Week 21 QB projections • TB Stats
QB Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
HT: 6-2, WT: 248, Born: 1-13-1988, College: Kansas State, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 17
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Stats and Week 21 Projection
| WK | OPP | RES | CMP | ATT | PYD | Y/A | PTD | INT | RSH | YD | Y/R | TD | FPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEASON TOTAL | 346 | 551 | 3592 | 6.5 | 16 | 22 | 55 | 238 | 4.3 | 4 | 263 | ||
Week 21 Injury Status and Other News
No official injury reports have been released yet
Week 21 Matchup Info
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a bye this week.
Game Summaries
Week 1 vs DET - Freeman struggled to move the ball against a very tough Detroit defense. In the first and third quarters, Freeman had just two completions for eight yards total. He also left the game briefly in the third quarter to have additional passing added to his ribs. Despite struggling for most of the game though, Freeman kept his team focused and he nearly led them back to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Freeman struggled to find the open man for most of the game and his receivers were frequently well covered. However, in the fourth quarter, Freeman was able to settle down and keep his team focused. His longest pass came at the start of the quarter, a 22 yard crossing route to Kellen Winslow. However, it wasn't until there was under two minutes to play that Freeman finally was able to get the ball into the end zone. On 4th and 3, Mike Williams ran a crossing route to the back of the end zone, and Freeman threw a pass high and to the back of the end zone. Williams made a great catch, and toe-tapped into the back of the end zone for the score. It was the only time the Bucs reached the end zone on offense. Freeman racked up a bunch of stats in garbage time late in the game, on short check-down passes and sideline routes as Tampa tried to tie the game. Unfortunately they fell a little short.Week 2 at MIN - Coming into the game, seven of Freeman's 13 career wins had come on fourth quarter comebacks. This would be #8. Despite having just 39 total passing yards in the first half, and only two receptions by his top receivers Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn, Freeman led his team to victory after it looked like they were going to be blown out. Freeman maintained his composure and came out in the second half, spreading the ball around more and getting everyone involved. He completed passes to seven different receivers in the second half of the game, and the 25 yard TD pass to Benn with 6:45 to play marked his 15th straight game with a TD pass. The play came after a big 19 yard reception by Dezmon Briscoe and a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty tacked on to the end of it. Freeman faked to Blount and when the defense bit, he launched a perfect strike to Benn down the left side of the field, dropping it right into his hands in the end zone. It made up for the TD pass that he threw to Mike Williams earlier that was called back because Benn was flagged for an illegal shift. Freeman embodied the 'whatever it takes' attitude, dumping the ball over the middle to Earnest Graham or Preston Parker when the deep routes were covered, or even scrambling and diving head first for a 12 yard first down when the pass protection broke down. Freeman may not put up Brady-like fantasy numbers, but he keeps his team close and likes the pressure of the 4th quarter comeback.
Week 3 vs ATL - Freeman is a mix of good leadership and poor decision making. While he makes some bad throws and poor decisions at very inopportune times he also has the tenacity to bounce back form it and lead his team. He started off the game by throwing a terrible interception into double coverage on a play where his intended receiver had almost zero chance of making a play. He cost his team at least 3 points on a drive that was set up by the Barber fumble recovery. Case in point on his 3rd drive of the game he badly missed a wide open Mike Williams but then he comes right back on the next play and hits him up the left seam for 16 yards and a first down. He has the ability to shake off mistakes and come right back to the same guy and create a first down. It's obvious he has the support of his team form the top to the bottom. Late in the 1st half Freeman drove the Bucs on their only touchdown drive of the day as he hit Earnest Graham on a little short pass but the touchdown was called back as Graham did not break the plane of the end zone. Very next play Freeman used hos 250 pound frame to take it in and give the Bucs a 10-3 lead before halftime. From a fantasy standpoint it was not a good day for Freeman who had his touchdown offset with 2 interceptions and his passing yards were well below the league average right now. Freeman was not pretty to watch on Sunday and he overthrew everyone throughout the game. The field conditions were wet but he practices in the rain in Florida all the time so this should not have been a problem for him. Give the Falcons defense some credit as they had a good game plan to take away his outside receivers.
