No Trust. No Belief. Who’s Accountable?
September 15th, 2013
The Bucs are playing Vincent Jackson about $11 million a season. He’s a manbeast that can’t be covered and, when he’s occasionally stopped, it’s likely Jackson’s own doing, or he’s stopped by another dumb Bucs penalty.
But Greg Schiano — twice this season, and late last season against the Saints — won’t let Jackson and Josh Freeman win a game for him.
Schiano obviously doesn’t trust Freeman, but he shouldn’t be quitting on Jackson. Joe’s wondering what the hell is going through Jackson’s mind. What does Jackson have to do to get a shot to close out a game? Isn’t that why they’re paying him? Is that why Jackson shoved aside his position coach on the sidelines late in the game, for fear (rightfully so) that he’d be ignored with the game on the line?
Against the Jets last week, Schiano needed one more first down to effectively ice the game to set up a short field goal with no ticks on the clock. But he didn’t go to Jackson, instead opting for three lifeless runs up the gut to Doug Martin.
Bucs lose.
Last year, Schiano ran against the Eagles on 3rd-and-long to set up a punt when he could have thrown to Jackson for the win.
Bucs lose.
Today, with a 3rd-and-6 deep in Saints territory, Schiano played not to lose. Rather than throw to Jackson, he went for the run to set up a long field goal.
Bucs fail. Drew Brees succeeds. Saints win.
Ironcially, Schiano’s core beliefs are Trust, Belief and Accountability. Somehow, playing not to lose doesn’t fit that mantra.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
I logged in just to say this. Schiano knew who the Bucs QB was when he signed on the dotted line. If he doesn’t trust Freeman he should make the switch now. Stop screwing around.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
The key phrase is drew breese succeeds, don’t you relieve that if drew breese was our quarterback schiano would’ve gladly given him the ball.
I ask again if the bucs had a choice of either Sean Payton over schiano or drew breese over freeman to win this game which would they choose. Breese all day. It’s not schiano incompleting over two thirds of his passes.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:04 pm
Call me weird but I don’t mind that call. Martin had room and he could have gotten that first. If Lindell makes that field goal. It’s a whole different ball game. Your asking Brees to score a touchdown not a field goal. I get it, I was hoping for a pass too. But if freeman throws and incomplete pass you give more time to Brees to score a touchdown. I was pissed about last week. That was different, because he settled for a three point lead. In this case he would be looking at a 4 point lead with little time left.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:05 pm
VJax was not all that dependable today either.
But
Playing 3 and 6 with a run to take off time and a reasonably easy make of a 43 yard Field Goal for a Professional NFL Kicker, PLUS the ensuing Kick off field position and time off the clock is not a bad option.
Schiano weighed his options well.
Freeman could not be part of them regardless of VJax being prominently absent
September 15th, 2013 at 9:05 pm
can we please add in the fact that the saints were using a Safety to cover one of our top two receivers that last drive? that’s a match up Jackson and Williams should win every time!
September 15th, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Freeman has had a lot of success in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. Schiano should have trusted him to win it.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
This is the second game choked away by the coaches imo.
Inexcusable.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
8 days and counting remaining in the Josh Freeman Experiment
September 15th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Sounds like a pretty good college coach to me.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Bad call by Schiano , if we can convert 3 and 12 in our end of the field why not try for 3 rd and 6 …
We could of ran out the clock easily and never given Brees a chance.
This loss is completely on Schiano , he is in the Pros now.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Schiano is not the one. The teams is so badly prepared, and with how many, 38 coaches and assistants? If not Cower, hey, Brian Billick is pretty no nonsense and has a Super Bowl.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:08 pm
Freeman has to go!!!!!! every body knows that if we all throw a stink to the glazers may be things will change. the glazers always have listen to the fans. what do yo all think?
