Josh Freeman leads Bucs to first win, 38-28 over Packers

TAMPA – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are winless no longer, and the rookie did lead them.

Quarterback Josh Freeman threw three touchdown passes in his first NFL start, leading the Bucs to a come-from-behind 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Freeman rallied the Bucs from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter and while his numbers weren’t spectacular — 14-of-31 passing for 205 yards — his leadership down the stretch was something the Bucs (1-7) haven’t seen from the quarterback position all season.

Afterward, Freeman kept the low-key demeanor he has demonstrated since arriving from Kansas State.

“It’s great do get a win, don’t get me wrong, but there are a lot of things I need to clean up,” Freeman said. “I didn’t do anything too spectacular. I took advantage of opportunities when I could.”

Freeman’s touchdowns went to three different receivers; two of them came in the fourth quarter. He credited the players that caught the ball, including the often-maligned Michael Clayton.

“I didn’t ‘make them’ make plays, they made them for me,” said Freeman, who completed passes to eight different players.

Freeman’s third touchdown pass, to fellow rookie Sammie Stroughter on a fourth-down play, gave the Bucs a 31-28 lead with a little more than 4 minutes remaining. It was their first lead of the game.

“It was why we brought him in here, why we brought him in to lead this franchise,” first-year head coach Raheem Morris said. “(W)hen he goes out there you have to feel that you have a chance to win, you have the ability to win.”

Safety Tanard Jackson’s 35-yard interception return for a score with 35 seconds to play was icing on the cake for the Bucs, who entered the game as the NFL’s last winless team.

“A great start to how we want to be, how we want to look, how we want to play,” said Morris, who won his first game as a head coach. “These guys played passionate. Obviously it’s not about me. It’s about us.”

Freeman, the first-round draft choice making his first NFL start, drove the Bucs 72 yards in eight plays for the go-ahead score, hitting Stroughter with a strike in the back-left corner of the end zone with just 4:14 left to play.

A quick pump fake by Freeman forced the cornerback inside, while Stroughter drifted outside and reached up to make the catch as he fell out of bounds.

“Josh did a great job of pumping,” said Stroughter, who had three catches for 19 yards. “The only thing that was on my mind was catching the ball with two feet in (bounds).”

Clayton, who had a critical 19-yard catch to the Packers 13-yard line during the drive, caught a two-point conversion pass from Freeman to give the Bucs a three-point lead.

Kellen Winslow leaped high in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass, bringing the Buccaneers within 28-23 on their previous possession.

Winslow’s catch of the pass by Freeman was set up by an 83-yard kickoff return by Clifton Smith after the Packers had opened up an 11-point lead.

Smith broke down the left sideline, cut back toward the middle of the field and weaved all the way to the Green Bay 17-yard line with 12:39 left to play.

Freeman hit Derrick Ward for 10 yards to the 7 before finding Winslow two plays later. Freeman then missed Winslow on a two-point try, making the score 28-23.

Aaron Rodgers scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown run, giving the Packers (4-4) a 28-17 lead right before Smith’s electrifying return helped turn the tide of the entire game.

The Bucs defense turned up the pressure on Rodgers in the second half, as well, sacking him a total of six times in the game and forcing three interceptions. Rogers finished his day 17-of-35 for 266 yards, two TDs and the three picks.

The teams played a scoreless third quarter with the Bucs getting good pressure on Rodgers, who was sacked twice, once nearly for a safety. Aqib Talib also intercepted a Rodgers pass just outside the Bucs end zone to thwart a Green Bay scoring chance.

Connor Barth kicked a 38-yard field goal with six seconds left in the first half, pulling the Bucs within 21-17 at the intermission.

Barth’s field goal, just the third by a Bucs kicker all season, came at the end of a two-minute drill offense directed effectively by Freeman that proved prophetic of what came later.

Freeman moved the Bucs 74 yards in 12 plays, taking just 2:26 off the clock. Freeman completed four of six passes for 53 yards and scrambled once for 11 yards and a first down on the drive.

Tampa Bay had a first down and 11 seconds on the clock when head coach Raheem Morris opted for the field goal.

The game was the first “throwback” game in team history, with players in uniforms modeled after the original orange, red and white “Creamsicle” look from 1976, and the stadium, field and even the cheerleaders decked out in the expansion-era color scheme.

Donald Driver caught a 32-yard touchdown from Rodgers, giving the Packers a 21-14 lead with 7:38 left before halftime.

Driver easily got behind Ronde Barber, who moments earlier had scored on a blocked punt return, and hauled in the toss from Rodgers. The catch capped an eight-play, 76-yard drive for the Packers.

Geno Hayes broke through the Packers’ line for the second blocked punt of his career and Barber scooped it on one bounced and raced to the 14th touchdown of his career (including playoffs) with 11:59 left in the second quarter, giving the Bucs a 14-14 tie.

Earlier, Barth missed a 45-yard field goal with 13:25 to play in the quarter, missing his first field goal attempt as a Buc and dropping Tampa Bay to 2-of-8 on field goal tries at the time, between three different kickers this season.

Ryan Grant scored on a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Packers a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. Grant’s run with 2:39 left in the first quarter capped an 11-play, 69-yard drive for the Packers.

Freeman’s first completion as a starting quarterback was a touchdown pass to Ward. Freeman threw incomplete on his first three passes, but found Ward in the right flat for a TD with 8:45 left in the first quarter that made the score 7-7.

That touchdown was set up by Bucs cornerback Eldrick Mack’s first career interception, which he returned 36 yards to the Green Bay 8-yard line. Freeman hit Ward two plays later.

Rodgers hit James Jones on a 74-yard touchdown pass on the Packers’ second play of the game, giving them a quick 7-0 lead.

James beat Mack down the right sideline for the score with 12:20 left in the first quarter. It was the eighth touchdown pass of 40 yards or more surrendered by the Bucs this season.

Freeman made his first NFL start without receiver Antonio Bryant, inactive because of a lingering knee injury. Backup receiver Maurice Stovall started in his place. Stovall had three catches for 46 yards.

After leading the Bucs with 83 catches for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns last season, Bryant has 16 catches for 229 yards and two TDs this year.

Tampa Bay’s other inactive players were QB Byron Leftwich (third string inactive), WR Yamon Figurs, CB Mike Mickens, FB Chris Pressley, G Shawn Murphy, T James Lee and DT Dre Moore.

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