NFC South Recap:Week 1

Throughout the course of history the NFC South has been the most unpredictable division in the NFL with every team winning the division at least once in the last 5 seasons with the exception of the Buccaneers. As far as playmakes go this division has a bunch of those with guys such as Cam Newton, Steve Smith, Julio Jones, Drew Brees,Stephen Jackson,Doug Martin, Matt Ryan and more. Week 1 featured a lot of action and late game drama in the NFC South so lets get to it.

Game #1 Atlanta Falcons:17 @ New Orleans Saints:23

If your the type of fan that likes high scoring, action packed games then this is always a game to watch. It doesn’t get much better then Drew Brees and Matt Ryan as far as watching 2 QB's do battle against each other. The games between the 2 are usually high scoring but this game was a little abnormal.

The Falcons jumped out to an early 10-0 lead and seized the momentum early on in the Super Dome.With a 25 yard Touchdown to Maques Colston ,Drew Brees and the Saints took the momentum in the 2^nd quarter with 13 unanswered points to take a 13-10 lead into halftime.

The Falcons and Saints would trade touchdowns from Julio Jones and Jimmy Graham as the Saints led 20-17 heading into the games final quarter. With the game on the line deep in Saints territory Matt Ryan was picked off by Roman Harper in the endzone on what would have been the potential game winning touchdown.

Solid Debut For Jackson

Stephen Jackson was acquired in the off season by the Falcons to help the run game and he looked decent against the Saints as he collected 77 yards on 11 carries with a 50 yard run as his long for the day.

Colston Sets New Franchise Record

On his 1^st touchdown reception of the season Marques Colston moved into the top spot as the all-time leader for receptions in New Orleans Saints history.

Game #2 Seattle Seahawks:12 @ Carolina Panthers:7

One of the more interesting games to me was the match up of Russell Wilson vs Cam Newton.The game was all about the defense as nether scored more then 14 points. The Panthers went up early in the game with a touch down to Steve Smith to take a 7-3 lead.

The next touchdown wouldn't come until all the way until the 4^th quarter as Russell Wilson on a 43 yard strike to Jermaine Kearse which would be the deciding factor in Seattle's win at Bank of America Stadium. Mike Shula in his debut as offensive Coordinator for the Panthers limited Cam Newton's carries as he only rushed for 38 yards on 4 carries.

Costly Fumble

Deangelo Williams fumbled the ball as the Panthers were in Seattle territory as they were on the verge of re claiming the lead and getting their 1^st win of 2013.

Whats Beast Mode?

Despite the loss the Panthers and the newly revamped defense held pro bowl running back Marshawn Lynch to only 43 yards on 17 carries.

Game #3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers:17 @ New York Jets:18

To say that the Buccaneers were stunned in Darrelle Revis's return to New York would be an understatement. The Buccaneers on paper are far better then the Jets but a self inflicting 13 penalties gave the Jets life which led to them losing. An early saftey on a bad snap to Josh Freeman was the pre cursor to what would take place at the end of the game.

The Bucs were up 17-15 when diaster struck and Lavonte Davis was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a late hit on Geno Smith. The personal foul moved the Jets 15 yards from the spot of the hit which set up the 48 yard game winning field goal by Nick Folk. It was a very undisciplined game by the Tampa Bay defense.

Jackson Produces

Vincent Jackson began his season with a bang collecting 154 yards on 7 receptions, very productive day for one of Josh Freeman's favorite targets.

NFC South Standings

Saints 1-0

Falcons 0-1

Panthers 0-1

Buccaneers 0-1

Week 2 Match ups

Panthers @ Bills

Rams @ Falcons

Saints @ Buccaneers

Josh Freeman's Days In Tampa Bay Are Numbered

 
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to draft Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman with the 17th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, they probably figured that they had found the man that would lead their team for at least the next decade. Unfortunately, things have not gone as expected, and because of this, Freeman's tenure with the team will soon be coming to an end.

He started off with a tough first year, but he was given a pass on that, like most rookie quarterbacks are. Luckily for him, and the Bucs, he took a huge step forward and made the Pro Bowl while throwing for 3451 yards, 25 touchdowns, and only 6 interceptions. It seemed that he had just gotten better in every facet of the game, as his completion percentage raised by 7 points, and he was pushing the ball downfield more than the previous year.

