“Take The Shackles Off”
September 19th, 2013
Former Bucs QB Shaun King makes a plea to Mike Sullivan and Greg Schiano
Free Josh Freeman!
That was the message this morning from former Bucs quarterback Shaun King on WDAE-AM 620. King said the Saints-Bucs game film on Freeman doesn’t look so bad when you account for the “drops” and “slips” by his targets. One of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, King said the Bucs have to stop playing scared with Freeman.
“When you take the shackles off, there isn’t as many pressure situations as when they’re on,” King explained. “When you’re in that conservative gameplan, you’re always in 3rd-and-4 having to make a play. When they let you just play, and you go a little two-minute offense a little earlier in the game, and you throw the ball on first and second down a little more, you know it takes some of the pressure of those situations. I know he’s struggling a little bit, but I think you gotta let him. I don’t think you can try and win in spite of your quarterback. I think you just gotta let your quarterback play. If he can’t do it, he can’t do it.”
King, who works for NBC Sports, dives into the Xs and Os of the trust issues on the field with Freeman. “You’ve got to trust him if you want to win these games.” Enjoy the full King interview below.
September 19th, 2013 at 11:50 am
Take the shackles off the run game this weekend. 40+ carries and the Bucs will win. But a Bill Belichick team with 10 days to prepare for a QB with zero confidence? I don’t like the sounds of letting Freeman throw it like crazy this weekend. We have three guys who can pound the rock, lets get Doug 25-30 and Leonard and Hillis 5-10 each.
September 19th, 2013 at 11:54 am
I hate agreeing with Shaun King, but he’s absolutely right. We’re constantly in 3rd and 8, 3rd and 9 type situations. If we open up the passing game earlier, Freeman can get into a rhythm and our offense can start clicking. There were several games last year in which we used the passing game to open up more running lanes for Doug Martin, don’t see why we can’t do the same.
September 19th, 2013 at 11:55 am
First time I actually agree with something he had to say. Freeman is NOT a pocket passer. He needs to use the ‘gun’ and roll out & use his legs!
September 19th, 2013 at 11:55 am
I’m sarting to question my sanity…this is the second time lately that i’ve a greed with Shaun King, one of one Bucs QB’s to eat an entire house.
We all get that Freeman is inconsistant but the coaches need to let him do his thing. If he fails he fails and it’s no ones fault but his own.
They’re setting up the entire team to fail. Running every time on first and second down and ending up in 3rd and long not only puts Josh in an impossible situation but it adds pressure to every position.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
3 more days!
September 19th, 2013 at 12:10 pm
the problem with Kings assessment is that he does not take into consideration that Freeman has no short or medium range ability. Freeman has no touch on his throws. He always drills the ball and usually it is off target so he can not depend on the receivers to adjust to his inaccurate throws as he can with a long throw
September 19th, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Against the Saints, we passed 5 times on 1st down. We ran it 17 times on 1st down. All that does is make your playcalling predictable, and set Freeman up for 3rd &longs all day. Freeman never had a chance.
Sullivan & Schiano need to straighten this out.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
For Josh to get into “rhythm” he would need to be a rhythm type passer and to be honest he is not a rhythm passer.
To be a rhythm passer you must be able to read and recognize man, man press, cover 1, cover or cover 3 at the line of scrimmage. Make the calls and the instant your back foot hits the ground the ball leaves your hand. Josh does not posses this ability.
We must, MUST run the ball to pull 8+ down in the box. At which point all Josh has to do is not lose the game. (4 turnovers in 2 weeks)
September 19th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Some fans and the media think this team is a mess. The national media needs to stay out Tampa ( we already have Shaun King). Maybe they should camp out in Cleveland. Can you imagine going out on a Tuesday and buying a Richardson jersey. Then you turn on NFL Network the next day and he is gone… OMG media leave our team alone.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:22 pm
It kind of sucks when on passing downs the WR runs deep routes with the running back sitting in the flat. I do not consider Olgetree a slot guy when he drops easy passes and no TE.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Oh man as bad as the Bucs have been. I feel sorry for Cleveland Browns fans. 3rd string QB and you trade away your 3rd overall pick for 2012 (Trent Richardson) for a 20 or worst? Tampa fans would riot at One Bucs Place if the traded Doug for a 1st round pick.
