Mike Martz Bullish On Josh Freeman
December 26th, 2012
Joe knows it is the popular, trendy thing as 2012 comes to a close to pile on embattled Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, he of the eight interceptions in his last two games.
But don’t count on Mike Martz to jump on the anti-Freeman bandwagon.
Joe had a chance to chat briefly with Martz, a former Super Bowl coach and current FOX NFL analyst, just prior to the Bucs game with the Rams Sunday.
In short, Martz is a big Freeman supporter.
“I think he is a terrific player. I don’t see any flaws in Josh. They have to get better around him. They have had problems in the offensive line, they have basically lost three linemen and they don’t have the depth at wide receiver that they need. Those are things they will address in the offseason.
“They’ve got the right guy. They just need to build around him. If someone wants to criticize [Freeman], they are wrong. He is playing at a high level and they just have to get better around him.”
Now this is interesting to Joe. When Martz made the comment about lack of depth at wide receiver, Joe thought Martz was talking about Tiquan Underwood. Now Joe did not hear audio of the Bucs’ broadcast Sunday, but from reading various comments on this site, Martz was critical of Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams. Could it be that Martz if of the mind that Williams shouldn’t be a starter, too?
Look, Martz transformed a grocery store clerk into a potential Hall of Fame quarterback. He is no Brian Billick. The guy knows quarterbacks.
If Martz is to be believed, Freeman does not have enough toys.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Interesting take by the mad scientist Martz…like the stock market, no one knows ( despite numerous opinions) where Freeman is headed in 2013. It’s going to be fun to watch (I hope) how it all shakes out next season. I’m also curious to see what the Ravens do with Flacco and how much they pay him as he is in the same situation…just a year earlier.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:25 am
The radio broadcast said Williams seemed a bit off on Sunday, but I think he was having a bit of an off day. He slipped and fell a couple of times. Dave more said Mike has been here long enough to understand the field and how slippery it can get. All in all I think Martz is referring to the slot position, and maybe one of those new giant TE types. It seems to me the only ones beating the drum to drive Freeman out of town are local radio host (rating) and Tampa Bay fans. The majority of national experts say he should be here or a long time. I even talk to friends of mine that are living in Tampa and supporting the team they grew up with. The majority of them say they hope we drop Freeman, so their team has a chance to grab him. Everyone keeps pointing to the body of work over four years, but they want to ignore the fact that Freeman has not been on good teams since he arrived. This year’s team is much improved on offense, but the defense is not much better than it has been. The linebackers look much better, and the run defense is better…then again, why run on the Bucs when you can pass all day. He has not had the benefit of consistent coaching and scheme. One more off season and a couple new additions, and I think we see a much improved Freeman…I will take Martz word over all the ham and eggers on the message boards all day long.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:27 am
did he understand the question?
December 26th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Here’s what’s happening: Josh, for the most part, has had a free pass by the fans…….but now (with the turnovers coming in bunches)….fans are hyper-focused on #5 all at the same time…but with good reason b/c we’ve already bashed everyone else at One Buc Place.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:33 am
Lmfao @ all you Freeman haterz that don’t know jack about football….
Lolololololololol !
December 26th, 2012 at 9:37 am
He doesn’t see any flaws in Josh. Dude…Really? I’d like to make a correction. I don’t see any flaws in Peyton Manning. Or Tom Brady…etc. It boggles the mind that a guy like Martz would make such an overboard statement.
And while it would be nice to have Davin Joseph, Carl Nicks and more of a competent RT, the line has hardly been the worst in football. What a BS excuse about the line. Guys like Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers and a few others are in far worse scenarios as far as having time to throw. And I don’t want to hear you fantasy dorks throw out his passing yards number either as if that is an indicator of how well he is playing. There is not a more misleading and superficial stat in football. Russell Wilson threw for 200 less yards than Freeman last week, and no sane, rational thinking person would ever say number 5 had a better game than Wilson. He was absolutely spectacular, and he didn’t have to throw for 370 garbage yards
December 26th, 2012 at 9:39 am
Freeman is definitely capable of playing at a high level, consistency is his biggest issue. Along with the tells that James Lauranaitis talked about with the Rams, it is hard to consistently succeed without great weapons (and Underwood and Dallas Clark don’t count) along with poor situational playcalling. No, Freeman hasn’t done all he could to help himself, but it’s a team game, he’s not solely responsible.
