The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were looking to build some positive momentum but the football gods were not on their side. As kickoff approached, South Florida was hit with a mid summer down pour. That lasted all of about five minutes, but turned the field at Sunlife Stadium into a muddy mess. The Buccaneers starting offensive and defensive units looked sharp in there debut as the team came up on the losing end.

Good

DE Michael Bennett – Bennett who has gotten rave reviews thus far in camp had a solid outing rushing the passer as he recorded the Bucs lone sack and two of the Bucs three quarterback hits along with 1 tackle for loss. Bennett almost got a second sack as he burst through the line to drag Thigpen down as he was releasing the ball.

CB E.J. Biggers – Biggers got the starting nod with Aqib Talib out and made a huge case for the nickel cornerback spot. Biggers was aggressive and held his own against one of the games premiere receivers. Biggers lead the team with four tackles and a fumble recovery but made some timely stops in key third down situations to go along with some good open field tackling.

QB Josh Freeman – Freeman showed poise in the pocket, elusiveness and touch during his two series of work. He connected on a beautifully thrown 30 yard strike to rookie Mike Williams. Later in the drive inside the redzone Freeman was able to buy some time by sliding to his left and connected with second year receiver Sammie Stroughter on a  13-yard touchdown. He finished his night of work going 4 for 4 for 53 yards and 1 touchdown.

RB Kareem Huggins – Huggins did not disappoint as he showed a second gear in the open field. A quick first step and good body lean and vision when cutting. In a three plays two runs and a screen pass Huggins picked up 66 yards and three first downs. He finished the game with 8 carries for 55 yards and 2 catches for 16 yards. After seeing what Ward did, it would not surprise this fanatic to see Huggins seriously contender for the number two spot behind Cadillac Williams.

Bad

QB Josh Johnson – Any positive momentum after the Bucs scored first was given back to the Dolphins as Johnson launched an interception on a poorly thrown deep ball to Reggie Brown who had a couple steps on the Dolphins Sean Smith.  Johnson had to be bailed out on numerous occasions by his receivers who made some tremendous crabs to keep drives alive. Johnson also had a costly fumble. Overall through the first pre-season game the growth that many had hoped to see from Johnson just was not there.

RB Derrick Ward – Ward looked slow, lethargic and incapable of breaking any long runs. Compounded by a case of the fumbles Ward was indecisive and lacked instincts as he continually ran up the backs of his offensive lineman.

The Ugly

Field Conditions – They were deplorable to say the least! The Dolphins as an organization should be embarrassed with the conditions of the field, after only raining for five minutes. Luckily for both clubs no one sustained any serious injuries. It was damn near impossible for players to get any type of footing on either the infield or the rest of the field for that matter. Players were stumbling and sliding the entire night.

Freeman continues to struggle

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, were riding a two game win streak into today’s final, but looked total out of sync on offense. Josh Freeman making his team leading 9th start of the season completed 16-of-32 passes for 174 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The ground game disappeared once again and the Bucs finished the game with 38 rushing yards on 23 carries for an average of 1.65 yards per carry. The defense forced two Matt Ryan interceptions, but could not get off the field in the fourth quarter as the Falcons pounded the ball with Jason Snelling. Snelling picked up 131 of his 147 yards rushing in the second half of the game.

GOOD
Geno Hayes – For the second straight week in a row, the second year linebacker went over ten total tackles and recorded a sack. Hayes finished the game with 12 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 quarterback pressure. While the consistency over the last half of the season has been good and Hayes has showed remarkable improvement, he is still missing some tackles.

Corey Lynch – An often seldom used safety has made a huge impact on special teams with since the team signed him, another week and another blocked kick, Hopefully the team works him into the rotation next year or at the very least gives him a chance to over take Sabby Piscitelli at strong safety in OTA’s and training camp in 2010.

BAD
Josh Freeman – As we pointed out over the past several days in regards to Freeman’s cold starts early in football games – his problematic interceptions in the second half of games. He continued to struggle against the Falcons completing  just 5-of-12 for 31 yards in the first half while also tossing 2 interceptions in the second half. He finished the game with a QBR (Quarterback Rating of 50.9).