They basically tanked the season for a QB. They might just be worst record than Jacksonville this year.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
bucrightoff says:
“Take the shackles off the run game this weekend. 40+ carries and the Bucs will win. But a Bill Belichick team with 10 days to prepare for a QB with zero confidence? I don’t like the sounds of letting Freeman throw it like crazy this weekend. We have three guys who can pound the rock, lets get Doug 25-30 and Leonard and Hillis 5-10 each.”
You do realize that Belicheck will crowd our box all day. His offense might be slipping, but his defense is still as tough as it always was.
Like it or not, we’re going to Have To throw the ball and spread their defense out. I hope Crabtree’s return will help make that possible.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:49 pm
And the Saints crowded the box too and…Doug ran wild. Crowding the box can’t stop a great O-Line from creating holes. The Saints, like the Pats, simply don’t have the quality of personel that the Jets have. And thats the scariest part of this season so far: We’ve had back to back games of teams loading the box to force Freeman to beat them, and he’s responded with 45% completion.
September 19th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
Which means the end of Bridgewater to TB
September 19th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
bucrightoff,
We can go back and forth on this. The bottom line is we run it on 1st down 3x as much as we pass it. That knowledge alone gives opposing defenses the edge. They know what to look out for now on early downs.
But we can use last weeks mismanagement of playcalling to our advantage, and switch it up this weekend. Because if we stick to the “run run pass punt” gameplan, which got us nowhere, then the Patriots D will take out our run game, and rape Freeman all day long in front of 70,000 cheering fans.
September 19th, 2013 at 1:04 pm
TAKE SHACKLES OFF!! That is a racist comment, shuan take the pounds of please you just fit inside the screen pic…
September 19th, 2013 at 1:04 pm
shawn king is wrong why aske freeman to do a short high % pass when he has proven over and over again that he can not make the short passes. It is like watching Shaq try a freethrow shot
September 19th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
BTW, yeah Martin rushed for almost 150 yards, but unless your into Fantasy stats, not one of his yards reached the endzone. I’m glad to see that he still has it, lorigs return helped. Now Sullivan and/or Schiano need to find a way to get Freeman more involved. After all, Schiano is all about “trust”. So go “trust” your QB, cause if you won’t, then no one will. And that means youre not a uniter, youre a locker room divider.
September 19th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
“TAKE SHACKLES OFF!! That is a racist comment, shuan take the pounds of please you just fit inside the screen pic…”
The fact that you saw it that way shows that youre the racist.
Stay positive bucs fans! Theres still 14 games left to right the ship! Lets weed out the negative fans! Theyre cancers! Go bucs!
September 19th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Start Glennon!! GO BUCS!!!
September 19th, 2013 at 1:17 pm
Bucs may not win 1 game this year, they are awful
September 19th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Will Freeman get the better of Aqib Talib, or vice vesa?
September 19th, 2013 at 1:23 pm
Hey Joe, You should link John Lynches Ron n Ian interview from this morning. He gave a great unbiased take on Freeman.
September 19th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
I think that says it all. Any other time, King is the devil, right? But, the moment he says something positive about Freeman, “LISTEN TO THIS GUY!!!!”
If nothing else, you should be worried when Shaun King is supporting your guy.
That’s the kiss of death.
September 19th, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Truebuc
Yes the playcalling is a bit vanilla and predictable. But I read on Football Outsiders that last year the Bucs ran the ball frequently in predictable situations (generally first or second and 10 or so), and were remarkably succesful, even more so in the two back set which is an even more obvious running situation.
But things worked then, at least until the 6-4 mark, because there had to be some respect shown to the passing game. Right now I don’t think there are many DCs in the league who have any respect for our passing game. I think almost all of them would rather we have 30 Freeman pass attempts than 30 rush attempts by the Dougernaut.