Though most fans will have a bad taste in their mouths due to the last 2 games, all-in-all for the season, Freeman has had a historic season for a Buc QB.
He’s already set the Buccaneer record for passing yards in a season-over 3800, tied the Buc record for TD passes in a season-26, and is tied for the Buc record for career TD passes-77 (in one less season and throwing a whopping 50 INTs less than Testaverde did). For those fans young enough to remember Testaverde, Freeman is doing FANTASTIC!!! He went on to Cleveland, Baltimore, and the Jets, and either led those teams to the playoffs or had great seasons. Perhaps it wasn’t all him. Same with Steve Young and Trent Dilfer.
You can say stats are for losers all you want, but it was the biggest loser of all that made that quote relevant in Tampa. Besides, when the season is over, that’s all we are left with… stats.
My greatest fear is that Freeman is the second coming of Jeff Blake. A good deep thrower that struggles throwing short and intermediate so defenses play safeties over the top and play their DBs extra aggressive underneath. Freeman has several advantages over Blake, however. Much better size, better work ethic, and he is now as young as Blake was when he first got his shot.
The only logical solution for the Bucs is to stick with Freeman and take the pains with grooming a young QB. Drafting a QB from this extremely weak group of QBs will just us back on the clock to wait and see if a young QB will develop. Same with making a trade for a QB… the last time one of those worked out, was the late 90’s with Hasselbeck and Brooks… otherwise the trade scene is littered with 2nd round picks to the Eagles for bums in Miami, Kevin Kolb’s epic fail in Arizona, and so on. Trades rarely work out and the days of landing a young Brett Favre or Sonny Jurgenson are long gone. Free agency isn’t a great solution. Alex Smith and Matt Flynn are likely to be the best QBs on the market… and neither would be an upgrade based on their bodies of work despite being older than Freeman. I left Tebow out on purpose because this is a serious discussion.
Do what Joe said, approach him about a reasonable incentive laden extension. Perhaps bring in more serious competition, but if you give up Freeman you start over. We’ve all seen enough to know that he is capable, and it would be stupid to dump him at his young age and put all hopes in a complete unknown.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:49 am
Williams didn’t look like he wasn’t giving his best effort on some plays, true.
Freeman did have a bad day, true.
Apparently, we’re tipping our plays.
Freeman isn’t going anywhere, true.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Lauranaitis said the tells had to do with personel on the filed…If Martin is in, where a WR is lined up, etc…That is what I thought he was refering to.That is not on Freeman, it is on the coaches. It seems to me teams studied the film and figured out our offense, but our offense did not make changes to try and trick the other team. Whcich is OK if your players are good enough to out execute the defense. Maybe ours is not yet there based on the newness of the system.
Now, we can argue that QB play has lost games for the Bucs, and the last two games are great examples of that. People keep pointing at the last five games, but in many of those games we had a lead that was lost due to the defensive performance. The defense looked pretty good last week. What we need is the good defense and the good offense to show up at the same time. We also need a new returner to spark the special teams a bit.
We may need to revamp the defensive shemes for the secondary as well, can these guys really be as bad as they have looked? Sunday they seemed to play better, in the second half.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:51 am
There are 32 teams in the NFL. Martz hasnt watched all of the Bucs games much less every snap. He is taking the approach from a highlights reel stand point. Free looks good during the highlights, yes. But the highlight film isnt showing the terrible short passes and the many 3rd and outs.
Martz is just playing it safe and making non-critical comments.
What the Bucs NEED to do is play better defense… like the days of Shaun King and Trent Dilfer… so when the QB does have a string of 3 and outs, the defense can hold up and get the ball back.
