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Aaron Rodgers. | Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sun. Final: Buccaneers 38, Packers 284th Quarter 3:25 p.m. Packers' 5th Drive :24 3 TD passes by TB rookie. 3 INT's by formerly top-rated QB in NFL. Wayne: "this is a disheartening loss for the Packers." Larry: "no joy in Mudville right now." 3:23 p.m. 3:18 p.m. Packers' 4th Drive 1:35
Jones with butterfingers disease. Larry: "my word." Then sack. AGAIN....at the four yard line. Want to try out for O-line? 3rd-16: Jones makes the play at the 10...oh my goodness. Life support...4th-12: through the hands of Driver and it's game over...Jackson cuts back to the end zone. Game over. 3:09 p.m. Buccaneers' 3rd Drive 2:05 Thankfully, the Packers have the two-minute warning. Thankfully, Josh Freeman fumbled, but the Bucs got it back. This looks like the 1976 Bucs, at least on that play. Williams brought down near the TB 30. Measurement on a REALLY generous spot. Let me guess...kick a long FG to make it a six-point game or go for it? If I'm the Yuckaneers, I still kick a field goal to make the Packers go the length of the field, instead of going for it. The Bucs go for it....and they....call a time out....waste our time...then the Bucs left guard jumped! Packers have life, though they have to drive the distance of Sarasota to Tampa Bay to win it. Larry: "that was a knuckleheaded play." 3:04 p.m. Packers' 3rd Drive 4:14 You also need an open receiver or to throw the ball away. Four sacks today, with just 11 for the Bucs coming in. No O-line at all. 2nd-17: Good dump-off to Jones to the 24. 3rd-6: Flag down and Rodgers gets the first down to the 33...wait...holding...make that 3rd-16...Rodgers throws out of bounds. 4th-16 and the game at stake....2:47 left. Do you punt or go for it on 4th? They punt. Why? Especially when they run the punt back to the Green Bay 40. 2:56 p.m. Buccaneers' 2nd Drive 7:15 Bubble screen...but the Packers diagnose it well. 2nd down: Al Harris does the diagnosing. 3rd down: can they finally stop them? Pop-fly and Clayton makes a HECK of a catch inside the 15 yard line. Harris just didn't adjust well to the underthrow. Buccaneers 13 yards from the lead. Yeeeeeesh. Caddy Williams....a run, then a bad drop on a catch attempt, meaning another 3rd down this defense blows...and they ...DON'T BLOW IT! Clayton had the football, but let the ball go. 4th down...they're going for it with 4:20 left. Don't know if this is a smart move or not. Hmmm???? Yes smart when Jarrett Bush blows a coverage. 2:48 p.m. Packers' 2nd Drive 11:34 Ryan Grant snags a first down after a solid five yard gain. This kind of play repeated, repeated, repeated would be nice, to not only get a score, but run down the clock. Grant: 92 yards on 20 carries. Good average that ups on a six-yard gain. Ahman Green - to the 45 yard line...nine yards...five yards from the record. Green again...three yards. I think they're trying to get him the record and get the clock wound down while getting into scoring range. Green got it? Two yards? Enough? Is that the record? YES! First down? No. Ugh. 2:40 p.m. Buccaneers' 1st Drive 12:54 1st play: first down on a quick out pattern with NOBODY covering the guy. Freeman pass to teh end zone SAVED by Charles Woodson undercutting a ball. One of the good free agent moves Ted Thompson has made. For all that we criticize him about, that was a SPECIAL GM move. Ugh. Leaping grab in the end zone by Kellen "&***** Soulja" Winslow. 2:31 p.m. Packers' 1st Drive (Continued from 3rd quarter) 3rd-10 at the 18...Rodgers saved from a sack by the "eyes in his earhole" to scramble and produce a first-down throw for Jones. Grant gets stuffed at the six on 1st down...ANOTHER sack at the 13. Roy Miller thanks to a coverage sack. My goodness...six yard loss. RODGERS HIMSELF TO THE END ZONE! Ruud nearly killed him at the goal line. That's guts. What a pass fake to get him open, too. 3rd Quarter 2:28 p.m. Packers' 4th Drive 1:30 I think Barber was around at this time in human history: Ahman Green with a HUGE run - 26 yards....go back to 2003, baby! Was that the record? 