September 15th, 2013 at 9:09 pm
At what time does the Rocksatar sack the coach? MD has built a roster that’s actually pretty good (one 3rd wr and one pass catching TE) away from 1097-2003 quality team. But the Piano is holding back the team. Josh ain’t all that but neither is Glennon. I’d rather see Freeman give up a pick then hand the ball over on a short field.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:09 pm
And yet if they would have passed and stopped the clock or an int or a sack you would be writing that Schiano made the wrong call.
Eveeyone jumping on this blame the coach bandwagon. Coaches aren’t the ones out on the field its tje players.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:10 pm
GREGORY SCHIANO
THERE: He’s the whole story behind the Buccaneers Success or Failure
NOT: Josh Freeman or Mark Dominick
The Bucs are merely a reflection of their Head Coach.
1. The Disorganization at critical junctures
2. Silly penalties
3. Ultra Conservative Play calls on Offense
4. Questionable Coverage schemes leaving guys wide open
September 15th, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Paging Lovie Smith your team is ready!
September 15th, 2013 at 9:10 pm
And c’mon
Doug Martin is a Heck of an Option to run out a game.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Agree with joe whole heatedly. The whole team is a mess and leadership needs to be held accountable.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Joe,
You are so right. Freeman needs to be gone, but you can’t put all of these come from behind losses on him. The play calling is atrocious. I can assure you that Schiano wil take no responsibility for these losses. This is a poorly managed team. If Freeman goes make it a package deal.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Let the excuses begin
September 15th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
@Rahb
Sounds like you are talking about Dungy of 1997-2001 as well
September 15th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
I am so pissed off… not only at the refs for horrible calls on our D. Schiano needs to be fired and they need to make sully the new head coach…………………………………………………………… WE SHOULD BE 2-0!
September 15th, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Doug Martin had more yards rushing than Freeman had passing. I trust the player who’s actually producing to have the ball in his hands. That isn’t Josh Freeman.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
It’s interesting. On the opposite sideline, the opposite reaction. Sean Payton goes for the TD on 4th & goal and is denied there. But ultimately, his belief in his people gives him the W.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
So why am I hearing he makes the QB decision week-by-week? It’s ridiculous! No wonder we’re a joke of a week.
Freeman didn’t lose this game.
Schiano has NO accountability for his own FEAR.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
I 100% agree with you, with 4th and 2, who do you give the ball to WIN the game?? Schiano decided to put the balls in the hand to a new kicker, 47 yards out into the wind. Are you freaking kidding me??? I agree with you Joe. You either give it to Jackson or you give to Martin. You live and DIE by your BEST players. But you LOSE every time when you don’t give them a chance to WIN the game for you.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
At this point, if our coach is going to keep intentionally losing games because “he doesn’t trust Freeman” then just make the damn switch. So tired of seeing a sackless coach playing scared football to lose us games. At least have the balls to make the switch so you can leave with Freeman and we can get a real coach.
200+ yards in penalties through two games. Disciplinarian my ass.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
If they seriously have a contingency plan to start Glennon after the bye, they need to start giving him starter’s reps with more frequency immediately and after the fourth game give him ALL the reps for the entire two weeks leading up to the fifth game.
No more screwing around hoping Freeman is suddenly going to become a different player and throw consistently, accurately and decisively. We know the guy. Freeman is who he is. He’s not gonna transform at this stage. He is who we thought he was: an inconsistent, unreliable, streaky, inaccurate QB who has very few leadership qualities and doesn’t seem intelligent enough to learn the fundamentals of looking off the DB’s, reading defenses and getting rid of the ball before that mental clock hits zero.
He’s just not the guy. Never will be. Let’s move on…now.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Schiano needs to go. I don’t care if you love or hate Josh Freeman, him leaving isn’t going to fix anything in Tampa. The only way we turn around this mess is if Schiano packs his bags. Simple as that.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Wait so do yall all think that all of a sudden the plays are just drawn up on the sidelines? No ! The plays are the same from the first snap to the last.
Freeman is just horrible when he has no motivation to actually perform.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:16 pm
@Joe
According to your core beliefs, Vincent Jackson should’ve been yanked from the game and benched for shoving his coach.
Did you not make that call last year when Hayward pushed Cox last year?