But there in lies problem #6 of many for this team… the NFL has changed so much that it has become dang near impossible to defend good QBs because of the no contact rules on passing plays. If you look at the scores of this season vs the rest of the seasons 5 years ago when the Bucs cover 2 was okay, you will see more 300 yd games and higher scoring games by both teams. The NFL has changed.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:53 am
fyi…Aqib Talib, Raheem Morris, Dez Briscoe, Barrett Ruud are ALL going to the playoffs (and Ruud & Talib to SuperBowl probably)
December 26th, 2012 at 9:53 am
I do agree Brandon, although I could care less about passing yards. A lot of Free’s passing yards come from trying to play catch up. The Denver game was a perfect example. The 4th quarter came, the game was already over and they gave the bucs offense the middle to just keep the time running. I especially love your comment about Tebow. As much as I rail on him all day he is still a thousand times better than wittle Timmy. His cult following can’t be reasoned with and I can’t take them seriously. But anyways…I’m not against Freeman being here next yr or even starting. But I would love for a guy like Kyle Orton to be here to push him. That way when Josh starts having some of his schizo Joshy moments, pull his ass…
December 26th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Brandon and Jeff…Agreed!
December 26th, 2012 at 9:55 am
Maybe thats why Free’s stats look so good? NFL inflation on offense.
December 26th, 2012 at 9:58 am
To further illustrate the point on Freeman and how ALL need to learn and be patient. Everybody wants the NEXT Eli Manning… well it wasn’t too long ago that Eli wasn’t being booed by Giants fans.
Freeman’s numbers right now when compared to Eli Manning in his 4th year, 2007-
Rating
JF-82.3
EM-73.9
COM%
JF-54.9
EM-56.1
Yards per attempt
JF-7.35
EM-6.31
TDs to INTs
JF-26-16
EM-23-20
fumbles
JF-8
EM-9
Yards-
JF-3843
EM-3336
According to the numbers, Freeman is overwhelmingly better than Manning was in his 4th season (except slightly worse in completion percentage). True, Eli won a Super Bowl in that 2007 season, but considering the Giants finished 3rd in the NFL in total defense AND had the two-headed rushing attack monster of Jacobs and Bradshaw going full force, it’s safe to say Eli had a few advantages….oh, and Eli was a full two years older than Freeman in his 4th season… and despite one some may think, age and maturity make a huge difference at the QB position.
If NY Giants fans had gotten their way, Eli would have been shipped out of New York during the season for a bag of used footballs and a plastic kicking tee… Luckily, fans aren’t GMs. Most fans don’t spend every waking bit of their free time reading, studying, following, and obsessing over football. I do.. and I still don’t spend nearly as much time as GMs, coaches, and many league analysts do on the game. I think I would go with what they say over the knee-jerk reactions to the majority of fans who follow football on a seasonal basis and aren’t truly students of the game. I’m no Mike Martz fan, but what he says carries a lot more weight than the average irate fan that is quick to blame one guy when there are 10 more on the field with him and a head coach and offensive coordinator to factor in as well (not to forget a defense that forces the offense into bad situations).
December 26th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Need a speed WR
December 26th, 2012 at 10:04 am
I don’t agree that Freeman doesn’t have any flaws. He may be truthful that he doesn’t see any. But I agree in principle that Freeman is not solely responsible for this sudden free-fall – pardon the pun.
Mike Will is not the no. 2 WR he is made out to be. He can’t beat coverage. He doesn’t have the speed to stretch the field and he rarely gets separation. One of the flaws that Freeman has is judgment. When Vincent Jackson is game-planned out of contention, Freeman will focus on Williams even when he is covered (most times) hoping he will catch the jump ball or make the back shoulder throw which exposes Freeman’s lack of pinpoint accuracy – the result – INT.
Let’s get rid of the fallacy about all the weapons that Freeman supposedly got in 2012, primarily in FA. Due to injuries, trades, suspensions, and banishments, but for Vincent Jackson, Freeman has fewer weapons than he had in 2011. Doug Martin is a net-net – we gained a 1,000yd RB, we lost a 1,000yd back (Blount). The weaknesses in the defense, especially the secondary, is universally recognized.
So Martz is right to a degree. I will agree absolutely that if these other things are addressed in 2013, including an upgrade at WR, Freeman’s confidence goes way up, which I think is his major demon today!