September 19th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
I agree with him. I have never seen a quarterback thrive so much late in the game yet with nothing is on the line he struggles. And besides, if coach doesn’t like Freeman just let them go crazy and throw interceptions. It’ll make it that much easier to bench him later.
September 19th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
Like most people on this thread. I usually dont agree with Shaun but on this particular take, I completely agree. Maybe its not these comeback opportunities that gets Freeman focused and somehow look like a franchise quarterback. His comeback efforts speak for themselves afterall. Maybe its that the offense opens up for him because coaching staff has no choice. And in those moments, he shines…..
September 19th, 2013 at 3:13 pm
@bucrightoff,
“Yes the playcalling is a bit vanilla and predictable. But I read on Football Outsiders that last year the Bucs ran the ball frequently in predictable situations (generally first or second and 10 or so), and were remarkably succesful, even more so in the two back set which is an even more obvious running situation.”
I agree. But youre leaving out a key difference. Last year we had Dallas Clark (47 catches for 435yds), and Tiquan Underwood (28 catches for 425yds). They gave Freeman an outlet in the middle of the field that defenses had to account for. The two of them accounted for almost 900 of Freemans 4000 yards.
So we replace Dallas Clark with Crabtree/Tim Wright, who havent touched the ball yet. And Underwoods replacement looks like Michael Clayton II. (but Im glad Crabtree is gonna play Sunday, I hope he’s at least 80% healthy and as hungry as Shaun King after an hour without food.
September 19th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Shaun King….the only Bucs QB to be mistaken for the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man. When your “jounalism” career ends, try doing Michelin Tire commercials.
September 19th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
*journalism*
September 19th, 2013 at 3:56 pm
TrueBuc
No doubt they did not do an adequate job replacing the lost production. That said Underwood hasn’t been signed by anyone and the only reason Clark did was because the Ravens have been obliterated by injuries to their pass catchers. Clark had a just brutal drop against Denver that cost them a TD. You would like to think that anyone on the roster could step up and replace guys who, according to almost every NFL team, aren’t good enough to play. Maybe Crabtree makes a difference but thats pretty high expectations for a guy with 18 career catches.
September 19th, 2013 at 4:30 pm
The world must be coming to an end and the sky be falling because I actually 100% agree with Mr. King. Turn Josh loose and see what he can do. He’s in the last year of his deal so give him a little more freedom, and if he can’t do it then let him walk and go find somebody who can. This team is built to win now. Need to know if they can do it with Josh
September 19th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Shaun King has been 100% correct on his assessment of the Bucs since the beginning of training camp.
September 19th, 2013 at 7:45 pm
Love Shaun most of the time but this is a brother thing.
September 19th, 2013 at 8:50 pm
well honestly shaun king is right we should hv kept bennet. We should hv sign or drafted a gd tight end. Our playcalling sucks. If u don’t trust Freeman lets trade him or otherwise shut up.
September 19th, 2013 at 10:11 pm
@Coolman….you miss Michael Bennett after 9 sacks in two games?? Why?
September 19th, 2013 at 10:52 pm
Sitting here watching the chiefs/eagles game. Alex smith is widely known as an average qb. But reid still calls an offense that throws the ball on all downs. He has a stud rb too. They use him in the passing game to get touches when they dont want to run. Yeah he misses throws and makes some stupid throws. But all qbs do. You gotta keep defenses off balance. If you force yourself into 3rd and longs all day you will never sustain a drive. You gotta run to set up the pass and pass to set up the run.
Indont care who u trust or dont, you cant be scared to win.
#FREEFREEMAN
September 19th, 2013 at 10:58 pm
Like others have said. Let freeman loose and if he fucks up then people will see it. And u can bench him. But if they continue to hold him back the coaches look bad for making bad play calls in key situations.
September 20th, 2013 at 12:36 am
They actually did come out with a little non huddle offense in the 2nd quarter. It was ran pretty well but they got away from it. The drops didn’t help eother
September 20th, 2013 at 3:33 am
Just poking my head in to say IM DONE WITH FREEMAN….it sucks he’s still here….Im watching everyone else BUT HIM!
PLEASE GET THIS OVER WITH DOM!!!!