2:23 p.m. Buccaneers' 3rd Drive 3:19 3rd-2: Jarrett Bush with a GREAT read of a Freeman pass...had he caught it, it's a pick-six and a two-score lead. 2:17 p.m. Packers' 3rd Drive 6:21 10 yard runs by Ryan Grant help. But a 3rd-9 at the GB 43 doesn't, and the crowd knows it. A drop by Driver REALLY doesn't. 2:13 p.m. Buccaneers' 2nd Drive 8:17 3rd-1...Packers in "hippo' look. One less DB, and the Bucs throw...thankfully, dropped by Graham. Phew. 2:08 p.m. Packers' 2nd Drive 11:28 Two Grant runs = 1st down. Nice equation. A nother sack, this time Michael Bennett. No, not the former Milwaukee Tech/Vikings running back. Donald Lee got beat by Bennett, giving up the inside. Larry: "Packers are in front, but this has got a bad feel to it." Until the Rodgers-Driver 11 yd gain makes it more managable. WHAT A CATCH by Jennings for the first down as he turned and adjusted to make a sideline catch for 20 yards. Nice hot read. And no, we don't mean New York Times best seller list. Rodgers deep bomb - INT to Talib. Jennings was in triple coverage. Worst decision Rodgers has made all year. 2:01 p.m. Buccaneers' 1st Drive 13:00 Holding on the 1st play of the Tampa Bay drive by Barnett. Not good at all. Direct snap to Clifton Smith...he threw a lateral and the "fumble" went out on the 50. That's called an 0-7 team that should be nowhere near being in the game. Jarrett Bush covering Clayton and Freeman overthrows him...Clayton WAS open. Celebrate a bad performance? Not good. The D-backs coach should give Bush an earful. 1:53 p.m. Packers' 1st Quarter 15:00 Then Rodgers nearly gets safetied? Nope, according to the refs, though they could have buried Rodgers six feet under with Clifton and Colledge getting beat. WAIT...challenge. Wayne thinks it's a safety. Check the replay...no safety by the length of a football. Since it's a throwback game, they had to use kinescope television sets in the replay booth. Rodgers got Kuhn for a completion to at least get out of danger range with the punt. All because of Williams' boo-boo. In the meantime, since TODAY'S TMJ4 HD is an NBC affilliate, we should be good corporate citizens and not only play back the CBS pots and pans video, but offer something of the NFL on NBC from the Tampa Bay orange jersey days...never mind the Packers have never played them on NBC. Halftime 1:50 p.m. 2nd Quarter 1:39 p.m. Packers' 5th Drive :06 1:20 p.m. Buccaneers' 4th Drive 2:32 (Loudspeaker on throwback day in Tampa: Boz Skaggs "Lito...whooooooaaa!") And the Packers just blew the great position by letting Williams run to the 13 yard line, then Stovall drags a defender for a first down. Then Clayton had Woodson beat by five yards...ugh...but Freeman missed him. Lucky break....wait....flag? On Hawk for running onto the field late....? Ah, he ran off the field and back on. Whoops. Thought he was the 12th guy when he's really the 11th. They played an entire ZZ Top song during the break where the ref was looking at the replay...so no actual flag. After all that, the Packers refused to play zone in the deep middle and Freeman found Stovall. Freeman then got another first down because he was faster than Kampman to the corner. (FYI, looking at these throwback TB uni's, I'm waiting to hear Tim Ryan and Dan Jiggets on the call on CBS). Great job by Barnett to break up a completed pass from Freeman to Cadillac Williams. Freeman with ANOTHER late completion to the 30 yard line to Winslow...but Tampa Bay has to take a tmie out. Still, it's demoralizing. Completion, broken tackle, but short of the first down by Strauder...and not out of bounds...so it's down the ball time. Rookie time management...he could have taken a shot to the end zone. 1:17 p.m. Packers' 4th Drive 3:01 Two straight incompletions mean that they're pretty cold and stagnant. 3rd-10? Ronde Barber nearly picked him...and he also interfered with Driver, but with no call. 1:15 p.m. Buccaneers' 3rd Drive 3:50 1:09 p.m. Packers' 3rd Drive 5:21 Rodgers on play action has to scramble and....HE THREW IT AWAY! YAY! Mark it down in your diaries, folks, that Aaron Rodgers threw a pass away. 3rd-13: time out Packers. Does it pan out? All that extra time to decide to hand the ball off to Brandon Jackson. What? 1:03 p.m. Buccaneers' 2nd Drive 7:38 Wow...on 1st down, a Packers defender yelled at a ref that Donald Penn was holding, and the ref listened! 1st-20, and Freeman is SACKED! Hawk turned on the jets and got there. Now back behind the five yard line. When have we seen Hawk actually play fast like this? 12:52 p.m. Packers' 2nd Drive 11:59 Green gets four yards, but doing the whole 1st down incompletion thing, making it 3rd-6? Rodgers GOT the first down on a scramble after having enough time to read War and Peace and the Betty Crocker cookbook series. Grant with an opening again! 