December 26th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Ian’s Gay Lisp & Ron’s Drinking Problem Says:
December 26th, 2012 at 9:53 am
fyi…Aqib Talib, Raheem Morris, Dez Briscoe, Barrett Ruud are ALL going to the playoffs (and Ruud & Talib to SuperBowl probably)
_______________________________
Barrett Ruud was dumped by Seattle, then dumped by the LB weak Saints. Now he is riding the coattails of the Texans, registering just over 10 tackles on the season (despite the numerous LB injuries on the team).
I’m not sure how if Ruud is probable to go to the Super Bowl, how Talib can be as well, they both play in the same conference. Talib has been okay for the Pats. Perhaps out of the players you mentioned, he is the only one to contribute to his team.
Briscoe has been active for about 2 games all year. Off the top of my head I can’t remember if he has caught a pass. If you think Briscoe going to the playoffs is a big deal, I suggest you buy a ticket, because like you, Briscoe will be purely a spectator.
Morris is leading the league’s second to last pass defense… need I say more.
Why no mention of Tanard Jackson (T-Jack just lit up for the 3rd time today) or Kellen Winslow (K2 just finished spinning a record out in Cali, he was awesome!) or Brian Price (Price… I can’t say anything bad about Price…empathy) or Amobi Okoye (who was cut by the Bears and just limped out of personal ice tub)?
December 26th, 2012 at 10:08 am
I’m in agreement when it comes to weapons, Bucs have good receivers but no speed threat, why not go after a Percy Harvin as a slot guy. Play calling sometimes don’t put Josh in best situation to succeed based on his strengths which may be his mobility, especially some of the times we have left points on the board in the red zone or even closing out a game. Not willing to give up on Josh unless you can get an experienced quarterback (not a career winding down qb, i.e. Alex Smith) that is accurate and keep the weapons moving the chains. Can a qb improve his accuracy and can he learn not to stare down receivers, Josh is young enough to do so, doesn’t Peyton Manning have a qb camp.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:08 am
@Brandon – Thanks for putting that together. A QB playing similar to Freeman, has won two SBs.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:10 am
Oh, and you left out Kregg “The Great” Lumpkin… he plays for the Giants, and if he can only get a little lucky, start not sucking, and help the Giants win this week and a bunch of teams lose, he’ll also be going to the playoffs.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:11 am
Did we forget about how many bad EASY throws hes had?? And they werent while they were running wrong routes, look at the falcons game when he was over throwing wide open recievers in the end zone left and right!!! Bring in competition!!
December 26th, 2012 at 10:21 am
“I think he is a terrific player. I don’t see any flaws in Josh. They have to get better around him. They have had problems in the offensive line, they have basically lost three linemen and they don’t have the depth at wide receiver that they need. Those are things they will address in the offseason.
———————————————————————————-
He lost all credibility after that first sentence. He sees no flaws in Josh? Really? Even Freeman’s biggest supporters wouldn’t say that except the jock riders like Raphy.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:21 am
When and if Freeman ever learns to hit the short routes or the medium routes or the guy with no one around for 5 yards he will improve. As for martz he was the master of the 3 step drop quick short passes with big run after the catch. He had a QB who was very good at hitting his receivers between the numbers throw after throw. Not like our QB who has trouble throwing to a fast athletic 6’5″ receiver with good hands. What ever happned to hitting the receiver in stride, not chuck it up and hope the WR can make the catch or knock it down. I hope Freeman learns to do these things but this is year 4 in the NFL for him when exactly will these lessons learned show up on the field? Year 5-6-7-8? I am thrilled with his 3800 yards 26 TD not so thrilled with the 16 (is it) INT. We as fans do remember the near INT the other teams players dropped? Yeah they dropped them but most as I recall where right where they could be picked, some even had pick six opportunity on them. I know it is a team game but how many offensive players this season have passed the ball? Come on Freeman put your hours and hours of study in action.
Because talk don’t cook rice…
December 26th, 2012 at 10:21 am
There is nothing to debate Freeman is not a winner. Numbers as a starter reflect such. So stop comparing him to Eli who has a totally different level of pedigree. First you cant buy him a heart to deal with pressure. Second his mechanics suck. Third, he’s not the leader this franchise needs.
