Galling Missed Tackles
December 15th, 2021
Bucs DC Todd Bowles.
Joe happened across a Bucs team statistic that nearly caused Joe to fall out of his office chair.
What in the name of Derrick Brooks is going on here?
The Bucs won the Super Bowl last year largely on defense. And bringing back that entire defense, guys like Ndamukong Suh and Lavonte David and Devin White, Jason Pierre-Paul and Antoine Winfield, you would think this same defense that rubbed out the slimy Saints, the Packers and the Chiefs last winter would be able to tackle.
How bad is it? Even embattled Jags coach Urban Meyer is snickering and he’s not even in his own Columbus bar with a thirtysomething lap dancer.
The Bucs have — Joe hopes you are sitting down for this — the most missed tackles in the NFL this season. This is not a joke. The Bucs lead league, per Pro-Football-Reference.com with 105 missed tackles. That’s more than the lousy Lions (103) and the Jags (100). Hell, the Bucs had only 103 missed tackles all of last season.
Joe’s first question was how can a team that leads the NFL in missed tackles have the best record in the NFL? Well, it’s not that much of a stretch if you continue to look down the list.
The Rams (9-4) are No. 7 in missed tackles with 93. The Chargers (8-5) are No. 6 with 99.
Obviously, this needs to be addressed if the Bucs want to win a Super Bowl. But how do you improve tackling 10 days before Christmas?
December 15th, 2021 at 3:53 pm
Wow … like this hasn’t been totally obvious to anyone who watches the Bucs?
Joe, you better flood Bowles’ email and let him know.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:56 pm
Green Bay has a pretty good defense and is a likely match-up during the postseason. The Bucs have 65% more missed tackles than Green Bay this season. That’s pretty damn sloppy. Wrap ’em up.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:57 pm
Actually Joe this is very understandable with the amount of subs that the team has had to use this year as compared to last year on defense. When guys get out of position they will tend to reach rather than wrap up. This combined with guys trying to give a big hit rather than again proper technique and viola you lead the league in missed tackles.
The way to fix it is to get the players back to basics with the defense and focus on assignments and trust the guy next to him to do his job. Then gang tackle and you will see a marked difference. The standard mantra of “Do your job” and you will see it get better.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:04 pm
Camp cupcake 🧁
December 15th, 2021 at 4:07 pm
I see poor tackling in just about every NFL game I watch these days. More restrictions on contact during practices and training camp compounded by all the new rules and regulations have caused this trend.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:08 pm
Has anyone noticed? Tom Brady says all the right things. that said: The sparkle in his eyes seems to be gone. Win-lose, it’s the same old story. Need to improve. got to get better. Being the ultimate pro that he is, he will always do his best and then some. I just don’t see or hear the same passion in his voice or his mannerisms. I just wonder IF, the Bucs win the Super Bowl, will this be Brady’s last season? (or even if they don’t) He has so many opportunities in Cali, the place where his wife really wants to be, Why would he take another year of bumps and bruises. What else is left for him to prove? NOTHING!!! He has climbed way more mountains than anyone ever thought would be possible. Just sayin”. .
December 15th, 2021 at 4:10 pm
Yes, but we did breath very heavy on 56 of those misses of ball carriers!
December 15th, 2021 at 4:35 pm
Geez that is glaring ineptitude and Kwon Alexander hasn’t played for us in years, so there is no excuse.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:48 pm
Not surprising at all, we watch the swiss cheeses defense every single week!
Meanwhile, Green Bay’s defense has the 3rd lowest in the league. Yet people keep pretending we’re just gonna stomp them.
Anyone counting on the Packers having a post-season meltdown and that will let us just walk into the Super Bowl is highly misguided.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:52 pm
Discipline, Discipline, Discipline, Coaching, Coaching, Coaching or lack of.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:53 pm
it wouldn’t hurt if the secondary didn’t let them get the ball hahahaha
December 15th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
More walk thru practices should help 😂
December 15th, 2021 at 5:18 pm
@ Larry,
I have noticed it somewhat buy if you compare some of the footage from last year he seems the same.
The drive is still there, especially when we saw his first down run last sunday.
Win or lose the SB this year I think he comes back one more year too 1). Finish out his contract and
2). He wants that last reception record between he and Brink that Peyton Manning owns. Once he gets that which should be 2022 he is done.
So one more year fellas and ladies. Enjoy greatness while we still can.
Go Bucs!!
December 15th, 2021 at 5:18 pm
Injuries play a big part here……hard to tackle well when you are nursing an injury…..both White & LVD, JPP, Davis, Dean, SMB, Whitehead……and the subs are sub-par…..
Not making excuses for them here…just giving one of the reasons…..
December 15th, 2021 at 5:20 pm
Gronk – not Brink.
Damn I hate autocorrect 🙄
December 15th, 2021 at 5:21 pm
Is good when statistics tell the story, otherwise you are condemn as “stupid”, for criticizing DC Tooooddd.
We have and had last year, a very average or below average D as a whole.
I believe is more lack of good coaching than lack of good players.
Is NOT going to be fixed; can’t; remember Albert Einstein Quote: yeah not that..but this:
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
“Yourself” is DC Tooddd.
TB12 the ONLY hope.
December 15th, 2021 at 5:21 pm
Larry, what are you talking about. I see the same fire in Brady as always. He’ll their making another run and your talking about retiring.
December 15th, 2021 at 5:44 pm
How many of those missed tackles are on the 7th and 8th string corners we’ve playing?
Also, again, for those that don’t remember — this defense was not anything special last year during the regular season. They got hot in the playoffs. Some of us non-morons that don’t have goldfish level memory, told you that this defense wasn’t going to be anything special this year. Also never do teams get a hot offense or defense for a 4-game strech (really 3-games) and suddenly level up and that becomes the new norm.