His QBR was good for an impressive 7th in the league, and but him ahead of established players like Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, and Phillip Rivers. Another part of his game that exited fans was his ability to come up big when the team needed him, as he totaled 5 fourth quarter comebacks in that year alone. It appeared that he was ready to take the next step forward and vault himself into the top class of quarterbacks in the NFL.

As we now know, that's not what happened. Freeman took a big step back in his 3rd season, and the Bucs paid the price. They went from 10 wins in 2010 to 4 in 2011, and a big part of that was the fact that Freeman turned the ball over 29 times; a sharp contrast from his 9 turnovers the year before. He wasn't throwing the ball downfield as much, and often looked to check down, which explains why his completion percentage actually raised by a point.

The following year was actually worse, and the team disappointed yet again. They were seen as a team that might be able to make some noise in their division, but they got off to a terrible start that they just weren't able to rebound from. They started 2-5, but then Freeman got hot and led them to 4 straight wins, and it looked as if they might be able to make a push towards the playoffs.

He didn't show up when the team needed him, though, and couldn't replicate the clutch numbers that he posted in 2010. The team lost 5 games in a row, and much of that can be attributed to Freeman's horrific play (back-to-back 4 interception games aren't a good thing).

His 4000 yards and 27 touchdowns from last year may fool those who only look at stats, but if you watch the games, you can see how costly he is to the team. Last year, he ranked 24th in the NFL in 3rd down completion percentage, which resulted in the drives stalling out and forced the defense to be on the field a lot more than they should have been.

The Buccaneers have an incredibly solid team outside of the quarterback position, with talent at the skill positions on offense in the form of Doug Martin, Mike Williams, and Vincent Jackson. They have one of the best offensive lines in the league, and their defense isn't anything to scoff at, especially with the additions of Darrelle Revis and Dashon Goldson in the secondary.

The team used it's third round pick on Mike Glennon, a quarterback, and they have to be trying to develop him as quick as possible so that he's ready to start next season. If he's not, a better option would be to turn to a one-year stop gap like Chad Henne or Shaun Hill. The benefit of those two players is that they won't command the big money, long-term deal that Freeman is seeking.

It may be a little bit rough this year with Josh Freeman behind center, but if he continues to play the way that he has over the past couple years, don't worry, Bucs' fans, you won't have to see him in a Tampa Bay uniform much longer.

Follow Brian Rzeppa on Twitter, and check out his NBA work on The League News.

Worst Nickname in Sports?

Doug Martin formerly known as "The Muscle Hamster"

Nicknames hold a lot of weight in the Sports World football in particular you have the likes of “Matty Ice”, “Revis Island” or “MegaTron” all names that fairly represent the assigned players and they are just plain cool. “Cool” is a  word seldom used when speaking about the nickname of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rookie Running Back/Fantasy football sensation Doug Martin. That Nickname if you haven’t heard by now is of course “The Muscle Hamster”. The lack of toughness or flamboyance of that name probably knocked you socks off. Let me tell you the story of “The Muscle Hamster”. It all started back his Boise State days you see Doug had a girlfriend who was a gymnast  and she was allegedly more cut then Doug as far as Muscle tone so a Friend/Teammate of Doug called her a “Muscle Hamster”. Martin like any man stood up for his Women and said “ Hey! She is not a muscle hamster” his friend responded by saying “You’re a muscle Hamster too” and so it was born the Legend of the Muscle Hamster. Martin hates the nickname himself and was quoted in USA Today saying “It’s the worst nickname ever” At 5-9 215 pounds Doug Martin is short, Stocky and talented. Doug Martin had one of the best games in NFL History vs. Oakland Raiders Rushing for 251 yards in 4 touchdowns all in 1 game! He set a new Buccaneers record for rushing yards in a single game. I drafted him in several Fantasy leagues I play in and I firmly believe that he is worthy of enough of solid nickname and as a fan/Fantasy Owner of him I took the liberty of making some Nicknames of my own for Mr.Martin.

#1 "Dougie by the bay"

#2 "Dougie disater"

#3 "Dougie Smoove"

DING,DING,DING!! we have a winner From this day forward I and all football fans alike will adress Doug Martin as “Dougie Smoove”. If you don’t like my nickname for him Tweet me a better one @ThatBoyBtaylor on twitter or better yet Tweet him @DougMartin22 he would love a new nickname. Let’s shed the horror that is the “Muscle Hamster”

#DougieSmoove