By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla.(AP) — A shot at ruining New Orleans’ perfect record
is not the only reason the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers and
young Josh Freeman are excited about facing the unbeaten Saints.
Sunday begins a stretch in which the Bucs (1-8) play five of
seven games against NFC South rivals, and they’re eager to see
how their rookie quarterback holds up in his first tour through
the division.
They’ll also face the Saints (9-0) in New Orleans on Dec. 27.
“It’s perfectly planned for No. 5 (Freeman),” coach Raheem
Morris said. “It’s a chance for him to get five opportunities
against division foes that he’s going to face for the next 10 to
15 years, or whatever it is.”
The 21-year-old former Kansas State standout has been impressive
in two starts, leading fourth-quarter rallies from double-digit
deficits against Green Bay and Miami.
The Bucs beat the Packers for their only win two weeks ago. They
took the lead against the Dolphins in the fourth quarter, only
to lose 25-23 on a field goal in the closing seconds last
Sunday.
New Orleans coach Sean Payton is impressed with Tampa Bay’s
improvement since Freeman became the third quarterback to start
for the Bucs this year.
The Saints survived a scare on the road against another one-win
team last week, beating St. Louis 28-23, and anticipate another
difficult matchup as they try for the first 10-game winning
streak in club history.
“He has given them a spark,” said Payton, whose team has lost
three of its last four meetings against Tampa Bay and hasn’t won
at Raymond James Stadium since 2006, when New Orleans swept the
season series.
“I think the players around him have responded, and he’s playing
with confidence. Certainly we understand the strengths and
weaknesses of when you play a younger player, but that being
said, he’s a guy that’s elusive, can scramble to run and has a
big arm. … We’ll have a challenge.”
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is on pace to join Peyton
Manning as the only players in NFL history to pass for 4,000
yards in four consecutive seasons. He’s thrown 19 touchdowns,
but a recent spate of turnovers caused concern for the Saints.
After throwing two interceptions and losing one fumble in the
first five games, Brees has thrown seven interceptions and lost
three fumbles in wins over Miami, Atlanta, Carolina and St.
Louis.
He’s also been sacked nine times in the last four games after
going down four times in the first five.
“(Turnovers) will just kind of happen in spurts, just like a
baseball player that hits a slump. You kind of hit a slump for a
few games,” Brees said, adding the Saints have run into a string
of teams playing some of their best ball of the season.
“The games only get harder from here on out, no matter what the
record of the team is you’re playing. I can definitely say that
Tampa is a much better team than (its) record, as were the
Rams.”
Freeman has made plenty of mistakes the past two weeks, however,
he’s played well when it matters most. He has the league’s
third-best fourth-quarter passer rating (117.9) behind Brees
(124.2) and Brett Favre (119.3) and has thrown for three TDs and
no interceptions in crunch time. He threw a go-ahead TD pass on
fourth down against Green Bay, then produced two fourth-quarter
TDs to give the Bucs a chance at Miami last week.
Overall, the 17th pick in this year’s draft has completed 50.8
percent of his passes for 417 yards, four touchdowns and two
interceptions. Ball security has been a concern with six
fumbles, although the Bucs have lost only one of them.
“He’s going to make some mistakes,” Morris said. “But obviously,
he is getting better and better every week.”
Teammates talk about the rookie’s presence in the huddle and
poise in critical situations, yet the 6-foot-6, 248-pound
Freeman scoffs at the notion he’s been the biggest difference in
the Bucs the past two weeks.
“I wouldn’t say it’s because of me,” Freeman said. “I think it
was coming off the bye week, guys really got out of feeling like
they were an 0-7 team. The attitude and mentality everybody has
been bringing to practice is not reflective of our record.”
In addition to two games against the Saints, the Bucs will face
Atlanta twice and division foe Carolina once over the last seven
weeks of the season. That not only should give Freeman a feel
for the NFC South, but also provide him – in the rookie’s words
- “something to look forward to next year.”
Brees recalled his first go-around against a set of division
opponents in 2002, when he was in his second NFL season and
started every game for the San Diego Chargers.
“I definitely remember those days. It’s a process. You have your
good games and bad games,” Brees said.
“Inevitably, you just try to get better every day and worry
about the things you can control, continue to just kind of play
within yourself and play within the system.”
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