Josh Freeman was sacked twice Thursday.

Twice on Thursday night the New England Patriots pulled Josh Freeman down for a sack. Both times it was Jerod Mayo that came streaking through the line untouched, and both times Andre Carter added pressure off the edge. A lot of people have said it’s not fair to blame the line for that because a linebacker made the plays, and I think that’s absolutely bunk. Both sacks were largely created by mental mistakes on the part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line.

As I mentioned earlier, the Patriots are very good as disguising their pressure to confuse the offense. That dynamic was in full effect on Thursday night as the Buccaneers regularly found themselves leaving rushers unabated while doubling or even tripling down on other pass-rushers. Both times the Patriots brought down Freeman it had less to do with an extra man and more to do with a missed assignment than anything. Let’s look at both sacks.

Sack One: 5:45 in 1st Quarter, 1st & 20, 14-0 on Buccaneers own 22

Pre-Play: The Patriots are in their base defense and show six men on the line, with linebacker Eric Moore down and Rob Ninkovich standing at the edge of the line, strong-side. Gary Guyton is showing blitz from the middle. Jerod Mayo is five yards off the line of scrimmage. The Bucs meanwhile have three receivers split out with a tight end and a back in, Josh Freeman is taking the snap out of the shotgun.

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