Josh Freeman Destined to Fail in 2012. Why Play the Games?

Deep breath... Draw it in... Ahhhhh... It's that smell of a fresh, new football season in the air. That time of the year when the fans of each team are just beginning to dream that dream. We all know that dream. The dream of a successful season. The dream that OUR team will rise to the top. The dream that we can wear our team's apparel with pride and have a good reason as to why our team is better than theirs.

But, as it goes with our Buccaneers, there seems to always be those "experts", "analysts", and "pundits" that enjoy urinating on our dream. It's hard to make an argument that the Buccaneers did not have one of the best offseasons with our acquisitions. With WR Vincent Jackson, G Carl Nicks, CB Eric Wright, S Mark Barron, RB Doug Martin, and the list goes on, the Buccaneers have to be ranked at or near the top for upgrades.

But look no further than the Bleacher Report for a clear attempt at dumping yellow water on the optimism. B/R's June 20th article by Andres Botero is entitled Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 5 Reasons Josh Freeman Will Fail in 2012.  Does it get any more clear as to what Botero believes will happen with Freeman this year? It's right there in the title, "Will Fail in 2012".

Now let's look at the factual basis behind this Nostradamus of the NFL.

Reason 1
Lack of Decision Making and Accuracy:

He is strong, large, has a strong arm, and can be speedy when scrambling out of the pocket. Yet last season, Freeman was mind-bogglingly poor. He may have thrown for 3,592 yards and 16 touchdowns, but he also threw 22 interceptions. The game against the Chicago Bears in London last year is a example of Freeman buckling under pressure and not making smart choices.

So Botero's Reason 1 for this year's performance under completely new coaching and game plan is based off of last year's performance under a completely different regime and game planning?

Reason 2
A New Playbook:

It's reassuring to see that Tampa Bay is trying to invigorate the offense but with Freeman's inconsistency and poor decision-making, it will be interesting to see how well Freeman adapts to the new system. If Freeman is unable to learn the intricacies of the playbook, he will have many problems on the field. If he has difficulty reading coverages, how will he be able to call audibles or adjust on the fly once a play breaks down?

I'm at a complete loss as to how this lends any credence to "A New Playbook" causing Freeman to fail in 2012. All I'm reading is a lot of "Ifs".

Reason 3

The Running Game

New Head Coach Greg Schiano wants to establish a strong running game in Tampa Bay but lacks the personnel to do so.  Schiano has high hopes for this offense but they may be misplaced; the Buccaneers only rushed 1,458 yards and nine touchdowns last year.  The more imbalanced (pass-heavy) the offense is, the more inconsistent Freeman will be.

Where has this writer been? The Buccaneers upgraded their offensive line with the best run blocking guard in the league, Carl Nicks. They grabbed a starting caliber running back in the 1st round of the draft in Doug Martin. (Of which most have compared to Ray Rice). And, once again, his factual basis is predicated off of last year's production. It's a new year. It's a new scheme. It's a new coordinator calling the plays. It's a ridiculous factual basis.

Reason 4

Lack of Receivers

A receiver is only as good as his quarterback. The reason why Vincent Jackson became a major wide receiver in San Diego is because of Phillip Rivers. As for the other receivers, Mike Williams never established himself as the top receiver last season. Dezmon Briscoe, Arrelious Benn, and Preston Parker are a young and inexperienced group. 

Wait, which came first, the wide receiver or the quarterback? The quarterback makes the receiver but it's the lack of receivers that will doom our quarterback? And once again, last year's production is also his basis.

Reason 5

The Defense

Bleacher Report columnist Dan Van Wie power ranked the league's 2011 defenses and Tampa Bay's was 30th.  According to Van Wie: The 2011 defense dropped 13 spots from the prior season, and the coaching staff will have to find a way to restore confidence in the defense again. The Bucs were in the bottom 10 in overall defense, points allowed, rush defense and sacks. They did not have a top 10 finish in any defensive category. If Tampa Bay cannot cut down on the amount of points given up per game, Freeman will have hard time focusing on play-calling instead of the scoreboard.

Wow! I almost don't know where to start with this one. One of the reasons that Freeman WILL FAIL in 2012 is due to the Buccaneers' 2011 defense being poor. Really? And due to this, Freeman will have a hard time focusing on "play-calling". The last I checked the offensive coordinator called the Buccaneers plays. Or is Freeman going to be in such fear of the numbers on the scoreboard that he can not regurgitate the called play in the huddle? Is that what he's saying? 

Let me summarize Mr. Botero's factual basis for the five reason's as to why Josh Freeman WILL FAIL in 2012. Freeman WILL FAIL because there is no evolutionary determination as to which came first, the quarterback or the wide receiver AND the Buccaneers were terrible LAST year. There you have it. Sorry Josh, if I were you I would just take the year off. You have no chance anyway.