Josh Freeman: Tampa Bay's QB Worst-Rated Signal-Caller in NFC South

With two weeks to get over the tomfoolery in London, it's time to break out the scalpels and start performing some surgeries to get an idea of what's going on inside these Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

First up, Josh Freeman.

Yeah, Raheem Morris was more than right when he said a long time ago: "It's all about [No.] 5."

We can safely tell you that "5" is No. 20 in the league when it comes to the new "Total Quarterback Ratings" that ESPN has introduced, which give a better indication of the overall performances of the league's quarterbacks.

A quick look at the NFC South shows us the following:

Drew Brees of New Orleans is No. 3 in the league and tops in the NFC South (77.2).

Matt Ryan of Atlanta is No. 9 in the league, second in the NFC South (63.7).

Cam Newton, Carolina's rookie sensation, is No. 14 in the league and third in the NFC South (57.5).

Freeman is No. 20 overall and last in the division (47.0).

These rating are based on 100 being perfect.

So you can see we have a problem in Tampa.

Thus far, Freeman has seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions, four of them on Sunday in that travesty against the Bears.

Lost in the confusion is the fact that Freeman didn't bother to run at all. He didn't scramble, nothing, nada, zip. And that has made him so very effective in the past.

He's forcing throws into double-, and sometimes triple-, coverage. He's trying to force passes to Kellen Winslow. He threw one ball to Arrelious Benn on Sunday and overall; he just plain stinks more often than not.

With seven games down and nine to go, things don't get any easier in two weeks, when the Bucs travel to New Orleans to take on a Saints team that humiliated the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night.

Right now, it looks like this team is headed for a very mediocre season, and Josh Freeman is leading them there.