Little two-faced aren’t we?
September 15th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Yay! Another loss in the waning seconds of the game! Glug glug glug glug
September 15th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
seems like dougie has held up the game. how much can one person do this. revis and vjax had a couple screw ups but, came threw. how much longer can doug m take before he gets warren out becuase he is talk all the work load.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
No way it’s the second this year, finally we notice but it’s a trend, skins and Philly last year two rookies…..they guy is still thinking the red on the Jersey is Rutgers. Bench Freeman or get rid of schiano I don’t care which but please do something
September 15th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
All I know is the Freemanites had better not come out saying he had the game won for us only to lose in the end because of the D. It was our D that put Freeman within 25 yards to score a TD, and again our D got us a pick 6.
So dont even start Freemanites!! Yeah, we could have punted instead of going for the field goal….maybe we shouldve just went for the 1st instead of attempting a 3 pointer. Oh well, thats how it goes. But Freeman had another bad game…..tape dont lie and his miserable stats dont lie!
September 15th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Schiano has NO BALLS
September 15th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
BTW, Freeman made two bad throws and an int and had drops.
Meanwhile, Brees has 2 ints.
Why are some bucs fans so quick to blame everything on him?
September 15th, 2013 at 9:18 pm
Yes there would be many that if we had gone for it with a pass & stopped the clock or gone for it on 4th down to try to get the first down….there would be many who would blame Schiano….but at least he could have said “I didn’t wsnt to give the ball back to Brees with time either up 1 or up 4….I didn’t want to make the same mistake two weeks in a row….we weren’t going against a rookie…..
What’s up with our “prevent defense”?
September 15th, 2013 at 9:19 pm
Joe is spot on in this article… This loss falls squarely on the coaching…. Conservative offensive play calling is a joke in the NFL.
Schiano and Sullivan had the chance to close the game out the last two weeks and they are failing to use their strength.
Coaching and not Josh Freeman…
September 15th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
You have to run it to run the clock down, it was actually smart of Shiano I believe, but they miss the field goal. I would have punted hahaha
September 15th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
I don’t love Freeman, but this is not on him. Again, some really CRITICAL penalties. Some questionable play calling. Free of course throws 2 really stupid passes, but he did enough right to keep us in the game – Free made some big 3rd down and long passes (is there any other kind with that play calling?)
September 15th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
This loss is a group effort here between the coaching the receivers the kicker , and the QB. Free had some bad throws, but he also had 3 three and outs thanks to receiver error that I can think of off the top of my head (V-Jax had the numbers on his chest deflect two and Mike Williams tried to hurdle the side line instead of a simple foot drag). The crap play calling (Dougernaut up the middle every other play) was way too predictable. They need to air it out (Like the one that got robbed on the call on Dotson) a whole lot more. I have to put this at Schaino’s feet more than anybody. This milk and cookie approach is keeping anything from getting going on the offense.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
I’ll be honest if Freeman goes so does Shiano and Mark Dom
September 15th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
That defense is committed man, there is hope in Tampa that’s for sure.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Just curious, did anyone actually think Schiano was going to throw that ball on 3rd and 6? If you did, this is obviously the first Bucs game you’ve watched in his era. This has happened every single time this situation has come up, without an exception. I don’t even think it was necessarily a bad call in that situation, but we just find ways to f it up. I swear that kick was dead center, then it turned just like me hitting a golf ball. Surely at some point, all this is going to stop, right? Can we just get a bounce here or there? Just something to go our way?
September 15th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Sign me on as an official member of the Mike Glennon Mob.
It exists!!!
125 yards passing, 2 god-aweful turnovers, the defense putting 7 on board, 144 yards rushing from your running back, no other turnovers to speak of from your team, the Saints only scoring 16 freaking points!!!!
This game is on Josh Freeman.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Freeman was awful again, he didn’t complete 10 passes!!!!! My God he needs to wake up, he is costing this team wins.