This defense is, if healthy, a top 10 defense in an era of bad defenses. Current the defense is 14th. With 2 games against a terrible Carolina offense, a bad Jets offense, and perhaps (hopefully) a bad Saints offense, they might be able to pad their stats and end up top 10. But they’re not anything special. What I hoped for, what I still hope for, is that with all those vets they can in the playoffs once again, and I think they might be able to do so if they can get back everyone healthy.
Also, please for the love of God stop saying this is an elite run defense. This weekend was another where they gave up well over 100 yards, this time over 170 yards rushing, at 9.1 yards per carry. No, that wasn’t just Allen, either, their RBs averaged 9.1 yards per carry. This run defense is living on past reputation. They need to toughen up, and that begins with Vita playing more than 40% of the snaps, and coming out on 3rd and shorts and goalline stands.
December 15th, 2021 at 5:55 pm
Larry:
Yeah, I’ve noticed. Seems to be something going on behind the scenes, or a coupla/few things going on.
First is the intrigue over Antonio Brown. Over his ‘injury’ and the vaxx card flap. Regarding the vaxx card suspension, I just read that BA stated on the Dan Patrick Show that he “wasn’t sure that AB” would still be playing for the Bucs after his suspension! If AB is healthy and BA is seriously thinking about cutting him over the vaxx card ‘no harm no foul’ issue BACK IN TC, then Brady and the REST OF THE TEAM have every right being upset.
By now, the Country and the entire World knows that there’s no real ‘pandemic’ and, if anything, that these forced jabs are seriously HURTING people if not worse. So to cut AB because of a fake card he couldn’t replace with a legitimate card a couple of weeks later is complete bull crap! What a slap in the face to Brady and a surefire way to blow up your locker room, and throw away any chance of running it back BA, IF this is true.
Florida has been one of the smartest (and most protective of its residents) states not to give in to the fear-mongering and the forced jabs. So to cut AB over this non-issue would be one of the most demoralizing moves for your locker room AND the Buc fan base.
BA, you owe it to the Bucs fan base to level with us about the truth here. Something is wrong and it’s obvious to everyone. If he’s healthy enough to take the field. let the man suit up after the suspension expires!
December 15th, 2021 at 5:57 pm
Simple. Watch you some #47John Lynch tape. Run through your man. I dont feel one bit bad if a player gets hurt. When the lowest paid jock make 20 times my income I want to see somebody kicking some ass! This aint pattycakes. Hit somebody. Make em remember that last tackle. Think Lyle Alzado would hesitate? Ha! Go Bucs!
December 15th, 2021 at 5:59 pm
Not a copout here but the reason you see the Rams and Bucs on the list is because those offenses score quickly and the defense has to grind a lot. It’s still troublesome but there’s that. The Rams have a borderline elite defense. Just saying.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:05 pm
Slow it down, enjoy the ride of success, and stop worrying about when Brady retires. I hear those comments as much as any on here. Brady isn’t going to retire because Bruce called one or possibly 2 stupid timeouts. He’s not going to retire because supposedly Gisele wants to be in Cali. I don’t even know where this insanity comes from. You somehow know where Gisele and potentially Tom want to live. I can’t with some of you people. This is a Bucs site not Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:26 pm
cmurda, I don’t know if LA is their destiny they recently sold a 19 million dollar mansion in LA.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:29 pm
That’s coaching and effort. Or lack there of.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:46 pm
Not sure how they calculate this stat but we miss a lot of tackles with a strong penetration sometimes in the backfield which disrupts the play. One of the issues of trying to make quick contact is taking a bad path and being off balance at the point of contact allow the player to shed the tackle. I would like to see us use our speed to get first leverage and then have balance going into the tackle we would tackle much more effectively and give a much more jarring hit, unfortunately you will give small gains but not allow the bigger plays to happen.
December 15th, 2021 at 6:59 pm
Subs or not. They all should know how to tackle.
December 15th, 2021 at 9:11 pm
Dean Giusti … ‘That’s coaching and effort. Or lack there of’.
Couldn’t disagree more. Every one of these guys … players AND coaches … wants to win far more than you or I do. After all, this is their livelihood; their chosen profession. Every one of them knows there are no guarantees when it comes to tomorrow.
Seems like it’s a lot easier to be proactive (like the offense?) as opposed to reactive (like the defense?). The offense knows what it wants to do, while the defense has to kinda sniff that out from play to play. I agree with Rod that our D isn’t an elite run defense (good but not elite); teams don’t run that much against us because it’s so much easier to pass against us, and we get worn out & beaten up in the process.
We’re missing way too many tackles for my liking admittedly, but I think most of that has to do with us having some starters on defense who are beaten up, playing a lot of subs, and probably a lot to do with communication (or lack thereof) because of so many different players filling in. Hopefully we get some of the injured back healthy a couple games before the playoffs start.
December 15th, 2021 at 11:56 pm
My wife hears me swearing at the missed tackles every single game.
December 16th, 2021 at 1:16 am
Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up. Blitzers often come in too fast and are sidestepped because they don’t drop the speed before the hit or tackle. A good pressure with hands up can force turnovers. Take better angles and don’t overrun the play. Also big runners are easier tackled low than high, especially by defensive backs who are tall and light. That’s it and it will work. Todd Bowles and just needs them to play smarter not getting too aggressive.
December 16th, 2021 at 11:30 am
From what I have been observing, these guys are so fast and when they charge at someone they do it so fast and a little out of control and when the player makes a move they cant slow down in time to make the play.
They need to come into the tackles with a little more control.
December 16th, 2021 at 4:02 pm
lack of strength training,at camp cupcake +discipline = more bravado & penalties than performance.