Week 4 vs IND - Early on the Bucs offense looked pretty bad and a continuation of what many of us saw in the Atlanta game a week ago. Freeman did wake up and actually found Arrelious Benn for a 62 yard strike and a touchdown late in the 1st quarter however Benn was ruled out of bounds and then came back in the field of play to be the first person to touch the football so it was called back. Then midway thru the 2nd quarter Freeman engineered a drive that ended with him running the football in from 1 yard out. The offense does not look smooth right now and Freeman discussed that in his post game interviews. Freeman is so talented though that even when he has an off night or his surrounding cast isn't keeping up with their end of the deal he can still find a lot of points for his owners. The Bucs offense did do plenty of damage in the 2nd quarter and they controlled the clock much of the way. In fact the Bucs offense from 8:30 minutes left in the 2nd quarter went on a 13 minute stretch overlapping to the 3rd quarter where they had the ball for over 11 minutes spanning 3 different drives. And the point of all that is even when they are not running smooth they still can be effective and it shows that they are going to get better. Penalties really hurt them early on and throughout the game as well. Freeman went on another long drive about midway thru the 3rd quarter to answer the touchdown by the Colts to tie the game 17-17. Freeman was hitting his targets, and he capped the drive with a 13 yard touchdown where he ht Parker on a short pass and then Parker did the rest. Josh didn't make any mistakes and that probably more than anything is why the Bucs are winning games; he doesn't throw a lot of interceptions and make stupid mistakes.
Week 5 at SF - For Freeman it was a game he would soon like to forget just like all the Buccaneers who didn't bother to get off the bus in this 48-3 blowout. Let's take a look at how Josh progressed throughout the game and eventually started making a lot of mistakes. Early on he had a hard time finding any receivers who were open down field so it wasn't all Freeman's fault. Freeman threw into double coverage multiple times and eventually that is going to catch up with him. He had a chance to cash in early but on 3rd and goal his receivers ran the wrong routes in the end zone and crisscrossed causing the incompletion. His 1st interception was all Carlos Rogers who was tailing on the outside WR but instead let Mike Williams go and sat on the Winslow out route at the last second and baited Freeman, then undercut the route for an easy interception which ended up going back as a pick 6 for the Niners. It was an outstanding play by Rogers. The 2nd interception was a ricochet off the hands of Michael Spurlock and into the hands of rookie DB Chris Culliver who played college ball at South Carolina and did a terrific job in coverage on all the Bucs receivers. Freeman threw 2 other passes that were much worse but those were not intercepted so he could have had 4 of them in the 1st half. The Niners must have watched a lot of film because they jumped all over the Bucs routes. Josh Freeman did not have good field position all day. All of the Bucs drives seemed to start deep in their own territory. An awful day for Freeman but his teammates didn't do a lot to help him out either.
Week 6 vs NO - The Bucs are fortunate they won the game this weekend and at times Freeman looked better than he has in other games this season but the reality is he is still making a lot of mistakes and he is not making the same plays he did a year ago that had everyone thinking he was a future top10 QB in the NFL. That's not to say he won't eventually grow into that but he was off the mark early on this past weekend. The Bucs were fortunate to have a short field to work out of and Freeman ends up missing both pass attempts and the Bucs settled for 3 points when they should have taken it down into the end zone. Freeman was 2 for 5 for 16 yards in the 1st quarter early on. Later he went on a tear going 9 out of 10 for 132 yards and a touchdown. He found Arrelious Benn on a long touchdown pass but Benn was wide open and you would assume almost all starting NFL QBs could make that throw. The Bucs do not sustain drives and the reason they won the football game this weekend was not really due to Freeman but more about the fact they were able to run the football. After he helped engineer two TD drives, Freeman threw a terrible pass on a 3rd and 6 in the 2nd half and luckily the Bucs were able to salvage the drive and put 3 points on the board. Freeman was just over 50% completion rate on his passes for the day and largely he was off target although he is not being helped with a lot of separation by his receivers.
