Can’t Blame Josh Freeman
December 18th, 2013
Josh Freeman never led an offense as bad as the Bucs offense is now.
Ears still ring from all the hollering on local sports radio the past couple of days about how awful (except for two possessions) the Bucs offense was, how poorly (except for two possessions) quarterback Mike Glennon was, and how the Bucs offense seems to be getting worse by the week instead of improving.
Then, in a bizarre explanation during what seemed like a record-long press conference Monday, Bucs commander Greg Schiano, said he didn’t go back to a hurry-up offense in the loss to the 49ers, the only time the Bucs appeared to have a pulse offensively — and scored two touchdowns — because, in part, the team hadn’t practiced it in the days leading up to the game.
That’s odd; because for an offense that hadn’t been practiced, as Schiano noted, the team sure looked well-oiled and proficient using it.
Aside from the two scoring drives using the hurry-up, the Bucs had 10 possessions where they gained a grand total of 11 yards, or 1.1 yards gained per possession. That’s awfully hard to digest. As a result, the Bucs now have the worst offense in the NFL for total yards, averaging 283.7 a game. That’s worst than the Jags; worse than the bungling Bills; worse than the Dixie Chicks; worse than the miserable Raiders.
Dead last.
Now Joe knows the Bucs ran out of patience with leaky Rip Van Freeman, who did his best to tear apart the team and get out of town, among other things (it seemed he was averse to alarm clocks). And while the Freeman mess may have stunted the team this season, the current offensive woes cannot be blamed on Freeman.
When he was franchise quarterback, he never led the worst offense in the NFL. Never. Not even when he was a rookie in 2009. In Freeman’s years with the Bucs, the Pewter Pirates finished ninth in the NFL in offense in 2012, 21st in the heinous 2011 season, 19th in 2010 and 28th in 2009 when he was a part-time starter.
Detractors can point to Freeman as the root of all evil. But he’s been gone for some time now. No one can blame Freeman for the worst offense in the NFL, a crown of thorns the Bucs currently wear.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:14 am
Freeman sucks he’s a bench warmer in Minnesota laughing all the way to the bank popping rittalin and adderal.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:20 am
I’ve given up. I thought things made sense and I felt good about our direction until that presser. I’ll watch and hope for the best but I can’t get behind a coach that has the philosophy that schiano evidently subscribes to.
I’m not sure how he can say that they don’t do halftime adjustments because they’re adjusting so much during the game but them he says that he won’t do what’s working because it’s not what they practiced. Are they adjusting or not? Is it all misdirection? Nothing makes sense anymore.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:39 am
HA! Could you just imagine how bad Sunday would have been with that guy out there trying to run the no huddle against the friggin 49ers, with his head in the clouds all day?
December 18th, 2013 at 8:41 am
Losses bring out everyone’s frustrations and questions. Wins and in this league everyone just moves along, just ask the Colts on Trent Richardson trade or Seattle on the Percey Harvin trade. Two games remain against very good teams, I still see hope. Guess I always will – this is my team.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:45 am
Without a doubt, Glennon is better. Not even close.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:52 am
Make no mistake about it. Schiano is still on a very, very hot seat, and his terrible offense is a big part of it..
December 18th, 2013 at 8:54 am
I agree Joe, Cannot blame Freeman. And I will say what you cannot. Its the fault of the Guy who drafted him.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:55 am
I blame the glazers for hiring an inept coach out of the big east who really never accomplished anything exept a good sales pitch and a decent understanding of pseudo discipline. Hey the guy can’t coach but I bet he’s a hell of a cook.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:02 am
There are many reasons for the poor offense:
Weak O-line
Poor Gameplan/Playcalling
Rookie QB
Injuries to MW19, Martin, Nicks, Crabtree, Barth
Weak 3rd WR
The most significant of these is the weak O-line, causing us to have virtually no running game
December 18th, 2013 at 9:18 am
Prescriptions for improving the Offense:
Change OC
Cut Joseph
Restructure Penn
Trade down in the draft and pick up Ebron or best WR available
Pick OG with extra pick
Cut Nicks if not 100% healthy & replace him in FA
Trade one of the following for extra pick Rainey, Demps, Smith
Go to 2 back sets…either use the FB less or get a FB that can run and recieve
December 18th, 2013 at 9:20 am
Can’t give Dominick a pass either ie nicks, Ogletree, bowers, Ect..Ect..
December 18th, 2013 at 9:24 am
Bottom line is we didn’t have a rookie QB last year and every team is desemated by injuies this time of year so we go from 7-9 to 5-11 if we’re lucky.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:31 am
It starts at the top. It won’t change until there’s a new regime.
That said, I would take a rookie Glennon over a 5th year Freeman 8 days a week.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:37 am
Sorry about that I guess I shouldn’t drink, drive, and text @ the same time.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:47 am
Well Freeman also had the luxury of playing with our starting offensive core. Glennon been playing with the scabs. Glennon is a rookie playing with rookies and undrafted free agents/rookies at skill positions. Tough spot.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:48 am
I can come to only one conclusion, schiano and his staff. Hate the idea of starting over again, but I’m tired of watching this weak-as$ offense. When the 49er’s went ahead, I had little confidence in my Bucs coming back. The play calling is predictable, no imagination, a reverse out of the end zone down two scores? Oh well, guess we’ll get them next year.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:48 am
I still blame Freeman, injuries on offense and Dominik for not making sure we had a quality 3rd/4th WR/TE and any depth on offense.