THE UGLY
Pass Rush – It’s like beating a dead horse when it comes to the Bucs inept pass rush this season, even playing against a patch work offensive line. The team still failed to get pressure with its front four and had to resort to sending a myriad of different blitz looks just to notch one sack.

Game Plan – Offensive coordinator Greg Olson has had far more bad days since being promoted to offensive coordinator then he has good days and begs the question of whether or not he should be allowed to roam the sidelines in the same capacity next season if head coach Raheem Morris is indeed retained for one more season.

Could this be an upset of epic portions or just a fluke win? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just the second team in NFL history to knock off a 13-game winner, after complying atleast 12 losses. The other was the Green Bay Packers in 2006, when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks. After a dreadful start which saw the Saints jump out two a 17-0 lead in the first half, the Buccaneers never surrendered and clawed their way back into the game behind the hard charging Carnell Williams 24 carries for 129 yards and one score.

GOOD
Carnell Williams – After basically watching from the sideline the second half in game this season, offensive coordinator Greg Olson decided to go against the norm and continue to run the football with Williams who had his first 100-yard game since 2006 before he injured his knee the first time.

Geno Hayes – He was absent in the first quarter of the game for unknown reasons, he spearheaded a defensive attack the limited the high powered Saints to just 17 points and 373 total yards of offense. Hayes finished the game with 10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 2 tackles for loss.

BAD
Josh Freeman – Once again he begins a game shaky in the first quarter throwing another interception and missing wide open targets in the passing game. Not sure why he runs so cold in the first quarter of games, but diffidently something that will need to be corrected if he’s to take that next step. He finished the game 21-of-31 for 271 yards no touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

THE UGLY
Pass Protection – Was horrid in this game, the Saints were getting pressure with three and four man fronts all game long. If it wasn’t for Freeman using his legs a few times and adsorbing punishment and bouncing off of would be tacklers by Freeman the Saints would have racked up quite a few more sacks.

Talk about a team totally regressing, 124 yards of offense 3-points scored and just a total lack of fight. The Bucs have spiraled out of control – shrouded in a gloomy haze. The team is the perfect picture of ineptness. It starts at the very top of the organization and trickles down. Owners who presume they actual know something about football in less then a year, have the Buccaneers at the very vain beginning of there existence as an NFL franchise known as perennial laughable loser.

GOOD
Draft Slotting – With every loss and inept showing the team continues to have a small glimmer of hope of drafting the most dominant defense player of the last decade in Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh. With every mounting loss the team remains in the hunt for Suh, the biggest things fans worry about is the front office actually screwing it up.

BAD
Team – The magnitude of problems that exist within the organization have become comical at best, if you applied the word bad in front of every aspect of the team it would be a conservative description of a truly pathetic situation.

UGLY
Hope – This is by far, the worst as fans have begun to shun the team because that small flickering light of hope has dimmed so much so that fans can no longer see conviction from the owners to field a capable staff that has the foresight or the knowledge to turn things around with a solid plan for the foreseeable future.

Freeman has worst outing as a pro with five interceptions

It would seem, that we here at BucsCentral.com are beginning to sound like a broken record, but yet another week goes by and the team finds a new way to lose a football game. Having the second ranked offense in the redzone this season the Bucs completely feel apart against the Panthers. Rookie Josh Freeman was careless with the football and cost the Bucs a possible road win. Now there is a fine line too be walked with regards to being fearless or careless with the football and this past Sunday Freeman was careless when it came to protecting the football.

GOOD:
Greg Olson – Olson who has been quick to abandon the run this season stuck with it and the team produced 154 yards rushing and 469-total yards of offense, the fifth highest total in Franchise history. So while some fans will want to pile on Olson, the team moved the football with relative ease, the Panthers began the day with the third best pass defense in the NFL allowing 181.3 yards per game, but gave up 321 passing yards to a rookie. So while the team did not win or produce in the redzone due to carelessness, Olson deserves credit for a solid game plan and playing calling against the Panthers.

