"Behind Enemy Lines" is a Thursday post on the Access Vikings blog. In advance of Thursday's Vikings-Bucs game, Dan Wiederer of the Star Tribune interviewed Rick Stroud, the Bucs beat writer for the Tampa Bay Times. Here are three things you need to know ...
1 Josh Freeman has been on fire since the Bucs' Week 5 bye.
Over the past two weeks, Freeman has completed 39 of 68 passes for 768 yards and six touchdowns. He's helped Tampa Bay scored 66 points in that span and generally seems to be playing with greater swagger.
And there's a reason for that.
Early on, as Freeman adapted to the new system of offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, he seemed to struggle with just letting loose.
Sullivan's plays required a lot of post-snap reads and route adjustments that weren't easy for Freeman to feel comfortable with.
"It was designed where Josh and the receivers have to see the coverage the same way," Stroud said. "And early on, Josh was just not trusting what he thought he saw and what the receiver was going to do. So if you throw it outside and the receiver breaks inside, it's a pick. As a result, Josh was late throwing the ball a bunch. He just wasn't relaxed. He was thinking too much and you could see the wheels spinning in his head."
But now Tampa Bay has encouraged Freeman to take more shots down the field and they've tweaked the offense to get him out of the pocket a little more. That's suddenly enhanced the rapport Freeman has with receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, both of whom are averaging more than 19 yards per catch.