We should be in the thick of it with a QB who is playing for a $100mil contract. Instead we found out that Freeman is a p*ssy and sh*t all over himself and couldn’t even make the active list for MN.
Glennon got thrown into the fire with no help; he’s a freakin 3rd RD rookie (best rookie QB btw) and managed to play fairly well at first. Throw in the murderers row of defenses they played the last 5 out of 6 games and he’s hit a wall.
This should have all been expected the moment Rip Van D-bag got sat down and eventually cut.
It is what it is folks!
Can’t wait for 2014… Go Bucs!
P.S. – Joe, I’m shocked that you didn’t mention Manziel in this post.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:51 am
Freeman was never going to be anything but the 4th best QB in our division, as you have said many times Joe…so why are we going back and looking at him? He is nothing more than the droppings that a dog turns back and sniff after it does its’ business. I don’t know Glennon is the answer…on board with you picking up another QB in the draft….but please, let’s not turn back and sniff Freeman again.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:55 am
And this is one of the many reasons why the Glazers need to find a HC that can help this very talented team blossom into a good team. Schiano just doesn’t know how to do it…
December 18th, 2013 at 10:09 am
It’s George Bush’s fault! Well, it seems to work for the other guy.
December 18th, 2013 at 10:11 am
We just don’t have enough talent….many on IR….Undrafted FA & rookies in their place….
Joe is always mentioning our 8 pro-bowlers….
Martin, Nicks injured….Joseph & Penn not performing….
So we have 1 on offense….Jackson and 3 on defense…GMC, Revis & Goldson
We will see how many pro-bowlers we have this year….because some of these will never make the probowl again.
December 18th, 2013 at 10:52 am
So let me see if i have this right: The (Rutgers) offense Schiano practices all week produces 11 net yards, while the offense he DOESN’T practice produces 2 TD’s, but he doesn’t want to use it too often (probably because he’d have to admit that he’s practicing the wrong things).
Have a feeling he’s not practicing the hurry-up, because he doesn’t know how to coach it.
Who “coaches the coaches”, folks?
December 18th, 2013 at 10:57 am
From everything I hear the players are working, preparing and playing very hard, but still losing due to poor coaching. Makes me feel really bad for them
December 18th, 2013 at 11:08 am
no running game, teams are ready for Rainey, he’s ok but not “bell cow”
December 18th, 2013 at 11:15 am
Why is everyone blaming Freeman- Was Freeman given Enough reps in the Off season? Didnt the coach and Mark Dominik say that- its all about seeing What Glennon can do and robbed Freeman of the precious reps in the off season? Schiano never trusted Freeman for whatever reasons… Trust is always a two way road. If Schiano cant trust Freeman, how should Free trust Schiano
December 18th, 2013 at 11:16 am
Oh by the way- Schiano only won against loosing teams, same as Freeman. In that case, Schiano = Freeman
December 18th, 2013 at 11:20 am
Glennon did just fine running the no huddle. In fact he looked damn good at it.
It’s not the O line.
It wasn’t the Niners defense (though it is a very good one)
It”s not on Mike Sullivan.
It’s not about the loser Freeman.
It’s not about our WR corps, or lack thereof.
It’s about our coach.
This one is on Schiano and him alone.
He deserves outright termination for this transgression. In season, in game, fired on the spot, off the sideline at Ray Jay. I was a supporter. Was. Get this fool away from my team.
December 18th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Vinny Testeverde used to go to Ray Perkins and tell him what he was seeing at the line of scrimmage. He would suggest a plan of attack that should work.
Coach would say, “Is it in the game plan? Did we practice It?”
Vinny would shrug his shoulders and retreat to the furthest corner of the bench and sulk.
Coach Perkins perfected mediocrity with his tunnel vision. The same could be said of our Rutger’s offense and game plans.
I congratulate the Little General for his stubbornness and myopic vision.
He’ll try to turn Jadaveon Clowney into Ganes Adams.
December 18th, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Buc fans who have been around since the team began know that the Bucs have never had a good offense, really ever. Offensive execution and Bucs football are things that never truly coexisted.
December 18th, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Last year Freeman led a Top 10 offense, this year Glennon has led the worst offense.. Idk how people constantly rip Freeman, basically considering him an untouchable.
Now before everyone goes to the injury excuse (which would have been shot down for Freeman) both Josh and Mike played without Nicks for a majority of their seasons, Josh has Mike Williams, Mike has a pretty good tightend in Wright that Freeman never had, Freeman did have Doug Martin, but it’s not like the running game has been non-existent for Glennon.
I’ve always felt most of the fans in Tampa have had something against Freeman more than his play..
December 18th, 2013 at 2:29 pm
Freeman was a disease that showed how awful infectious he was this season.
We are still doing our best to get that stench off of our team.