Defense was awesome today. Minus Black’s stupid penalty.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:22 pm
The Bucs organization are the definition of insanity. They keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Freeman’s inability to produce is putting a lot of pressure on our defense. At the end of the day, we have the 10th ranked defense in the NFL. At the end of the day, we arguably have one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:22 pm
When Brees has a bad game he still throws for over 300 yards, completes close to 60% or better, and usually WINS. Get that? And this happens pretty infrequently.
When Freeman has a bad game he throws for 100+ yards with barely 50% completion rate and LOSES. Get that? And this happens all the damn time!
THAT’s the friggin’ difference between a GOOD QB like Brees and a BAD QB like Freeman! THAT’s the difference between a FRANCHISE QB and a place-holder QB who needs to be replaced as soon as humanly possible!
Don’t EVER compare the two. They aren’t in the same class.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:22 pm
LOL @ Schaino
No balls, no glory. I would personally be less aggravated if we went for 3rd and 6 and missed instead of a dumb run.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:24 pm
@FlyBoy
Well spoken and true
September 15th, 2013 at 9:25 pm
With a Defense so hard, How can we have a HC thats so soft??
I gotta take a hiatus from JBF the next few….. my god..
September 15th, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Honest to God, how many last second and/or 1-2 point losses can this organization/fan base endure?
2012
9/30/12 vs. Washington: 2-point loss on the final play of the game (on a field goal that wasn’t even good)
10/21/12 vs. NO: loss on the final play of the game b/c Williams pushed off in the end zone for a ball that would have tied the game for the Bucs
11/25/12 vs. ATL: embarrassing 1-point loss to Matt Ryan and the Dixie Chicks
12/9/12 vs. PHI: soul-crushing 2-point loss (once again at home) ON THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME against Nick f-ing Foles, a rookie.
2013
9/8/13 @NYJ: 1-point loss ON (essentially) THE FINAL PLAY OF THE GAME that damn-near took the wind out the entire Buccaneer community’s sails and sent the franchise into a tailspin
9/15/13 vs. NO: humiliating 2-point loss ON THE (wait for it) LAST PLAY OF THE GAME, AT HOME, AGAINST A TEAM we beat the s%$* out of for 4 quarters.
I speak from an avid Buccaneer fan’s point of view when I say, fire any and all personnel who is responsible for this inexcusable and despicable debacle. Do it now. Tonight. Don’t wait until tomorrow. I don’t want to spend another day rooting for a team that embarrasses its fan base like this.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:26 pm
On the positive side, the “D” was fun tonight except for a cpl of boneheaded penalties. 4 sacks, and the best news, 2 from the D-line: 1 from Clayborn and 1 from McCoy. Gotta c the positive….
September 15th, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Why do we pay all this money for Jackson and Williams, but won’t throw it on 3rd and 6? I know Rogers is a better QB, but his coach was letting him throw it to get the first downs instead of playing it safe
September 15th, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Oh yeah, I am ashamed I did not give big kudos for the 4 down goal line stand. THAT was kicka$$
September 15th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
Is this what schiano was talking about in his first press conference as coach, tough physical aggressive defense but soft, weak, conservative offense, you come out and endorse the weak link in the defense Leonard Johnson and actually felt confident enough to let him guard colston and graham, both beat him in the last drive
September 15th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
Lynch did a telling set of clips showing how Brees looks off DBs while Free locks on his target
September 15th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
why is it when Free makes a huge throw, Schiano comes right back to the run??? LET THIS KID GET IN A RHYTHYM!!! Other than the INT, and the pass at Ogletree’s feet, Freeman played above average. Dropped passes, a called back beauty of a TD.
this conservative borderline sabatoge gamecalling by Mr Control Freak is killing us….. Plus he had allllllll week to address the penalty issues, and not a damn thing changes.
Anyways, back to my hiatus…
September 15th, 2013 at 9:31 pm
Don’t need a former NFL player to show video to see that.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:32 pm
As far as the playcalling, it’s clear Schiano is a conservative coach. He’s comfortable with trying to preserve a lead late in the game and rely on the defense to pull out the win. It’s suggested Schiano doesn’t trust Freeman with the game on the line, but I suspect the playcalling might not be so different with another QB.