BAD:
Third Down Efficiency – Against the Panthers, the Bucs converted 4-of-14 third down attempts for a 28% conversion rate. On the season the Bucs are 50-of-161 for 31% and rank 28^th in the NFL in converting third downs.

THE UGLY:
Josh Freeman – Freeman had his worst outing as a professional. Throwing five interceptions in Panthers territory, it showed carelessness on his part. But many expected a game like this would happen. Now, Freeman will have to show the resilience to bounce back after a horrid outing. All eyes will be on Freeman next week against the Jets to see how he mentally handles the pressure the Jets will undoubtedly bring. Depending on how Freeman handles the pressure and his ability to have a solid outing will go a long way in his development for the future.

Going back to his draft profile from NFLdraftscout.com who provides draft content for CBSSports.com, NFL.com and the USA Today Freeman’s lowest ranking out of any of the measurable categories was his reading of defenses.

Reading Defenses: Freeman is still a work in progress in this area. He lacks a good feel for progressions and can be a second late anticipating his target coming out of a break. He is tall moving in the pocket, but despite having the height to scan the field, he fails to recognize backside pressure. Adequate making decisions and will be sacked when he holds the ball too long. A big concern is his penchant for forcing the ball into coverage. In particular, zone coverages have confounded Freeman and he will eyeball his primary target. Early in 2008, he was making fine read progressions, but his consistency steadily faltered. When he throws into traffic, it is because he struggles to read coverage. GRADE: 5.6

Freeman continues to build on debut, puts fourth another solid performance

Another week, another loss, sure the losses continue to mount, but after sacking their second coordinator this season the team actually made strides. The defense played downhill and made plenty of tackles for loss. The starting linebackers of Barrett Ruud, Geno Hayes and Quincy Black combined for 30 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 4 tackles for loss with Raheem Morris calling plays on defense and reverting back to a one gap scheme for the front four had solid results with 14 tackles, 4 sacks, 4 tackles for loss and 6 quarterback hits.

GOOD
Josh Freeman – After a horrid week against the Saints, the young rookie rebounded and showed poise, accuracy and leadership in his fourth start completing 20-of-29 passes for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns, he had only one sack and one fumble, but no turnovers. Freeman finished the game with a QBR of 118.5. He completed 68.9 percent of his passes and boosted his overall completion percentage by four points too 55.2% on the season – improved his QBR by nearly thirteen points from 63.8 to 76.5.

Defense – After being the poster children for dysfunctional through the teams first 10 games played, the decision to revert back to the familiar one gap penetrating style of the play that many fans grew accustomed too with the Tampa 2  the defense showed an aggression and a sense of urgency that had been lacking all season holding the Falcons to 75 yards on 26 carries for a 2.88 ypc average and a total of 332 yards on 70 plays for an average gain of 4.74 yards.

BAD
3 down and 2 – Olson has become too predictable on 3 and 2, as he has called pass plays 100% of the time, and 99.9% of the time it’s out of a shotgun formation.  During the Falcons game the situation came up three times, out of the three 3 and 2 plays all three plays were called pass plays and two were out of the shotgun. Below is Olson’s third down play calling through week 11.

THE UGLY
Ground Game – The lack of conviction to the ground game is puzzling to say the least, but it’s apparent the team lacks confidence in the offensive line and the running backs to grid it out. For the amount of resources that have been spent and used over the last few years to build a competitive and dominant line, it has fallen well short of expectations this season.

