TAMPA, Fla. | Wearing one of those creamsicle jerseys that are an ugly reminder of Tampa Bay’s past, rookie Josh Freeman gave the struggling Buccaneers plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future.
The third quarterback selected in this year’s NFL Draft led the previously winless Bucs to a 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers in his first start Sunday, ending the league’s longest losing streak at 11 games.
Playing with poise that belied his inexperience, Freeman passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns, including a 7-yard throw to Sammie Stroughter on fourth-and-4 for the go-ahead TD with under five minutes to play.
“I felt really relaxed,” said Freeman, the 17th pick in the draft and the third quarterback taken behind Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez. “I didn’t get too high or too low. I can’t say I did anything spectacular. I just played within myself, and when we had opportunities I took them.”
Freeman became the youngest quarterback to open a game for the Bucs, who have had 10 different players start at the position since winning the Super Bowl seven seasons ago. He’s the third this year.
“That’s a great start to how we want to be, how we want to work, how we want to play,” said the 33-year-old Raheem Morris, who has known Freeman since the rookie was a freshman at Kansas State and Morris was the defensive coordinator there. “However you do it, it’s impressive. His age really doesn’t matter at this point. … He’s got to lead us to where we’ve got to go.”
Freeman completed 14 of 31 passes with just one interception. A critical second pick by Green Bay’s A.J. Hawk was wiped out by an illegal contact penalty against Hawk during Tampa Bay’s go-ahead drive.
Three plays later, Freeman threw 29 yards to Michael Clayton to set up his second TD pass of the day.
“He kept his composure and made plays,” Packers linebacker Nick Barnett said.
The Bucs (1-7) are the last team in the NFL to win this season, ending a skid that was the franchise’s longest since 1976-77, when they dropped an NFL-record 26 in a row wearing the uniforms the team donned against the Packers.
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