The penalties are a problem and it’s an area that needs to be fixed. The team is playing hard, which is a good sign.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:33 pm
Who is putting Freeman in the Brees class?? No one.
When it mattered most, Freeman and the offense made plays to win the game. But then Schiano had to handcuff this team and put all the pressure on the defense.
The defense deserved better than to have to save the game for Schiano after basically doing so for the first 59 minutes.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:34 pm
Two takeaways for me today. 1. Shiano does not trust freeman so he needs to sit him. Glennon may soark the offense, i am now part of the mob. 2. If shiano cannot restore order we may lose every game. He needs to cut out the bone head penalties, and he needs to get out if
the offebse. The defense looked goid today, you can only stop brees for so long. The missed fg sucked too.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:34 pm
Why do the bucs still have a “qb” that stares down receivers and is semi accurate…and can’t feel pressure…and only gets worse over time…? I can’t blame the D-fence for being tired at the end of the game when they time and time again came up with miracles against the high powered saints offence… all game long just to give the ball back to the so called offence that the bucs/jfro are running. This team has a superbowl caliber D-fence. Thats for sure, but watching the offence (not including martin) makes me sick… I can’t see how a rookie QB could run it any worse. Coach says we follow #5. I’d rather follow a blind man….at least he wouldn’t stare down is passes…
September 15th, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Vincent Jackson should’ve been benched for shoving his coach. Right, Joe?
September 15th, 2013 at 9:38 pm
May be a player’s G.M. meeting only, Tuesday morning the player were asking to go for the first down,however coach did not listen and took over the play calling at the end of the game. The Saints coach listen to his player’s on 4 and goal.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:38 pm
Goodbye Blue Skies. Goodbye Blue Skies…goodbye.
–Pink Floyd
Seriously though. Fire bonehead Schiano. Bring in Lovie Smith. Let Our OC call the game he wants. Let Lovie oversee the D and squash the dumb Dline stunts. Then sit back and watch the Bucs in the playoffs.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
The coaches have to go.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:43 pm
Joe,
Yep easy to see. A caller on Freeman’s show last year pointed this out and BD bit his head off and hung up.
It’s a problem Free has to fix to get to the next level.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:44 pm
LOL!! OK…OK…we should have thrown the ball and tried to get the first down to run out the clock. Why go for 3 points and force the Saints to get a TD when the much smarter play would have been to put the ball in the air and risk a tipped pass, or an incomplete pass, both of which kills the clock? Keep in mind that when the Saints were on the goal line even DREW BREES did NOT put the ball in the air. Football is a game where you go with the odds and the smart play again was to try and get 3 pts. It didn’t work out but that does NOT make it stupid.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:44 pm
The play calling on O SUCKS. Then again, your QB always looks like he is in a deep depression. I give up, where is Jeff Garcia
September 15th, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Bucs fan for over 20 yrs….
Defense rocked, offense sucked. Start Glennan NOW and take the season loss like a MAN.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:49 pm
@Marc….if you were embarrassed after that game you should find another team bro. I’m just starting to really have hope. If this offense can ever start hitting on all cylinders like last year with this defense we could still win 10.
September 15th, 2013 at 9:54 pm
I guarantee you when you re-watch this game you are not going to see Josh Freeman nearly as bad as you make him out to be. I actually thought he was pretty accurate today. Most of the big plays he made today got called back by penalty. He was also in 3rd and long a lot. Even Brees didn’t do much with that. Blame Freeman if you want. Seems the easy thing to do. I’ll bet Schiano says he thought Freeman played a pretty good game which he didn’t say last week. Again, he does not catch his own passes and to many times neither did his receivers or penalties took back a good play.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:04 pm
I don’t think it really matters who the quarterback is anymore. As long as we have a sackless coach that is afraid to lose we will always be just good enough to pull out a thrilling loss.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
I agree Bobby. I did not think Freeman had a bad game but I knew all the usual suspects would look at the stat line and blame him anyway.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:07 pm
This team lost because they don’t know how to line up (that cost us a TD) and a coach who doesn’t know how to close out a game. Run on 3rd & 6? OK you get 3 yards but go for it on 4th & 3 by throwing the ball!! No Freeman wasn’t great but he converted some nice 3rd & longs.