Week 7 vs CHI - Freeman showed little signs of life before the fourth quarter and couldn't get the team over the hump in the final minute despite a gutsy performance by a few of his receivers late. Freeman had four picks, although one was clearly Mike Williams fault for letting Chris Conte take the ball away from him. The other three came on a throw Freeman short-armed, a throw to a covered and unaware Kellen Winslow in the red zone that Brian Urlacher caught with an athletic leap, and the game-ender into good coverage by DJ Moore. Freeman was off early and seemed to especially have trouble on intermediate throws. He didn't have any deep shots to Arrelious Benn or Mike Williams, and Freeman never really made an impact as a scrambler or eluding the sometimes significant pressure from the Bears front four. He was most at ease in the two minute-drill in the first half and playing comeback football in the fourth quarter. Freeman had good timing with Mike Williams in the red zone on one TD drive capped by a nice short throw to Kellen Winslow. His other TD pass was a good patient throw to Dezmon Briscoe breaking open inside the five. Freeman held on to the ball too long at times and in general had inconsistent accuracy, field vision, and decision-making. He is only a backup fantasy QB in a season that Freeman carried high expectations into.
Week 9 at NO - Josh Freeman had to be very light on his feet in this game as he often had to slide away from the Saints relentless pressure. He did not get much help from his offensive tackles, who consistently got beaten on the edge. Freeman did an excellent job to keep his eyes down the field and find his receivers despite the rush. Freeman dinked and dunked down the field for the majority of the game as the Saints played some excellent coverage throughout. His lone touchdown pass came on a nicely designed red zone play. Freeman faked the run, then lofted a pass to the back of the end zone to his TE Kellen Winslow. There is an inconsistency in this Bucs offense that is hard to define right now. It makes Freeman hard to trust on a week to week basis.
Week 10 vs HOU - Playing with a taped thumb that reportedly was affecting his throwing, Josh Freeman did not have his best day as a quarterback. His teammates, however, did not do a lot to help him out either. Freeman faced a lot of pressure and was sacked four times, though the sack total would have been more but for Freemans' mobility. When he did pull the ball down and run, he showed good decision making. But most of the game Freeman spent passing as the team didn't commit to the run and Tampa Bay fell behind. The Bucs faced a lot of man coverage and the receivers had difficulty getting open. Of the three interceptions, only one was fully Freeman's fault as he locked in on his receiver, allowing the corner to undercut him and make the pick. The other two interceptions came when a ball was dislodged by a hit, and when a poor throw by Freeman was tipped by a receiver. Though Freeman did not have a good game with a number of inaccurate throws, the results were a team effort, with frequent penalties making it difficult to keep drives alive.
Week 11 at GB - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers throw the ball percentage wise more than any other team in the NFL. That has to do with Blount and Graham missing significant time but it should be a calling to owners that Freeman has not had any run support this season which makes things really tough for him to make things happen on the field. Freeman was 12 of 15 in the 1st half for 130 yards but then he threw an interception late in the 1st half trying to move Tampa Bay down the field after they fell behind 21-10. When the Bucs were down 14-0 Freeman did not panic and started hitting his 2nd and 3rd option in the passing game as Mike Williams was having trouble getting open. Freeman hung tough in this game and had the Bucs in a position to swipe this game from the Packers. He was finding the open receivers and he did a good job of keeping his top 3 targets active and getting the football often. His interception towards the end of the game was clearly the fault of Kellen Winslow. He also found Briscoe late to help his stats out but the Packers were ahead by 2 scores at the time. Freeman had one of his highest totals for yards and touchdowns on the season but the Packers were ahead most of the game.
Week 12 at TEN - Very rough start for Freeman and his receivers. Josh was not throwing interceptions but he was off target for much of the 1st half. His throws were always way in front or behind his targets. Also the Bucs' coaches specifically the offensive coordinator seemed content to call short routes for the receivers even on 3rd and long situations. He started to get rolling right before the half going 5 out of 6 for 29 yds and a TD to help the Bucs tie the game up 10-10. The 2nd half he was given a lead to nurde by his defense but he never was able to sustain drives and help the Bucs score points when they needed them the most. He threw a terrible interception to former Miami Hurricane Colin McCarthy down the middle of the field. His last play of the game was a 4th and inches after he got the Bucs moving and then he fumbled the ball trying to make extra yards and it was the end of the ballgame. Freeman looked terrible on the day and his coaching staff did little to help him.
