The Josh Freeman Fun Train heads to Miami for the young quarterback's first taste of life on the road in the NFL. All is fine and dandy when you have the crowd behind you, but how will the rookie handle a hostile atmosphere?
If there was any city in the NFL the Bucs would want their young QB to get his first road start in the league—it's Miami. Many Dolphins fans masquerade as empty seats at Joe Robbie, uh, Pro Player, oops, Land Shark Stadium.
They're considered among the most apathetic in the league.
Still, if the Dolphins are playing well, they can make life hard on Freeman.
In addition, after having two weeks to prepare for his debut against the Green Bay Packers, Freeman now has to show what he can learn in just half the preparation time.
Freeman's ability to back the Dolphins secondary off the line of scrimmage may very well be one of the biggest keys to Sunday's game. That and the Bucs finding a way to stop the Wildcat rushing attack.
For Tampa Bay, this is perhaps the biggest game of the season. The Bucs got one on the Green Bay Packers, but if they can sustain the momentum and beat a team that isn't a juggernaut on the road it could go a long way to giving this team the confidence it desperately needs and begin the turn around of the franchise in earnest.
It's big for the Dolphins too, despite a 3-5 start, the Fins still hold some hope of a rebound and late playoff run. Considering the Patriots missed the AFC playoffs despite finishing 11-5 last year, such talk seems ridiculous at this point.
A loss to the Bucs would all but end their playoff hopes for 2009.
Let us take a look at the match ups for the Bucs and their cross state rivals.
Series
The series between the Bucs and Dolphins is split down the middle at 4-4. Tampa Bay won the last three regular season meetings, including 2005's 27-13 destruction of the Dolphins.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Passing Attack against Miami Dolphins Pass Defense
Well, what else can you say about the opening act in the career of one Josh Freeman? The kid was poised, looking like a true veteran while throwing three touchdown passes in a windy game at Raymond James Stadium.
As we talked about in my article about rookie quarterback's early performances in the NFL, Josh's debut doesn't mean he's the next coming of Warren Moon (as Jerome Bettis said), but it certainly didn't hurt.
While Josh had a bigger impact than Matt Ryan in his rookie debut, we can look at Ryan to learn some tough lessons in the NFL.
From week one to week two, there's typically a drop off.
Luckily for Freeman, he'll be facing a weak Miami pass defense. The Dolphins are ranked 28th in the NFL in pass defense and have 21 sacks on the season, just four more than the Bucs much maligned pass rush.
The Dolphins also find themselves in the bottom half of the league for interceptions.
If Freeman can protect the football and hit some of those big plays he missed against the Packers, it could be a very good day in the passing game for Tampa Bay.
Advantage: Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Running Attack vs. Miami Dolphins Run Defense
As bad as the Dolphins are in pass defense, they're that good in run defense. Miami comes in with the fifth-ranked defense against the run.
That could be due to everyone wanting to attack the Miami secondary, but the Dolphins have fared pretty well against some good backs in the league.
Tampa Bay's running game still has yet to find itself. A lot of that is due to the Bucs typically trailing and forcing the team to abandon the run early, not to mention the uncertainty at the quarterback position.
Cadillac Williams can still be deadly, while Derrick Ward still has not found his place in the Buccaneers rushing attack.
Advantage: Miami
Miami Dolphins Passing Game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pass Defense
Since taking over for the injured Chad Pennington, Dolphins second year quarterback Chad Henne has done a decent job as the Dolphins new guy under center.
Henne is averaging 179.6 yards per passing while tossing four touchdowns and three interceptions on the year.
Since getting off to a good start, Henne struggled a bit, throwing just one touchdown in his last three games. Three of his four touchdown passes on the year came against the Jets.
After facing the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Donovan McNabb, Eli Manning, and Tony Romo, the Bucs secondary gets much less of a challenge in Henne.
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