You are looking at 3 rookies that have their team respectively to the playoffs. They stepped up in the games that mattered. When we needed a win what did we get? That blank look, mouth open, blaming everyone else for their routes.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:25 am
I encourage everyone to go online and watch this past Sunday’s game. I watched it, as Christmas ate up my game funds (I’ve been to five games this year don’t feel I need to justify myself.) Anyways, on film Mike Williams played terrible. Yes he had 130 yds and a TD, but this guy is afraid of contact. Two of Josh’s INT’s were Mike Williams fault. On one he slipped and on another he completely got scared of contact and stopped running his route and let the DB make the pick.
Martz was hyper critical of Mike Williams throughout the whole game. Williams will only make plays on jumpballs and catches where he is wide open.
Furthermore, I’ve read it and heard it on the radio this morning. This quote, “As long as Josh Freeman is QB I will not be going to anymore Bucs’ games.” If you say this you are not a fan, and I believe that you are already not going to the games. I actually heard some idiot call for the Bucs to release Freeman and sign Mike Vick. YOU ARE AN IDIOT SIR!
Show some self respect Bucs fans.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:37 am
4 of our losses this year are SOLELY on Josh Freeman! The DAL, WSH, NO, and STL game are all on him! He played without a doubt, DREADFUL in those games!! You know……remember Dallas? Where he only had 37 TOTAL yards heading into the 4th quarter while our defense actually kept the game close for us all day?
At least 2 other games could’ve been won if we would’ve learned how to play the ENTIRE football game instead of just ONE quarter! (the Giants and Phili game).
4th year and we’re still having to talk about his “potential” and what he could be.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:39 am
J 2.0…AMEN!
December 26th, 2012 at 10:43 am
This is the kind of frustration that builds up when you rattle off four straight non playoff years after all the grand “lasting contenders” mantra.
And, finish last in the division three of those years, with seven, ten, and five (at least) game losing streaks. Sprinkle in the worst defensive team in bucs history and perhaps worst pass defense ever on an NFL field, and discontent grows.
Until that changes, folks will be upset (understandably), and the QB gets the brunt of the ire. Its always that way.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:50 am
Architect, patrick,and silence….I maybe going out on a limb here but I bet Mike Martz knows 1000 times more about football than you yahoo’s do……
December 26th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Raphy anything that comes out of your mouth is going out on a limb.
December 26th, 2012 at 10:55 am
@Brandon – great points all. Stats are basically a way for the uninformed (normal folks without the eye for football) to realize what is approximately the truth. The Freeman haters seem to never look at other reasons we are losing like: the defense, beat up offensive line, no run game etc as well as the need for a slot receiver, a big tight end, and imaginative play calling.
If I am sitting on my couch and know the play they are going to run don’t you think the defensive coordinators in the NFL will as well ?? All they do is watch tape for 40+ hours prior to the game. I watch a 3 hour game and know it. I also know when I am coming in that I will be able to pass the ball against the BUCS with relative ease and probably my QB will not be sacked unless an assignment is screwed up. The BUCS will attempt to blitz but their blitzes never succeed which puts their group of inadequate corners on an island for even an average QB (see Nick Foles) to pick apart. Further reason to fire Sheridan and hire a real defensive mind (Dom Capers, Dick Labeau, Monte Kiffin etc.) a defensive coordinator who can win with what we have or at least keep us I don’t know from posting NFL passer records for yards.
Does Josh Freeman need to improve absolutely. I want a QB with a rating over 100 every game the BUCS play you don’t think Josh, the coach and the GM all want the same ?? Does Josh go out saying, hey I want to really piss the fans off this weak and drive down the value of my next contract – huh – laughable.
The problem is you can’t just go out and get a franchise QB and plug him in and boom he plays awesome. Whether or not a QB will be great has many factors to it not the least of which is luck.
For Freeman Haters I found a list of the top 50 QB’s in NCAA History according to an article in Bleacher Report. It is so easy to pick them so here is the list http://bleacherreport.com/articles/891904-college-football-top-50-quarterbacks-of-all-time/page/2
I will only list the top 20 for the sake of space. Oh we can do the same things with NCAA passer ratings too if you like or Scouting reports etc. The point is for every franchise QB in the NFL there are 10 – 15 duds who will spend their careers in Canada, NFL Europe or selling life insurance.
