Josh Freeman and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked poised and mature, nothing like that bumbling, youthful team from a year ago that started 0-7.
The Carolina Panthers played that role in a performance so inept they might be ready to truly start over with their own rookie quarterback, Jimmy Clausen.
Returning to the site of the worst game in his brief pro career, Freeman threw for 178 yards and two touchdown passes in Tampa Bay's 20-7 win on Sunday that produced a full-blown quarterback controversy for Carolina and gave the Buccaneers their first 2-0 start in five years.
"We're not really worried about what people are saying,"
said Freeman, who took over last year as a rookie in Tampa Bay's 3-13 season. "It's a great feeling."
Nine months removed from his five-interception nightmare against Carolina, Freeman and the Bucs were turnover-free. The miscues were made by the Panthers (0-2), who couldn't move the ball as Matt Moore had two more turnovers and was benched for Clausen in the fourth quarter.
Coach John Fox said it's "way too early"
to say who will start at quarterback next week against Cincinnati, with Carolina in danger of its second straight 0-3 start with Fox in the final year of his contract.
"Matt has not been benched by any stretch,"
Fox said. "We'll go with whoever gives us the best chance to win next week and that will take some time."
Moore, who has committed six turnovers and produced two touchdowns in two games, said he can't "put my finger on" what's gone wrong after he threw eight TD passes and one interception in a 4-1 finish last season that earned Jake Delhomme a ticket out of town.
"I don't know what the biggest difference is,"
said Moore, who completed 6 of 16 passes.