December 18th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
like last year’s pass defense, many factors contribute to this. underperforming OL hasn’t helped, and this is the least dangerous we have been at the skill positions since 2009. and we have actually faced several of the league’s best defenses including Carolina x2, Seattle, and SF. not an excuse but certainly a contributing factor. i don’t think josh ever had a good game passing the ball without a 100 yard rusher being in the mix. same can be said of this offense, only the 100 yard rushing performances have been non-existent most sundays
December 18th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
I agree with you Dmac, kinda like Williams people saying things like we need a ‘real’ QB or he is just not smart enough to play QB. Maybe its a southern thing but I just don’t think it reflects well on our fans. I think Free came in this year pissed because they shopped both him and for a QB hard all off season. He knew going into this year Schiano didn’t have his back or believe in him.
December 18th, 2013 at 4:50 pm
really glennon isn’t too bad, he could be an ok nfl starter, like Matt cassel or Ryan Fitzpatrick. which is what he’s shown and what his career will entail. being just ok. But what’s holding this offense down is schiano. As we all saw in the hurry up (apparently something not practiced) the offense excelled. The natural talent came out and the players executed. When they went to “the buccaneer way” they couldn’t move the ball at all.
So let’s recap. When the players have free will, they execute to perfection. When they play within schianos scheme and structured offense they absolutely suck. Sounds like the players have the talent to get the job done, it’s the coaching and scheme that are god awful.
December 18th, 2013 at 4:55 pm
I think freeman is a better talent than glennon. Freeman was great when he was on, he just couldn’t find that switch some times. Glennon makes a few good throws here or there but he doesn’t do anything special. Freeman was special when he was on.
December 18th, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Stop blaming the lack of offense on the offense. The 49ers defense held Wilson and Seattle to 17 points.
Wilson was 15 of 25 for 178 yards, 6.6 yards per attempt, 1 td and 1 int.
Glennon was 18 of 34 for 18 for 179 yards, 5.3 yards per attempt, 2 td and 1 int with a lot less talent.
I guess Seattle should get rid of Wilson because he is obviously just an average QB. At least according to the little puppy, Joe and all of the Josh Freeboy jock sniffers.
December 18th, 2013 at 5:33 pm
TruJoshfan22
Freeboy never went 20 of 23 in his career or had an 87% completion rate for a game in his career. But according to you he was great and the rookie who has broken all of Freeboy’s rookie Bucs records in less playing time is not anything special. Freeboy is special all right, so special he can’t even beat out Christian Ponder and Matt Cassell who will both be looking for work next year.
December 18th, 2013 at 6:32 pm
glennon has topped out and now next year will be even worse
December 18th, 2013 at 6:35 pm
elio says too much blame f moron
December 18th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
if free was still here we might have one win,NOT
December 18th, 2013 at 7:48 pm
Merry Xmas from Arizona. We finally made it; even talked my way out of a speeding ticket. The officer was very polite and friendly.
Now my question. There have been many damaging statements made on Josh Freeman. Could you offer proof and elaborate on what REALL happened?
Yes, I was a big supporter before he left. I have no interest in comments about him not playing for the Vikings; I am not a fan except when Favre played.
I think with some good coaching on mechanics–specifically grip, throwing motion, and footwork–he could have been much more successful.
After all, how do the Bucs drop from a top 10 offense to last?
So, for example, if you think he’s a cokehead offer up some proof as if you were being charged for libel.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:02 pm
“I agree Joe, Cannot blame Freeman. And I will say what you cannot. Its the fault of the Guy who drafted him”
So, what you’re saying is what? Freeman stunk up the joint , but it’s ok cause it’s REALY the fault of the guy that drafted him? I’d be interested to know if that person (in your mind) is Dominic , or Morris. Where is the line of responsibility between coaching accountability & personal accountability? How much was Free’s fault, & how much was the fault of the HISTORICALLY bad coaching we’ve had , during the last 5 ( hell , since 2003 ) years? I feel coaching plays a bigger part than most fans give credit to. A case that comes to MY mind, was the change in Drew Brees between his time in San Diego & in New Orleans. Does ANYONE think the change was in Drews ability ?? Creating a sucsessful franchise is , obviously, in iffy project, and we’ve (the Bucs) been stumbling in the dark, most of the time. Our only real success has been the Dungy years & Gruden’s first ( with the Super Bowl win ). I’m no genius, & wouldn’t even want to TRY building a franchise, but I really don’t think anything good would come of sticking with this guy (Schiano) , and I’ll watch what happens on black Monday before deciding on renewing my season tickets. If Schiano stays, I go, it’s as simple as that. He’s done some good things, but far more, & much worse, bad things. That’s just my opinion, of course, but what else should I make that decision based on, blind faith ?
December 18th, 2013 at 10:57 pm
How about someone give credit to the 49er defense.
They held Russell Wilson to nearly the same stats as Glennon but I don’t hear Joe or any of the Josh Freeboy’s fan club saying how Wilson (with more of his starting offense than Glennon), is not good enough to be a starter in the NFL. No just the rookie playing in his 11th game is not good enough r the coaching is not good enough.
How about just give credit where credit is due, the 49ers defense is really good.