#20 John Elway
#19 Sam Bradford
#18 Danny Wuerffel
#17 Carson Palmer
#16 Steve Young
#15 Steve McNair
#14 Eric Crouch
#13 Matt Leinart
#12 Gino Torretta
#11 Ken Dorsey
#10 Joe Namath
#9 Chris Weinke
#8 Michael Vick
#7 Tommie Frazier
#6 Cam Newton
#5 Charlie Ward
#4 Jim Plunkett
#3 Doug Flutie
#2 Vince Young
#1 Tim Teebow
Most of them had questionable at best pro-careers but it is so easy to pick a franchise QB go ahead we should do it. I don’t know but a Superbowl Winning coach who was considered an offensive genius and basically created a new style of offense (the greatest show on turf) might know a little bit more than the Freeman haters on this site, I am really going out on a limb here (heavy SARCASM).
December 26th, 2012 at 11:18 am
They always like to say wonderful things about the opposing team, even to flatter the players that are the biggest weakness.
The greatest show on turf would never had worked if they had a Dilfer or Freeman in their backfield. The whole concept was to hit the receiver in the hands and in stride.
As for myself, I’m resigned to failure next year as long as they get Jadeveon Clowney in the 2014 draft. For total failure they’re going to need one more dramatic move like Schiano firing the OC and taking it over personally.
They’re going to have to go for 0-16. Double the gauntlets, you can do it, Shiano, you can do it!
December 26th, 2012 at 11:51 am
You know I like Freeman as much as the next guy but to say he has no flaws is ridiculous. He has things to work on and the team still needs to grow around him.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:54 am
4 of our losses this year are SOLELY on Josh Freeman! The DAL, WSH, NO, and STL game are all on him! He played without a doubt, DREADFUL in those games!! You know……remember Dallas? Where he only had 37 TOTAL yards heading into the 4th quarter while our defense actually kept the game close for us all day?
At least 2 other games could’ve been won if we would’ve learned how to play the ENTIRE football game instead of just ONE quarter! (the Giants and Phili game).
December 26th, 2012 at 11:55 am
4th year and we’re still having to talk about his “potential” and what he “could be”.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:57 am
@Brandon this is the point I’ve trying to make with everyone. BE PATIENT. Freeman can be very good when the time comes.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:59 am
@Miguel for the simple fact that you hope the team goes 0-16 should be the reason you are banned from the site. Even the Freeman haters wont go that far. Screw off Miguel!
December 26th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
I think that he has trouble reading defenses. Bad receiver and OL play is only part of the problem.
December 26th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
@ Gus,
55 starts isn’t enough time for Freeman to prove he is any good?
55 starts? C’mon man, face the facts Josh is a dud.
December 26th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
@Brandon – great points all. Stats are basically a way for the uninformed (normal folks without the eye for football) to realize what is approximately the truth. The Freeman haters seem to never look at other reasons we are losing like: the defense, beat up offensive line, no run game etc as well as the need for a slot receiver, a big tight end, and imaginative play calling.
——————————————————————————
First of all the only people throwing out stats are the ones riding Freemans crotch. And that is because stats are all Freeman has that makes him look good.
Second of all nobody “hates” Freeman. I believe many people have said he’s a hard worked and great character just not a good football player.
Third of all, You Freeman lovers are the ones making up all these excuses. Let’s take a look. No run game? I believe we have a 1000 yard rookie on our team. The Defense? I believe everybody and there mother has bitched about the horrible pass defense we have. This by no means excuses Josh’s horrific QB play thus far in his career. Beat up O-line? Sure,we all know that we are playing with 3rd and 4th stringers, however Josh has still had plenty of time for the most part to make good reads and throws accurately which he has failed to do. The O-line has played unbelieveable considering what we had to work with. And last but not least… You imply that Josh could use more weapons around him. Ok, I will give you that but… couldn’t you say that about any QB?
Hit me with some more excuses I love proving people wrong!
December 26th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
@ Patrick..I agree except for the Washington game. Josh brought them back for a lead in the 4th quarter. It isn’t his fault the defense completely busted a blitz assignment and RG3 ran into FG range.
