For the first time in his two-year NFL career, Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. The 22-year signal caller completed 20-of-33 passes for 280 yards with one touchdown and one interception and helped key Tampa Bay's 24-21 come-from-behind victory at Cincinnati.

On the final two drives of the games, Freeman showed incredible composure and finished 3-of-3 for 56 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to rookie wide receiver Mike Williams and a 21-yard pass to Micheal Spurlock to help put the Bucs in prime field goal position for Connor Barth's 31-yard game-winner. Freeman has played an integral role in helping the Bucs start off 3-1 this year. He has thrown five touchdowns and only three interceptions this year while improving his completion percentage by nearly five percentage points.

Additionally, Freeman has been outstanding on third downs with a 100.2 QB rating. He has shined in the fourth quarter this year with an 84.2 QB rating in the fourth quarter.

Freeman is now 6-7 in his 13 career NFL starts and 5-2 over the last seven games. Four of his six wins have been come-from-behind efforts. Freeman becomes the first offensive player to win the weekly NFC award in nearly six years. The last Tampa Bay offensive player to claim the honor was Michael Pittman, who earned the distinction in Week 9 of the 2004 campaign.

The Bucs won three NFC Player of the Week honors last year, but they were special teamers for kick or punt returns – Micheal Spurlock, Clifton Smith and Sammie Stroughter.