the only thing that makes you confident in your quarterback: a. you’ll never be confident in freeman or any other bucs quarterback and b. it just shows the true ignorance of these people
October 16th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Broy3434 …agreed exactly ! BTW Free has been with Shiano and Sully and VJ and Nicks and the system what a few MONTHS ….lol smh
October 16th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
It’s really tough to make heads or tails of Free right now. Up until the Chiefs game, we have scored on the first drive of the game. Then for the rest of the half he goes into complete meltdown mode. Then he comes out and plays pretty well in the second. I’m not sure why that is a continuous pattern. It jus doesn’t make sense.
The Cheifs game was by far the closes thing to a complete game Free has put together but anyone watching saw that Free still struggled with any passes under 15 yards. Chiefs are a lousy team, they’ve been blown out in more than half of their games. Next week we have the saints who also has a lousy defense so we might be able to get away with the bombs away game style again but I can’t imagine a competent defense allowing us to bea them by throwing jump balls over and over and hoping for the best. Free has to find a way to get over his short and intermediate accuracy issues.
October 16th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Broy either you are a retarded fan boy or you are just a troll.. You think 2 decent quarters of play makes a great QB? and lets say he actually played all 4 quarters of a game for once… does that mean he’s had a great season? no it doesnt… fact is he has been horrible, before you call names know what you are talking about jack off.
October 16th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Not to mention this “great secondary” he just played against is not so great dumb ass.
October 16th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Man give this guy a break! We just won by 28 points and you’re still looking to give him crap. Sure he’s been in the league a few years, but he’s still just 24 years old. While you guys we still getting hammered most nights at that age; he’s trying to mature into a all pro QB. Not to mention the fact that no one wants to mention the inconsistant blocking and route running. We’ve lost two O lineman & one of them a Pro Bowler. We went up to NY and gave the Giants everything they could handle and come up just short. They could be going back to the Super Bowl again. Peyton is the ONLY QB to come in and light the league up. The rest sat on the bench waiting for their turn behind some excellent QB’s to show them the ropes. SO stop giving this guy some much CRAP! Besides the top 5 (Manning Bros. Brees, Brady, Rodgers) who else is tearing up the league?
October 16th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
I’m not attacking the guy on a personal level. This is a comments section for an article about Freemans struggles. Anyone who’s watching the game can see he has accuracy problems and I’m just commenting on them. What’s just as bad as relentlessy and inaccurately bashing Free? Relentlessly and inaccurately praising him. He’s an NFL player, this is a write up by Joe about his struggles, I’m sorry if some hate when the obvious is pointed out but he’s not playing consistently well. You won’t find one sports figure in the media who will say otherwise. Being a Freeman fan is great but people will have to accept the fact that he is struggling.
October 16th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
You have a good take on him being inaccurate, but for some people need to give credit where credit is due. Saying he just throws up jump balls is not being fair or accurate.
October 16th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Silence the critics you are wrong, and i agree with Broy on this one. plus you say you can spot a freeman fan boy by the immature name calling they do and yet you did the same thing by calling other people names who dont agree with you. fu@king hypocrite. you need take take a deep breath and be PATIENT. damn its like no one in this country and our own fan base knows what that word means anymore.
October 16th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
and by patient i dont mean for a couple of games, you need to be patient for couple of seasons because he is growing in an entirely new offense. that patience also needs to extend to Schiano as well. and that goes for the rest of the fan base who are so quick to judge.
October 16th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
@ andrew ..outstanding post
* stands and applauds*