Bucs drop another one, fall to 1-9 on the season

Another week another loss for the Buccaneers, fans should exercise extreme patience when judging the maturation process of rookie Josh Freeman. From the beginning everyone knew Freeman needed time to develop and would have some down right horrid games if he was inserted as the starter, but after two solid performances in which he gave the team, a legitimate chances at securing a victory. The young rookie suddenly morphed into to what many suspected they would see from a young quarterback pressing to make something happen, limited reps in training camp makes his learning curve a bit steeper and the adjustment to two different offensive schemes is not helping his development. Even with that said, Freeman still showed some flash in engineering a 12 play 95 yards drive that was capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass to Michael Clayton in the back of the endzone. On the play Freeman stepped up in the pocket to elude rushers, then scrambled to his right and found a wide open Clayton for his fifth touchdown of the season.

GOOD
Earnest Graham – Missing in action during the teams first 9 games and after having to move to fullback due to injuries. Graham came out of hiding and had two runs that produced 29 yards on the team’s lone scoring drive. But Olson for what ever reason lost the desire to feature the hot hand. Conviction to the ground game has been puzzling to say the least, when after all, it was preached that the team would make it’s identity by becoming a downhill physical running team.

BAD
Josh Freeman – His accuracy has been one of, if not his biggest detractors even going back to his collegiate days at Kansas State. Freeman’s accuracy issues are twofold, the first boils down to anticipating throws and the second is his chemistry with his receivers. But to become a good or even great quarterback in the NFL he must master the art of anticipation, then go to work on his placement of the football in correlation to his receivers and the defender.

THE UGLY
Run Defense – For what every reason Jim Bates refuses to cultivate a scheme that better fits the personnel at his disposal. It is blatantly obvious even to the must novice of fans that the team just doesn’t have the type of players needed in the front seven to continually compete up front in the current scheme, so why not adjust the scheme to fit the personnel?

Freeman fumbled four time, but managed to put the team in position to win

Making only his second NFL career start and first road start, rookie signal caller, Josh Freeman shook off a case of the fumbles to lead the team down the field in the final minutes of the game for what many believed was the go ahead touchdown. Leading 23-22 with 1:14 left in the game the Bucs seemingly had there second win in as many weeks, but a porous defense allowed the Dolphins to march down the field and kick the winning field goal.

GOOD
Kellen Winslow – Winslow is by far the team’s best offensive weapon this season, with 7 catches for 102 yards against the Dolphins, he now has 42 receptions for 454-yards and 5 touchdowns with a 10.8 yards average, he did however have a couple of costly gaffes when he dropped two passes that would have resulted in first downs.

Josh Freeman – Making just his second NFL start Freeman did enough to give the team a legitimate chance at securing a victory. Even though his stat line says one interception, it was clearly on the receiver and not the quarterback. Freeman is still a work in progress but shows the ability to lead the team from behind. He finished 16-of-28 for 196 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception and chipped in 36 yards on 7 rushes.

Connor Barth – Barth made all three field goal attempts of 50 plus yards against the Dolphins and is 4-of-5 since signing with the Bucs, He’s also averaging 66 yards on kickoffs.

Quincy Black – After a quiet first eight games of the season, Black notched 7 tackles and one interception, Black’s interception on an errant Chad Henne pass set up a one-yard run by Cadillac Williams to put the Bucs up 23-22. Like Winslow, Black also had a few blunders, in the way of missed tackles.

BAD
Josh Freeman – Ball security is becoming a glaring issue, when Freeman is scrambling and being hit. With Freeman’s height and center Jeff Faine’s low stance there seems to be a familiarity issue when it comes to the quarterback center exchange. It’s a correctable one, but will take some extra attention.

Pass Rush – After the defensive line broke out of its three season funk to record six sacks against the Packers, they again sunk to a dismal bliss and showed once again they are just not talented enough to garner consistent pressure.

THE UGLY
Tackling – For a team that is still sporting pads during the week, this late in the season, they were supposed to be a physically violent team, but with the amount of missed tackles to date. It would seem that they might need to practice proper technique and tackling fundamentals instead of worrying about being a violent tackling team.