15 yards again...I know it's the Bucs, but they're finally opening holes and Grant is getting a burst. Yes, Green is just a few yards from the team rushing record, but you have to keep Grant in it for yardage. More of a burst. Rodgers on a bomb - WIDE OPEN DRIVER! He must have had limburger cheese, because no one was near him. 12:47 p.m. Packers' 1st Drive 13:25 Aaron Rodgers: 141.1 on 3rd downs entering this play: not this time. Nearly picked on a toss to Driver. Oh no! Punt blocked! Touchdown Ronde Barber. Gino Hayes blocked it....untouched. Dumb. Free man came up the inside. 12:41 p.m. Buccaneers' 1st Drive (continued from 1st Qtr) Field goal pushed to the right side...like many of my wedge shots. 1st Quarter 12:35 p.m. Buccaneers' 4th Drive 2:39 Wayne reminded us Freeman went to Lynn Dickey's alma mater, Kansas State. Now, after that name, seeing the game we're watching, I'm expecting to see Donald Igwuebuike (spelling, I know). T. Williams making a great play stopping a slant pass on 2nd down. 3rd down and Freeman finds Ward wide open and he split two tackles' wickets easily. Looked like a cricket match. 38 ugly yards. 12:23 p.m. Packers' 3rd Drive At last! Ryan Grant with a great run! 20 yards off a cutback past left tackle. Seeing a white No. 7 Packers jersey with the Tampa Bay stadium orange striping in the background, I keep thinking that' Majkowski. Did I hear the name Savvy Piscatelli? Sounds like a restaurant owner or a character on Happy Days, one of the Fonz's relatives. Ah, to see Ahman Green run a screen pass to go into the red zone...especially with John McKay's defense absolutely forgetting about it. Nice....a late hit on Miller, working on Josh Sitton...what, no call? C'mon, Mr. Ref's. You shouldn't be wearing 70's quality glasses. Thankfully, on 3rd down, Jennings makes a 1st down catch off Talib. Grant up the middle....TD! Barely, thanks to Sitton pushing his way in. 12:19 p.m. Buccaneers' 3rd Drive 9:32 12:18 p.m. Packers' 2nd Drive 9:48 12:11 p.m. Buccaneers' 2nd Drive 12:15 Whatever it is, it didn't work. Not until Nick Collins roped down Williams for a one-yard loss. 3rd down at the 38: knocked down in the attempt to reach Winslow, but Woodson knocked it down Remember, Winslow's a ******* solder! 12:05 p.m. Packers' 1st Drive 13:10 A good open field tackle by Talib stopped Jennings from really good YAC on a six-yard catch. JONES!!!! Heck of an over-the-shoulder catch beating Elbert Mack for the bomb! But then the Packers get nailed 15 yards for an illegal celebration, something called praying. Well, the refs changed their minds. It's a Sunday, after all. 12:02 p.m. Buccaneers' 1st Drive 15:00 Freeman has to run and slid short of the first down. Rookie mistake. We'll take it. Pregame 12:00 p.m. 11:59 a.m. 11:49 a.m. Green Bay Tampa Bay 11:35 a.m. GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The Green Bay Packers have placed offensive lineman Jason Spitz on injured reserve with a lower-back injury. Spitz, who plays center and guard, appeared in five games this season. He is part of an offensive line that has allowed a league-worst 31 sacks. The Packers also signed wide receiver Biren Ealy from the practice squad on Saturday. The 6-foot-2 Ealy appeared in four games with Tennessee in 2007 and spent the 2008 season on the Titans' practice squad. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Pregame Story TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman wiped the sweat off his forehead, took a deep breath and answered another question about taking over the offense of the only team yet to win a game in the NFL. Ready or not, the 17th pick in this year's draft will make his first start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, facing the Green Bay Packers (4-3) on a day the Bucs (0-7) will reflect on the past while looking to the future. Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon will become the first inductee into the Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium, and the Bucs will don throwback creamsicle uniforms and helmets that are an ugly reminder of the franchise's winless inaugural season in 1976. The 1979 Bucs, who reached the NFC championship game, will be recognized, too. But the main attraction will be Freeman, the third quarterback selected in the draft behind Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez. "The good thing about him is there's no pressure on him. He can go out and relax because of where we are right now," said Doug Williams, quarterback of the '79 Bucs and currently the team's director of pro personnel. "I told him I wish I would