Are the 2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers the 2011 San Francisco 49ers?

[JDouble]

In Alex Smith's first 6 years in the league he had 51 TDs and 53 interceptions. He averaged 165 yards passing per game and a completion percentage of 46.3% with a rating of passer rating of 66. His career makes Freeman's first three years look epic.

I'm glad he was able to manage the game last year while that amazing defense crushed opponents and the run game won games....but he is still worse than Freeman. Numbers don't lie, and Alex Smith has had one decent season with six horrible seasons. Freeman had a great one, and a bad one, and three crappy games this season. Freeman wins.

[Hate]

I'm glad he was able to manage the game last year while that amazing defense crushed opponents and the run game won games....but he is still worse than Freeman.

I'm not convinced of that, JDub. Watching these guys play is like night and day. One is playing with confidence, making plays with his arm and legs. The other has this deer in the headlights thing going, missing guys wide open and refusing to use his legs....all while having better targets to work with.

Sad day!!

[NovaBuc]

I'm glad he was able to manage the game last year while that amazing defense crushed opponents and the run game won games....but he is still worse than Freeman.

I'm not convinced of that, JDub. Watching these guys play is like night and day. One is playing with confidence, making plays with his arm and legs. The other has this deer in the headlights thing going, missing guys wide open and refusing to use his legs....all while having better targets to work with.

Sad day!!

 Like I said in another thread, Smith's coaches (read Harbaugh) are playing to his strengths rather than his weaknesses both through their play calling and their game plans. He's not being asked to do what he's not best fit for, and as he gained confidence last year they slowly opened things up. When you look back at 2010, Josh was at his best moving around and throwing on roll-outs. Not being a pocket passer. I know the staff has said he's free to run or do what he wants, but they contradict that when they say there are 'no-change' plays. He's handcuffed, even if it's only for a few plays a game.  Not saying Freeman can ever recapture or be the QB with the promise he showed in 2010, but it'd be nice to see the staff try to call plays that play to his strengths to help give him confidence rather than ones that seem to limit his abilities. Josh has a strong arm and can be mobile.. so call some roll-outs and designed QB runs. And do away with the no-change plays.

[Hate]

ahhh...... so its the playcalling that's caused him to go 10-28, missing wide open WRs in the process? Thanks for clearing that up for me!!

[The Anti-Java]

ahhh...... so its the playcalling that's caused him to go 10-28, missing wide open WRs in the process? Thanks for clearing that up for me!!

Can't argue he is playing like crap, but I haven't totally given up yet.  But I have to say,  the arrow is trending downward right now.

[JDouble]

Well Hate, in all fairness if you are going to make that comparison/claim... You'll need to give Freeman another four years before you judge him. After all it took Smith eight years to look decent.

[JDouble]

Sarcasm btw....

[Zsnore]

=>

[JDouble]

Freeman has a painful corn on his foot?

[Hate]

What ticks me off even more than his play is his seemingly lack of fire!!

[Bayfisher]

I see the fans flip-flopping on Freeman. Lmao!. Fair-weather fans.  Weren't you all insulting everyone who even questioned Freeman even last year.  How the world turns. 

[Zsnore]

I see the fans flip-flopping on Freeman. Lmao!. Fair-weather fans.  Weren't you all insulting everyone who even questioned Freeman even last year.  How the world turns.

I saw a very young quarterback making plays, and I was expecting him to get better. year 4 and all I can see is a clear weak link. How many below average, bad, and down right awful games in a row does one need to see such things?


Some of us gave him plenty of time before jumping off. just say'n
Can't blame others for losing the confidence.

[Hate]

I see the fans flip-flopping on Freeman. Lmao!. Fair-weather fans.  Weren't you all insulting everyone who even questioned Freeman even last year.  How the world turns.

Flip-flopping?

I can't speak for anyone else but this fan has reached the point where i've seen enough. How much more regression must YOU be subjected to before you reach that point?

[Bayfisher]

Did Morris ruin him?  I didn't like the pick when drafted. I always questioned the coaching developing him.  I then saw potential when he came in to finish the year.  He had a confident look.  I think that was torn from him somewhere along the Morris debacle. Freeman is a neighborhood  style quarterback. He needs to have full control and mobility of the offense to be effective.  One of the biggest things that I liked about him was the ability to spread the ball around.  He hasn't been that player for a while now.  We can clearly see that Freeman doesn't know where each of his receivers are supposed to be in this offense yet. There is no excuse for that. There was plenty of time for all that. 

When I see the Mannings on the sideline they are looking at pics and looking to improve.  Anyone see what Freeman was doing on the bench after the series?  Lost in space might describe how he looked. The team isn't even forcing it on him like they should be.  I haven't given up on him.  But that is mostly the Buc fan in me. He has everything or more than any other QB in the league and this is an important year for him. It may be a new system but the excuses are limited at this point. He needs to grasp the playbook. 

I think stressing the fundamentals in the offseason has slowed the learning of the offense.  The defense is much simpler obviously.  We just have underachieving or downright terrible corners when playing man to man.   Lessen the amount of blitzes and make the DL work.  Those guys clearly need help on the outside.  How excited are we to get Biggers back? Ugh. The team has a great opportunity to fill some holes this offseason.  Could be something if we get   average NFL QB play. Orlovsky looked a lot better when he played for someone else. 

[Feel Real Good]

I'm glad he was able to manage the game last year while that amazing defense crushed opponents and the run game won games....but he is still worse than Freeman.

I'm not convinced of that, JDub. Watching these guys play is like night and day. One is playing with confidence, making plays with his arm and legs. The other has this deer in the headlights thing going, missing guys wide open and refusing to use his legs....all while having better targets to work with.

Sad day!!

Agreed. Smith makes plays on his own and is not a product of defense and running.