In battle of Bays, Freeman has dreadful day
Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune, published 10 October 2011

Among the many good things Josh Freeman did last season, taking care of the football ranked near the top. He was tied for the third-fewest interceptions among NFL quarterbacks a year ago and, well, everyone just assumed it would always be that way.

But there he was late Sunday afternoon outside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' dressing room at Candlestick Park, trying to explain his two interceptions — one of which was returned 31 yards for a touchdown. The Bucs like to say it's all about No. 5, so that's where our discussion will begin.

Was Freeman solely responsible for the Bucs' distasteful 48-3 loss to the much-improved San Francisco 49ers? Of course not, unless you feel he could have stepped in at linebacker and helped a run defense that was scorched for 213 yards. Or maybe he could have taken a turn in the secondary to combat San Francisco's Alex Smith, who threw three touchdowns.

But the two picks Sunday give Freeman six and we're just five games into this season. That matches his total for the entire 2010 season. It's rarely one thing when a quarterback goes from good to head-scratching, so maybe this is one for the videotape.

Receivers seemed to have trouble getting open and Freeman rarely had the luxury of time when dropping back to pass. He also forced throws into coverage and his quarterback rating for the afternoon was 43.4, which seemed about right. I don't even need to throw an adjective in front of that number for emphasis.

"Honestly, I feel better (this year) as a quarterback and passer — seeing things, throwing the ball, I'm throwing the ball better. Even today, I felt the ball was coming off great, putting it right where I wanted to, and it was just those two (interceptions)," Freeman said. "I wish I could have them back."

Chances are you'll see the first one several times in the highlight reels. On the first play of the second quarter, Freeman tried to hit tight end Kellen Winslow but the play broke down. Winslow wasn't where Freeman thought he should be, or Freeman didn't throw where Winslow thought the play was designed to go. Either way, it was bad.

The 49ers seemed to figure it out, though. Carlos Rogers made the pick, danced through whatever resistance the Bucs could muster and, suddenly, the Niners led 14-3. That started an avalanche of 41 consecutive points by the home team. "I'm not going to make excuses for Josh. He won't make them for himself," head coach Raheem Morris said. "He has to go out and play better."

That is where that whole "all about 5" notion demands closer inspection. Freeman, to me, still has the same swagger of a year ago. He believes every pass will be complete and his teammates have unconditional belief in him. But something is off.

"There are so many variables in Josh's game that statistically are unaccounted for," center Jeff Faine said. "I could care less how many picks he throws. I still think he's the right guy for the job here. You've got a bright future with Freeman and I'm looking forward to continuing to play with him behind me. He's going to bounce back. He just made some mistakes."

Freeman plays a swashbuckling style. He is going to take chances some other quarterbacks wouldn't dare. If you take that away from him, you take a big piece of mojo away from the offense. There has to be a balance, though.

"You want to make plays but you have to understand that you still have to run the system. You have to get the ball out of your hands and you can't just throw it deep every play. That's not going to do any good for you," he said.

It's still just one loss, no matter the margin. It equaled the worst loss in Bucs' history, which coincidentally also occurred in the San Francisco Bay area — a 45-0 pounding at Oakland in 1999. For what it's worth, the Bucs went to the NFC Championship Game that year. "We're fine. Nobody's confidence is shaken," Freeman said. "We're fine."

We've learned not to doubt much of what Freeman says, so for now we'll take him at his word. This is a new year, though, and things are always different. If you doubt that, a look at the quarterback Sunday might convince you otherwise.