have had an opportunity to be in his position, where you didn't have to go out there and put the team on your back from the start. He's got to let the other guys make plays for him." Conventional wisdom says young quarterbacks benefit more by being given time to develop as backups, much like the Packers groomed Aaron Rodgers while the fifth-year pro sat behind Brett Favre. The Bucs drafted Freeman, hoping he would not have to play as a rookie. Veteran Byron Leftwich led the team for three weeks before second-year pro Josh Johnson was given the first four starts of his career. At 0-7, and riding an 11-game losing streak that's the longest in the NFL, rookie coach Raheem Morris and first-year general manager Mark Dominik decided it's time to see what the 6-foot-6, 248-pound Freeman can do. The 21-year-old out of Kansas State doesn't see himself as a savior. However, he is well aware of the expectations that come with being the new face of the franchise. "Obviously that's been brought up to me. A lot of people have said things," Freeman said. "But that's not all that heavy on my mind. ... I think the pressure I put on myself kind of outweighs that." Rodgers, in his second season as Green Bay's starter, is the NFL's top-rated passer through seven games. He has no problem with the way the Packers brought him along as a first-round draft pick. "I think there's merit to waiting and learning, and also merit to being on the field and taking your bumps and bruises, and learning and improving and getting experience that way," Rodgers said. "Personally I wouldn't have done it any other way. Although you think you're ready to play in Year 1, you look back for me, and the lights kind of came on in Year 3. That's when I really felt like I was ready to play at the level that I would have wanted to play at." Williams was a first-round pick in 1978, joining a team that was a combined 2-26 the previous two seasons. The Bucs won five games his rookie year, then nearly reached the Super Bowl in 1979. Freeman made his regular-season debut in London two weeks ago, playing two series during the fourth quarter of a 35-7 loss to the Patriots. Williams was standing outside the locker rooms at Wembley Stadium when Freeman and New England's Tom Brady walked out at about the same time. He asked the rookie if he noticed anything about the championship-winning quarterback. Brady was wearing a business suit. Freeman had on jeans. Lesson learned going forward. "I told him you're a businessman, you're the CEO of this team right now. Look the part," Williams said. "I think when you get to that point, when you look the part you're going to feel the part. He has to realize he is the face of the franchise. He's got to carry himself like it, he's got to act like it." Green Bay, which has feasted on bad teams while not quite measuring up against stronger teams on its schedule, figures to be a tough initial assignment for a rookie quarterback leading an offense that's sputtered all year. The Packers are ranked in the top 10 offensively and defensively, and Rodgers has been very productive despite being sacked a league-worst 31 times. Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said he was impressed with Freeman coming out of college, even though hasn't seen much of him on film. "You have a college grade on him. You have their college workout and things like that, so you kind of have an idea of his ability," McCarthy said. "But that's part of playing a quarterback that is going into his first NFL start. We're just going to focus more on the concepts of what they have been doing in the run protection and the passing game." The Bucs know if Freeman is going to be successful, they are going to have play better around him than they have for Leftwich and Johnson. When the team reconvened for practice following last week's bye, Morris showed players video cutups of everything he felt the Bucs did right during the first seven games. The first-year coach also challenged the offense to become the "lifeline" of a team that's been driven by defense for more than a decade. What Morris did not discuss was St. Louis and Tennessee winning while Tampa Bay was off, leaving the Bucs as the NFL's only winless team. "I'm not interested in sharing misery with anybody else in the league," Morris said. "I'm not interested in who else doesn't have a win, I'm interested in getting our own win." (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
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