Cashing In On Vincent Jackson
August 25th, 2012
Finally, Josh Freeman fired a pass downfield this preseason. Finally! And it came very early — with zip — to Jackson. It was the second play of the Bucs’ first possession, and Freeman found Jackson in daylight nestled in the Pats’ deep zone for a 25-yard completion.
Then man coverage was no match for Jackson, and he caught two more balls on that opening possession and wrapped up the series and his night with three catches for 49 yards, and a drop.
If the Bucs can simply rip off a Jackson-led drive like that twice a game, Jackson will be in the Pro Bowl and the Bucs likely will be in the playoff hunt.
Jackson makes everything look so easy with his size, speed and route-running. Maybe it can be just that easy?
The Bucs are paying Jackson $11 million+ per season. Hopefully, Mike Sullivan will let Freeman cash in regularly on the high-priced talent.
August 25th, 2012 at 8:10 am
Hey Joe did Josh miss VJax a few times on sum other deep balls? Or was it more of a rapport thing?
August 25th, 2012 at 8:25 am
Josh missed everyone all over the place after that first drive
August 25th, 2012 at 8:56 am
Here we go, even after a nice game Bucs fans have to trash Freeman. They do not see the QB that every expert working in football sees.
August 25th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Joe Wrote: Good thing for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik that there will be a glut of players hitting the open market in the coming day. And if so inclined, Dominik might be able to purloin a salary cap casualty for a mere seventh or sixth round pick.
Even if the injuries are not serious, I believe Mark should still bring players for depth. Our first team looks very promising but players will get hurt, we have to start building our team depth.
I still think Josh plays his best when we play 3 and 4 wide formations, I would love to copy the Pats offense and add in the run out of those same formations. Great Game!!!
August 25th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Josh started great but got worse as game went on he needs lots more work.should play him next game so he is ready for season. He is not now
August 25th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Josh started great but got worse as game went on he needs lots more work.should play him next game so he is ready for season. He is not now
August 25th, 2012 at 9:22 am
I think that what Shaun King said earlier this week is right on the money, or somewhere in between. Freeman has tremendous potential but developing the consistent and fixing mechanical issues along with learning a new system does make him prone to think more, logically speaking.
But, hey, I am no expert. I say shoot for center mass at a 6’5″ target as often as possible. Maybe for a change it can be that easy…
August 25th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Look, I’m a Bucs fan and a Freeman fan. I watched the whole game. First drive he was great, the rest of the game he was horrible, and had happy feet in the pocket. What’s hard to understand about that? I am hoping it gets fixed before too late in the season, because he was really inaccurate after the first drive.
August 25th, 2012 at 10:23 am
Freeman did a lot better than you guys give him credit for. He still has no interceptions as well. I think the Daven injury shook him up a little too.
While there is no denying as the game progressed his mechanics suffered slightly, this was the first extended time he had to put his recent teachings to the test.
He’ll improve from game to game just like everyong else.
Our #2 played better but he still makes me nervous. Would love for Ratcliff to get some extended playing time even ifcit costs us a preseason win. It’ll be his last chance to play and get experience.
JOE, any word on the ticket sales for game one?
August 25th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Just started off 3/3 and then went 7/16. I’m sorry if it seems like negativity after the very solid performance by our defense. Most of the incomplete passes weren’t even close. He missed badly on many throws, either throwing behind or too high. While I know it’s the preseason, he’s take off running exactly once, despite several opportunities. He works hard and he has a lot of talent. His accuracy was lacking last night.
The offensive line played better overall, especially given the run stopping talent on the NE defense.
August 25th, 2012 at 10:52 am
There were two different perspectives. Dave Moore seemed to think the receivers were as much to blame as Freeman. John Lynch seemed to blame only Freeman. I think Freeman had an off night but the receivers have to learn how to come back to the ball. Mike Williams and V-Jax are the only ones who seem to grasp that concept. I’m not really concerned about Freeman. He seems to get the job done when he needs to. Obviously if our defense plays like it did last night we won’t have to put a lot of points up to win. When you have a defense that can confuse Brady you are on your way to good things.
August 25th, 2012 at 11:12 am
CharlieB
I think we’re not seeing Freeman run because be is trying fo build chemiztry with the WRs. Plus too many unpredictable players in preseason. The last thing we need is for Freeman to get injured on a run because some idiot wants to get noticed.
As far as the throwing game, I don’t care if he’s off target at times, as long as there are not turnovers. If you look at the QBs with the most passing yards you will see more incompletions. It’s par for the course. Better to have incompletions than interceptions.
August 25th, 2012 at 11:44 am
I agree there should be a cause for concern whenever a receiver appears to be open and the QB makes an errant throw. But be aware before you criticize too much – my understanding is that this new offense is complex and requires precise route-running.
First, it is difficult and take time for a QB to master and second, receivers must be able to consistently run prescribed routes. That is why Underwood has been doing so well, he came from the Pats having been required to run crisp routes and btw why Chad Johnson couldn’t cut it there.
The QB is often times instructed to throw to a location where the receiver is supposed to be (timing pattern). Mario Manningham made his mark with the Giants running precise routes where he had otherwise average skills. If the receiver does not run the route correctly, it looks like an errant pass.
Vincent Jackson is known to be a precise route runner. Freeman did not miss him very often!
August 25th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Regarding Freeman, he definitely needs improvement, but I’m not about his long-term success. He has shown this preseason and in general that he is a hard-worker and dedicated to his craft.
I believe you can look to Eli Manning as a good comparison. He has the tendency to throw all over the place especially earlier in his careers. He also stared down his receivers and I believe a bigger turnover machine than Freeman. Now he is a top 5 quarterback who can rest on his own strengths.
I see a similar trajectory with Freeman. He may not wow everyone this year, but I do think he is on his way to being great.
August 25th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Query for those who got to watch the 1st half: was Jackson in when Freeman’s game went south?
August 25th, 2012 at 8:34 pm
For those who were saying Freeman looked bad (basically repeating what reporters saying on twitter and what the announcers are saying)
This basically sums it up:
“I think that there was—we got a little out of rhythm and it wasn’t all Josh (Freeman). Some of the routes. The way our passing game is so detailed and the timing, if a receiver comes and breaks flat, rather than breaking on a 45 degree angle the ball is going to appear to be short. Right? Well it wasn’t short. It’s just we weren’t where we were supposed to be. You can’t wait till they are there to throw it otherwise it is a pick six. It has got to leave your hand. So we have some work to do still to get all the timing and the precision. The one thing I can’t wait to do is to get in a game plan situation. Where hey this is what they are running (this is what we think they are running) and then we rep it and I think we are going to get more certain of how we are going to perform.”
Eat crow. Happy feet, sometimes yes, but it’s all about timing.
I’d rather Freeman play in the system and not throw any picks then him forcing it all on his back and making mistakes that cost us the game.