Bucs QB Josh Freeman has D-coordinator�s attention

Tampa Bay rookie QB Josh Freeman has played all of two games and has one start under his belt heading into Sunday’s game against the Dolphins at Land Shark Stadium. But defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni has been impressed with the first-round draft pick since he watched tapes of him in college. Pasqualoni related how he watched Freeman play for Kansas State against Oklahoma his senior year. “Rolled to his left, got his feet reset, threw the ball down the field, big play. I remember that play.” He said it reminded him of two of his quarterbacks during his lengthy tenure as head coach at Syracuse: Marvin Graves and Donovan McNabb. “With Josh Freeman, things slow down. The guy�s gonna have a chance to be a good quarterback. You can�t underestimate him because he�s a rookie. You’re gonna have to play, you’re gonna have to cover the receivers, you’re gonna have to do everything you do. Last week (against Green Bay), everybody can say they had a short field, they turned the ball over, all that. But they scored touchdowns in the red zone. They weren�t kicking field goals. And this guy was making plays. That�s a long way of saying we�re very impressed with the guy.” Freeman completed only 14-of-31 passes (45.2 percent) against the Packers but had three touchdowns against just one interception and one sack. At 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds, he’s

hard to bring down even if you get to him. And neither Jason Taylor nor Joey Porter have a sack in their last two games. Sunday is not only a must-win for the Dolphins, but on paper at least it’s a game they should win. Yes, Miami will likely be without guard Justin Smiley and backup nose tackle Paul Soliai, but the Bucs figure to be missing deep threat Antonio Bryant. Freeman is their third quarterback, after Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson were both unable to get them a win in their first seven games. Some of their losses have been ugly: 24-0 vs. the Giants, 35-7 vs. New England. They’re ranked 28th of 32 teams in total offense and 29th in defense. Still, playmakers like Freeman, Cadillac Williams, Kellen Winslow and Ronde Barber could cause Miami problems. Remember how the Dolphins struggled to beat bottom-feeders such as Oakland, Seattle and San Francisco last year, all at home, and Kansas City on the road? This isn’t a team they can take lightly. Coach Tony Sparano was pretty much in a miserable mood all week, probably because he knows this is a game his team absolutely can’t afford to lose and yet well aware that in the NFL anything is possible. Should the Bucs be this much a cause for concern?

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Bucs QB Josh Freeman has D-coordinator�s attention

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