The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to start rookie first round pick Josh Freeman at QB starting with the November 8th matchup in Tampa against the Green Bay Packers.  I’m not so sure that is a good team to break him in against as they have two great corners in Charles Woodson and Al Harris.  Freeman got into the game in England against the Patriots late to get his first taste of real NFL action.  He completed 2 of 4 passes for 16 yards (60.4 QB Rating) but he also got sacked two times.  Freeman rushed for 5 yards on 1 carry in that game too.  23-year old Josh Johnson will return to the bench for the Bucs as he had a rough time as the starter.  He has played in 6 games for the Bucs this season and he completed 63 of 125 passes (50.4%) for 685 yards with 4 TD passes and 8 INTs (50.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 22 times for 148 yards (6.7 ypc) so far this season.  Johnson will likely be the #2 QB behind Freeman with Byron Leftwich still being #3.  Leftwich has played in 3 games this season and he has completed 58 of 107 passes (54.2%) for 594 yards with 4 TD passes and 3 interceptions (71.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 6 yards (1.0 ypc) this season.  Hopefully the offensive line will protect Josh Freeman well enough to give him a chance for success the rest of the year.  The Buccaneers made a good decision to play Freeman as this is a lost season anyway.  Might as well see what the rookie can do.

The Bucs released backup offensive guard Marcus Johnson after he was arrested for DUI on Tuesday morning.  Johnson played in six games (0 starts) for the Bucs this season.  The Bucs have promoted offensive lineman James Lee from the practice squad to replace Johnson on the roster.  It appears that the Bucs are sending a message to players that they won’t tolerate bad behavior and that’s a good thing.  It’s bad enough to be 0-7 on the season but you don’t need a bunch of thugs earning that record.

The Bucs have released veteran safety Sean Mahan.  Mahan played in 6 games (4 starts) for the Buccaneers this season.  The reason he was cut is because Jeff Faine is ready to return from a triceps injury that cost him a few weeks.  Faine has started 3 games this season for the Bucs.  Getting Faine back should really help out the interior of the offensive line and the Bucs need all the help they can get.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled all the way to Wembley Stadium in London, England to get embarrassed by the New England Patriots.  At least they did not lose as bad as the Tennessee Titans did last week to the Patriots (59-0).  Josh Johnson had a terrible game for the Buccaneers, as the quarterback was picked off three times in this contest, including the fifth play of the game.  The Patriots’ Brandon Merriweather jumped a slant rout, intercepting Johnson and taking it 39 yards for the first score of the game.  Johnson went 9/26 for 156 yards, with three interceptions and one touchdown before being benched in the 4th quarter.  Josh Freeman replaced him and went 2/4 for 16 yards in garbage time.  The running game was much better than the passing game, but that isn’t saying much.  They got a mediocre 77 yards on 24 carries (3.2 avg) combined from Derrick Ward and Cadillac Williams.

The Buccaneers defense could not stop the big plays from happening, and had a really hard time stopping the Brady-Wes Welker connection.  Welker had 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.  The Bucs gave up a 54-yard touchdown, a 35-yard touchdown, and 37-yard reception by Randy Moss to set up Wes Welker’s touchdown, and a 20-yard run from back-up QB Brian Hoyer.  The Bucs will never win a game if they keep giving up that many big plays in a game. Josh Johnson does not seem to be the answer for the Bucs at quarterback, so another QB change could be coming for the Bucs.  They have a bye this week to try and figure that situation out.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-6) get to show American Football off to London, England this Sunday, but unfortunately they are playing the New England Patriots (4-2).  The Patriots put on a clinic against the Tennessee Titans last week, with a 59-0 demoralizing defeat.  The Titans, like the Bucs, have not won a game and are not on the same level as the Patriots.  Tom Brady got out of the funk he has been in every since returning from knee surgery, as he had a record-breaking five touchdowns in the second quarter.  Brady and the offense looked like the 2007 Patriots who did not lose a regular season game.

The Buccaneers are completely in over their heads in this match-up and it could get ugly.  They really need Josh Johnson to have the game of his life if they want a chance in this one.  Johnson, who replaced Byron Leftwich in week three, has not been much better then Leftwich.  He has thrown five interceptions in three starts and looks lost out their at times.  He is athletic, and should use his scrambling ability as much as possible against the Patriots.  They will also need a big game out of Cadillac Williams, who has yet to have a 100 yard game and has three games where he failed to get into double digit rushing yards.  This is going to be a very rough game for the Bucs and hopefully for their sake they can put up a better performance then the Titans did last week against the Patriots.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13, New England Patriots 35

The Buccaneers have claimed 26-year old OG Shawn Murphy off waivers from the Dolphins.  The 26-year old Murphy has yet to play a game in his two years in the NFL as he has had problems staying healthy.  Maybe a new start will get him motivated to get healthy enough to get his NFL career really started.

The Buccaneers have lost 29-year old starting fullback B.J. Askew for the rest of the season after he was placed on the Non-Football Injury List after injuring himself in a car accident last week.  Askew played in 5 games for the Bucs this season and he carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards.  He also caught 2 passes for 3 yards (1.5 avg).  Askew will be missed for his blocking in the running game and his special teams play.  But, Earnest Graham will replace him at fullback actually giving the Bucs another weapon out of the backfield.  He has played in 4 games for the Bucs this season and he has carried the ball 8 times for 25 yards (3.1 ypc) and he has also caught 4 passes for 14 yards (3.5 avg).  Finally, head coach Raheem Morris has to finally play his best running back all of the time.

The Bucs have signed 26-year old cornerback Marcus McCauley.  McCauley played in 10 games last season for the Vikings but he only made six tackles.  He has now played in two seasons in his NFL career and he has made 70 tackles and has defensed 8 passes.  The Buccaneers need all the help they can get so it was worth taking a chance on McCauley.

The Buccaneers played hard yesterday but it just wasn’t enough to win the game.  Josh Johnson completed 11 of 17 passes for 147 yards with 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 8 times for 45 yards (5.6 ypc) yesterday.  But Johnson fumbled the ball 5 times in this game losing 1 and that needs to stop if he’s going to continue to play.  Cadillac Williams had a solid game with 77 yards rushing on 16 carries (4.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Rookie WR Sammie Stroughter led the way in the passing game for the Bucs with 3 catches for 65 yards (21.7 avg).  The 7th round pick out of Oregon State also returned a kickoff 97 yards for a TD yesterday.  The Bucs finished up with 245 total yards on offense (124 rushing, 121 passing) in this game.

The Buccaneers played great against the pass but awful against the run and it cost them in the end.  Safety Sabby Piscitelli led the way for the Bucs on defense with 10 tackles.  Linebacker Barrett Ruud was also effective with 9 tackles and 3 passes defensed.  Safety Tanard Jackson made a huge impact in this game for the Bucs as he had 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and he also intercepted a pass returning it 26 yards for a TD to tie the score at 21 in the 4th quarter.  The Panthers finished up with 322 total yards on offense (267 rushing, 55 passing) in this game.  The Buccaneers are now 0-6 on the season.

The Buccaneers have traded 26-year old DE Gaines Adams to the Chicago Bears for a 2nd round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.  Adams played in 5 games for the Bucs this season and he made 10 tackles, defensed 2 passes and he had 1 sack.  The former first round pick played in 37 games in his three years with the Bucs.  In those games, Adams made 86 tackles, he defensed 10 passes, had 13.5 sacks, forced 2 fumbles and he had 2 interceptions (he returned one for a TD).  This is the Bucs pretty much giving up on Adams but at least they got a decent return for him.