No one has seemed to notice that Tiquan Underwood wasn’t even in the game in 3 wr sets to start the game last week. Roscoe Parrish took his place, before doing nothing and being replaced. Word is that Tiquan has been the cause of many ‘miscommunications’ leading to errant throws.
Josh needs to get better at post-snap reads, and obviously short pass accuracy. But he could really benefit from a slot WR or big TE as a safety blanket.
December 26th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
I wont lie when we drafted Freeman over Jeremy macklin and Percy Harvin I was pissed beyond belief. But I quickly warmed up to him after seeing all the hard work he puts into his craft. You have to admire that in a guy. But after 4 years of watching him being completely useless until the 2nd half of football games and not improving 1 bit in any part of his game. At what point do you realize he’s just not a good player? 4 years? 6 years? 8 years? All these excuses go out the window next year. Same with Dom. 5 years is plenty of time to at least show improvement on your team.
December 26th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Put him up against most EVERY other “NFL EXPERT” and none of them with feel comfortable stating a lie like “Freeman has no flaws” bahahahaha. I wonder what else people will say when Free Free gets all his little toys and the same RESULTS continue to happen. What then? Is the defense being a bunch of meanie heads cause they arent laying on the ground as soon as the ball is snapped??? I swear with the amount of excuses being thrown around you would think that he is the most incapable human being on this earth. There is no utopia where everything is always perfect and where you wont have to face any kind of pressure/challenge/adversity, where it is not required of the QB to make his progression, react to breakdowns, audible, or to complete passes. Film doesn’t lie Josh, fix the inconsistency and your accuracy issues or you won’t be around much longer. And remember only one stat matters and its the W-L. Yes its a team sport but unfortunately for you the NFL QB, everything starts and ends with him. Thus his position on the team is one of major impact. All eyes on you Free Free, you have 1 more year most likely to prove you can adjust to defenses, improve your accuracy, and become consistent.
December 26th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
This is rare for me, as I rarely call posters complete idiots..BUT the one’s bashing Mike Williams are IDIOTS!!!. If not for Williams, Freemans comp % would be in the 30 % range.
December 26th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
In my opinion right now the best thing for Josh Freeman is for people to tell him the truth and stop coddleing him. If we continue to baby this guy he will never take it upon himself to get better. But maybe if he realizes that a majority of people who actually watch him play on sundays think he’s a lost cause, that might just wake his ass up to play better. But I do know if we continue to pat him on the back and make these excuses he will never fix these issues or amount to anything.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:02 pm
@SteveK we went over this already ITS A DIFFERENT SYSTEM!
Stats dont lie: (from Bucsnation.com)
Folks, in Josh Freeman’s young career:
He’s completed over 60% of his passes in two of his three full seasons as a starter.
He’s thrown for at least 3,400 yards and 17 touchdowns in each season as a starter
He’s broken the Bucs single season passing yardage mark this season.
With one touchdown pass against the Falcons this week, he’ll break the single season TD pass record.
With 157 yds passing he’ll be the first 4,000 yd passer in team history (Eli, Roethlisberger, Brees, Brady didn’t do it until their sixth seasons).
He’s already had a season where he posted a 95.9 QB rating (2010), Eli has never achieved that high of a rating in his career.
This season, only five QBs in the league have more touchdown passes than Freeman.
No player in the league has completed more 40+ yd passing plays than Freeman (16).
Freeman is tied with Tom Brady and Tony Romo for 7th in passes over 20-39 yds (52).
Over 20+ yds, Freeman has completed 68 plays. Only Drew Brees (74), Andrew Luck (73), Joe Flacco (71) have completed more.
If the Bucs score 28 points against the Falcons this Sunday, Josh will have quarterbacked the most prolific scoring offense in Buccaneer history.
He is +10 in td-to-interceptions, tied for 9th in the NFL
He’s missed just one start in 55 games.
His 4.2 TD-to-Int ration in 2010 (25 TDs, 6 ints) was the 11th best in NFL history.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
@Ian & @Brandon those players ya spoke of were all starter for the bucs. So why they can’t get a starting job on 32 TEAMS? Thats the question?
Read this like Mater from Cars then you can understand me professor keen beans: You know who u r!