I wouldnt be surprised to see a coach or two getting fired this week.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:12 pm
Go for it on 4th and 3 by throwing the ball?? What are you talking about?
September 15th, 2013 at 10:14 pm
Anybody just see Russell Wilson look off the entire D and deliver a great ball to Lynch? Freeman can’t do that.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:16 pm
I’d like for us to drop Schiano and let Sullivan run the show. He wld let offense loose and let Sheridan call the D. I think Schiano has lost this team already with his handling of Josh. Go Bucs!
September 15th, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Marty should’ve been hired, not Schiano
September 15th, 2013 at 10:18 pm
SMH…I guess we should be used to this. Just admit it we got lucky the year Gruden won the super bowl. We are officially back to the Dungy days…no offense with a swarming defense. Our defense shut the Saints down and had to score for use to take the lead. Just admit it, Freeman is a career back-up. Either that or he has to be with a coach staff that that really understands who he is. Everyone kept saying Rah didn’t have control of the team, wow, look at the team now. Is what it is and the Bucs are who they are. Expect a 8-8 record or worse, because all our games are gonna be extremely close.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:25 pm
Now we know why Rutgers was happy to see him go
September 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm
More like 2-14 which is where we are headed.
We’re a mortal lock for 0-3.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:34 pm
It’s really simple. We make the fg and we win. If you people want to blame somebody. Start with the kicker.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Freeman didn’t have a good game. Now that that’s out of the way, this loss is all on the play calling. #1 V-Jax is a monster. He dropped a couple of big one but Freeman kept going to him and he kept producing. Why not go to him on 3rd and 6? I’ll tell you why. Because everyone knows we are not going to throw the ball when the game is one the line. How’s that working out for ya, coach? That being said, #2, if Martin can get 4 on 3rd and 6, why not give it to him on 4th and 2 with a chance to put it away? This is the NFL, not the Big East. You gotta go for the kill. Not give Drew Brees, of all people, a chance to beat you. Stop tryin not to lose. Thats come back to haunt you 2 weeks in a row.
And for all you that say put Glennon in, c’mon man. Freeman may not be the franchise, but Glennon has stated he is not ready. If you think a rookie that does not think he is ready is the answer, I’m not gonna try and convince you. I don’t have that much time or desire (mostly don’t have the desire).
September 15th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
1.Possible drop/int. Why take the chance? You know Jackson droped 3 already on short passes today. So Saints may get the ball with a lot of time they have Brees.
Our defense on long drive prevent? NO WAY!
2. Run Martin. If he comes up short. Same problem.
3. Field Goal. In range, puts you up by 4. They have to get 7. You kick off long run back unlikely. Puts them usually on their 20. Defense should hold. And you want to question the call?
Not every team has Brees, Brady, Manning . And I would bet of the other coaches in the NFL 99% would have made the same call.
September 15th, 2013 at 10:40 pm
TEBOW TIME!!!!!! At least he could have / would have scrambled the six yards for a first down or at least had one defender busy spying him. In this NFL era the Kapernick / Vick / Tebow combination of throwing-scrambling (Dual threat) style is winning games. When Freeman runs he looks like a scared Panda bear running for his life.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:06 pm
@Bobby, either throw it on 3rd & 6 or 4th & 3, you pick. Either way that was 4 down territory. Never give the ball back to Brees.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:40 am
Personally I would have run a spread offence on 4th & 2, then told Free to take off for the first either a QB draw or around the end, he either picks up the 1st game over or NO has to drive 75 yards with less than a minute no time outs, and on D pressure, pressure , pressure cause Brees was rattled when the rush was on…. we need to stop playing safe, or not to lose but till the final whistle… so game over time to get to NE and get a W….