Week 14 at JAX - Josh Freeman- Freeman was rusty at best, especially when it came to decision making. Early in the first quarter he telegraphed a throw over the middle and had the route jumped but the defender had the ball glance off his hands. He made a great throw on a bootleg to Kellen Winslow between 2 defenders for a 28 yard gain to put the Bucs in position for their first TD. He was definitely not in sync with his receiving corps, as evidenced by a back shoulder throw late in the quarter in which the receiver kept running. He did make an excellent decision in the 2nd quarter, recognizing an open lane and scampering 13 yards for a TD run straight up the middle. Freeman found Mike Williams on a deep cross off play action and looked to be starting to find a rhythm, but then everything fell apart. On the next drive he was sacked and fumbled the ball into the end zone for a Jags TD. Going into the 2 minute drill before the half he completed a couple of short passes before looking down the right sideline for Williams. It looked like Williams expected a back shoulder throw and instead the ball went straight into the DB's gut for his first pick of the day. Freeman's very next pas was also picked off, this one a poorly thrown dump to his running back that was well behind the back. Making an attempt to catch the ball, the back tipped the ball into the air and into the arms of diving Jags defender. Freeman completed just 2 more passes over the next 15 minutes, both well short of the marker on 3rd and long. 2nd INT comes on short pass thrown behind RB, tipped in air and nice diving catch made by LB. Finds Williams wide open across middle but well short of marker. By the time he actually got a drive going again the Bucs trailed by 21 points and the Jags had dropped into a prevent defense. Even then, Freeman was unable to lead them to a score. Freeman winced several times in pain with his shoulder that obviously affected him.
Week 15 vs DAL - When Freeman took his first offensive snap of the third quarter, there was only 6 minutes and 32 seconds left, and his total production to that point was two completions for 14 yards. He opened the game with a nice 25 yard run where he was flushed out of the pocket and took off up the middle of the field. He added another eight yards on the next play in a similar manner but when he was tackled, the ball was chopped out and recovered by Dallas. Freeman struggled for the rest of the first half after that, under constant pressure from the Dallas defense and struggling to get anything going for the Bucs offensively. In the third quarter, when he finally had a chance, Freeman put together a solid drive and put up Tampa's only offensive points of the game. Freeman started the drive by being sacked, but went seven of nine on the drive, including two key third down completions to Kregg Lumpkin. He capped the drive with a quick crossing pass to Dezmon Briscoe, where he was able to run away from the defender and get into the end zone for the score. The Bucs went for two, and Freeman hit Winslow in the back of the end zone for a two point conversion. He finished the day with just 148 yards passing.
Week 16 at CAR - On a disappointing day for Tampa Bay, they can take some solace in the fact that Josh Freeman is still playing his heart out. He just isn't getting the same commitment from the rest of his offensive teammates. Freeman strung together a couple of very good drives in this game, including one that ended in a beautifully floated touchdown pass to Arrelious Benn. Freeman moved around well in the pocket and found his receivers with relative ease. He played very smart football, not forcing the football into tight windows or trying to be a hero. Freeman made an incredible individual play as he was being sacked, releasing the ball at the last second and completing it. Freeman reached the football over the goal line for a touchdown on a QB sneak late in the contest as well. His lone interception was probably one of the poorest decisions he made on the day as he fired it into tight coverage, had it tipped and land in the safety's hands. With an overhaul on the coaching staff and better execution, Freeman can be a top 12 QB next season.
Week 17 at ATL - His 1st pass attempt he was sacked on 3rd down. 2nd drive of the game he threw a terrible interception under thrown to his receiver. By the time he lines up for the 3rd drive of the game he was down 21-0 already. He then was stripped of the football to set the Falcons up inside Bucs' territory. The next drive with Atlanta ahead 28-0, Freeman threw the ball to the MLB for Atlanta who ran it back into the end zone to put the Falcons ahead 35-0. At that point Freeman was 2 out of 5 for 12 yds, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble lost, 2 sacks, and a scoreboard deficit with over 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter of 35-0!!! Does that sum up his season pretty well and why the Bucs have lost 10 games in a row? Freeman would go on and dress up the score in the 2nd half, quite frankly I'm surprised the Bucs continued to play Freeman but there is likely to be a new regime soon and maybe a new coach can mold Freeman and bring him to the next level. Freeman managed to make his stats a little better in the 2nd half but when it counted he was terrible as was the entire football team.