I’ll answer my own question, because I can see clearly now thanks to you homers on the site. Cheap skates-untalented talent evaluators. Our starter can’t even make the PS on all 32 teams. One or two years after most players leave the bucs they are 86d from the league! After getting paid by the bucs for years and never produce.(Mo Stovall) Some players get paid ,ride the bench for years and never touch the field.(Nicholson Hayward) character guys lmao. Far to many to list, but one comes to mind.
Kenyatta “1st rnd bust” Walker, who imo should of never been drafted, paid or a buccaneer. He is responsible for getting our qb’s killed his whole football career. The bucs havent had a solid oline thats stayed together yet. Say the SB year Homers (go google that b/c I’m going off memory on my intel brain pentium) but it was soft til we got McDaniel&Christy. Christy laid the Great Ray Lewis on his back thats when he coined his famous rant ” Ima machine jerk” thats who sugar ray was yelling at. We still aint replaced him even though he came thru FA. No disrespect Zuttah cause you are the best center since Christy. Larsen is weak he getting pushed in Freeway lap. Ted blocked a lil better next to Hardman send both they arse to GB.
My point: We have been putting together piece of crap Olines for 15 f-ings years and you blind bats xpect any qb to progress with DOWN SET SACK. Our qb’s are running for there lives ask trent dilfer,and have been up until NOW. The SB year, 2010 and this year is the most time I have ever seen a qb have in Tampa.
Josh is amazed he aint on his back already thats why his timing is off. He cant throw short routes then take them out. When are we gonna get a oc that plays to josh strengths ala cam&rg3 not the other way around.
That’s the problem Ya grammer police.
What does that say to ya homers. For me that tells me to break my 15 year streak of loyal fan on sunday, if I was going to waste my life, emotions, I couldve been at church. Lol Instead of wasting my hard earned money on gas going to the sports bar miles away. Just to see them piece together a ok team. I can watch my favorite team get torched win or lose on ESPN. I wanna represent a DYNASTY. Its hard to be a Die Hard (southern twang) since Yall good folk informed me.
THE ORGANIZATION is part of a bigger picture in sports. Look the nfl never wanted us to win the SB. They jip us in Stl with the famous bert emmanuel rule. Then make a stinking new rule after ripping our hearts out. Those were the DYNASTY years.
The officals F more games up to me calling shh they dont call on other teams. Its a conspiracy Clonez!
December 26th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Gus you think anyone that matters looks at anything but the here and now? The only stat they are going to ultimately measure Free Free by is his win/loss. You can have the prettiest stats in the world but if they don’t equate to getting W’s they are pointless. It’s a team sport yes, but it just so happens that the bulk of the weight when it comes to results lands on the QB. Like it or not.
December 26th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Prbuc get a clue will, our defense is what sucks , NOT the Qb…..he is the best in franchise history…
December 26th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Say this like the general from “full metal jacket”
Since you can’t understand me don’t let me catch you using my slang and nicknames for my bucs.
MAGGOTRONS!
PS. YOUR EASY GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING SACBUCS IS READ MY POST WITH THE ACTORS VOICE. Thanks lmao
December 26th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
Doesn’t say much about our franchise history now does it lolol
December 26th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
@PR I’ll make it about playoffs then….. Out of all the quarterbacks drafted since Freeman in 2009. 8 quarterbacks(including this year) have made the playoffs: Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, RG3, T.J. Yates(a backup), Andy Dalton, Tim Tebow, Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez. Seeing how Freeman is better than T.J Yates, Tim Tebow, and Mark Sanchez I would give him time.
December 26th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
How do you expect josh to get better when one week he has protection. Next week its wear this DT on your chest and take this DE up the a$$. For his whole career. Give him some credit. It would be funny if it clicked for Freeway and it was the offensive players who had it wrong. Just a thought.
We have all seen what Freeway can do with a little time in the socket. Electrical ” J-5 is alive” there you go Joe Ima make ya famous stick wit me!
December 26th, 2012 at 10:03 pm
It’ll be very interesting to see the excuses you all come up with this time next year if and when Free goes 6 and 10 or worse yet again.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:46 pm
Ya next year should suffice as plenty of time