Freeman throws three touchdowns passes in Bucs first win of season

Loveable losers, no more! Bucs win! The Bucs snapped an eleven game losing streak dating back to the 2008 season. It was a game a first. Creamsicle uniforms for the first time in 13-years, Josh Freeman made his first start, threw his first touchdown passes, Elbert Mack had his first NFL interception, Michael Bennett and Tim Crowder each recorded their first sacks as Buccaneers, Sammie Stroughter caught his first NFL touchdown. Connor Barth kicked his first field goal as a Buc and Raheem Morris got his first win.

GOOD
Josh Freeman – Freeman showed promise in his first start throwing three touchdown passes and consistently pushing the football down the field. A solid performance from a player who had varying results in the pre-season.

Bucs Secondary – Three interceptions one a piece for Aqib Talib, Elbert Mack and of course one by Tanard Jackson returned for a touchdown in the waning moments to seal the deal. The secondary held Rodgers to 49% on 17-of-35 for 266 yards and 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Defensive line – Often beleaguered for the lack of pressure applied this season the front four registered 6 sacks. Spearheaded by Greg “Stylez G” White with 1.5 sacks, Tim Crowder, Ryan Sims, Roy Miller, and Michael Bennett each recorded a sack a piece, while Chris Hovan recorded half a sack.

BAD
Run Defense – Even though the defensive line brought pressure, the front seven allowed 170 rushing yards on 32 carries for 5.31 yards per carry and 2 touchdowns. Sloppy tackling and missed run fits still plagues the defense.

Play Calling – The lack of a ground game is worrisome to say the least, but blame must be placed at the door step of offensive coordinator Greg Olson, never seemingly out of the game it curious that there were only 21 running plays called to 34 pass plays.

THE UGLY
Run Blocking – Since the first game of the season the team has had a heck of a time trying to establish the downhill attack that was preached about. Where’s the conviction to the ground? It’s a mental mind set when it comes to running the football and the Bucs just don’t have it.

Freeman see first action of regular season

Outmanned, out coached, – the Bucs continue to fight. With no shot in hell against a far superior team in the Patriots. The Bucs drop to zero-dash-seven and have now lost 11 straight games dating back to last season. For those who shouted from the mountain tops that they wanted rookie signal caller Josh Freeman to take the field you got your wish, but what he showed in the handful of snaps was that he is not ready. Two sacks, one fumble, one delay of game penalty, one scramble for five yards and 2-of-4 for 16 yards. Let’s face it, put a fork in the 2009 team, because the only thing left to fight for is job security in 2010.

GOOD
Tanard Jackson – Displayed great athletic ability and coverage skills for the second week in a row. He is one of the team’s building blocks and a true play maker on defense. Lead the team with eight tackles and record his second interception in as many weeks.

Aqib Talib – Is becoming a dominant force in pass coverage, leads the team with four interceptions – is beginning to coming into his own as a shut down corner. While he did allow randy Moss to catch a  37 yard pass from Tom Brady, Talib last four games should leave fans with a  glimmer of hope that a former first round might has a chance to become a Pro bowler in time.

Sammie Stroughter – Three catches for 63 yards against the Patriots he continues to add to his total with 16 catches for 214 yards on the season with an average of 13.4 for reception Stroughter is becoming known as Mr. Reliable. He’s also averaging 9.7 yards on punt returns and 32.7 on kickoff returns. Truly the gem of the draft and quickly becoming a draft day steal.

BAD
Josh Johnson – 9-of-26 and three more interceptions is a clear sign of regression rather then progression it almost looked like he was thinking too much as opposed to trusting what he saw and letting it fly. The other bothersome thing was his reluctance to run and make plays with his feet.

Third Quarter – The Bucs have been outscored 47-7 in the third quarter heading into the game against the Patriots, after the game the deficit only grew by seven. The Bucs through 7-games have been outscored 54-7 in the third quarter.

UGLY
State of the Franchise – Zero-dash-seven enough said. But who is really calling the shots? Is it the Glazer’s, Mark Dominik or Raheem Morris. Based on the phone call from someone with a direct line to Morris and the ensuing thrusting of Freeman into the game it’s clear, Morris is nothing more the a puppet on a string.