Bucs Must Get Poor Tackling Resolved
June 6th, 2026
Improve tackling, please.
Here’s a good bar bet to use tonight.
Go to anyone at your favorite watering hole and ask how many missed tackles Jamel Dean had last year. Most Bucs fans will scoff and likely claim he had at least a half-dozen.
True, Dean was never known to be Ronnie Lott. He isn’t a physical player. But here is the answer which may surprise you: Per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Jamel Dean had a grand total of one missed tackle all of 2025. Uno. Ein. Enas. So much for Dean being a terrible tackler.
The reason Joe brings all this up is that last year, rookie backup corner Benjamin Morrison had six missed tackles. Dean played 660 snaps. Morrison had 359.
Joe doesn’t bring this up to hammer Morrison but Joe does bring it up to hammer the Bucs for not stressing fundamentals.
A lot of football people blame the erosion of fundamental tackling across the league on the lack of padded practices in which teams are allowed to hit. Sounds good until you think it through.
Joe always believed that was a cop out. You can help teach fundamental tackling by using a tackling dummy.
Fewer padded practices mean more half-arsed tackling, allegedly, but when is the last time you saw Baltimore with awful tackling? Long time, right? In fact, all the teams the Harbaugh Bros. coached, they always had good tackling teams.
Same with Mike Tomlin. When is the last time you saw a Steelers team not tackle well?
Did Mike Macdonald in Seattle have a rotten-tackling team?
Did Jesse Minter look like he had a bad tackling team in Los Angeles when he was the Chargers defensive coordinator? Or Jim Schwartz in Cleveland? Or Vic Fangio in Philadelphia?
All those teams work out, train and practice under the very same NFL rules. Unless you are suggesting all of those good-tackling teams are cheating with illegal practices, the theory that bad tackling has contaminated much of the NFL due to a lack of padded practices doesn’t hold water.
Joe is not denying fewer padded practices are a factor, but it’s not the root cause.
(FYI, all NFL teams’ practices are live-streamed and recorded by the NFL. Like Big Brother, the NFL monitors all practices to ensure no hanky-panky is going on. Some teams can and are fined for hitting in what are supposed to be underwear football practices.)
Morrison was hardly the only Bucs player who struggled with tackling.The problem isn’t Morrison; the problem is proper tackling either wasn’t being taught or isn’t being stressed enough.
Joe is pretty confident this Bucs team will only go as far as the defense allows it. And Joe isn’t too familiar with good defenses that have sloppy tackling.
Tackling needs to be Objective-1A for this Bucs defense to solve before Week 1.
June 6th, 2026 at 11:17 am
Trotter and Bain will get it going…
June 6th, 2026 at 11:19 am
A great story Joe. I agree that other teams tackle better and they are likely following the rules. My question to Bowles – what will you do differently this year to improve tackling?
Bowles should: talk to coach Danny Smith – what did Mike Tomlin do in Pittsburg? Same for Alex Anzalone – what did Dan Campbell do in Detroit? You get the idea.
I think Ronde Barber said that Monte Kiffin stressed everyone running to the ball. This is easy enough to do RIGHT NOW – make sure at least three defenders run to the RB/WR on every play – they don’t have to hit.
June 6th, 2026 at 11:31 am
Excellent write up. It’s something fundamental as not jumping off sides you learn in pee wee league. I think the teaching of fundamental tackling is ignored and what is taking place is a emphasis of punching the ball out or laying a shoulder in to jar the ball lose is taking place before wrapping up the knees. In some instances the player is completely out of position to make a fundamental technique tackle. That’s the biggest problem, LVD the teams defensive captain said there were times the team was lost on the field. If you’re lost on the field how can you be in position to make a tackle?
June 6th, 2026 at 11:37 am
Thank you, my Joe. The reason for the horrible tackling is obvious.
June 6th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Joe says; (FYI, all NFL teams’ practices are live-streamed and recorded by the NFL. Like Big Brother, the NFL monitors all practices to ensure no hanky-panky is going on. Some teams can and are fined for hitting in what are supposed to be underwear football practices.)
^^^^^^
But the NFL somehow overlooks having a camera at the goal line.
There’s your sign.
June 6th, 2026 at 11:47 am
Let’s see how far it gets before someone asks or comments about objective #1.
June 6th, 2026 at 11:51 am
THANK! YOU!
cc: lousy Lovie Smith
June 6th, 2026 at 11:57 am
Not a true oranges-to-oranges comparison, but you’re not wrong.
A few cameras at practices are relatively cheap. Not much of an upgrade from your Ring camera.
The cameras used by networks (i.e. goal line) are way more expensive and FOX wants the NFL to cough up the costs (including the cost of hiring another cameraman which isn’t cheap).
(Joe was told this by an NFL suit.)
Still, a multi-billion dollar outfit can’t buy an extra six-figure camera to help determine fair outcomes of games? Wonder what all those sportsbooks the NFL is in bed with think about that?
June 6th, 2026 at 12:11 pm
It’s cute you think Bowles might actually do some self evaluation and change something in his routine.
The man is not going to change anything. Whether it’s ego, stubbornness, laziness or a combination, our old stale ball coach is set in his ways.
He doesn’t bother changing his scheme based on week to week matchups like every other team in the league does, so I certainly don’t expect him to change his overall practice habits. Expect more walkthroughs and an entire week off during the bye.
June 6th, 2026 at 12:11 pm
I may be way out in left field on this but I can’t help myself. Joe is dropping tidbits, teeny tiny little morsels that are starting to add up to a bitesize nugget. Any astute commenter here should know that the Joes and Ira know far more than the general public does.
The thoughts and ideas floating around in my old brain are starting to confirm many things I have speculated about and if I am even remotely close to being accurate in my speculations then I have a clear explanation why Evans left. I have made suggestions before.
Never forget “I had nothing to do with that !” after the Denver game and the very mysterious absence of a goal line camera at the Atlanta game. Both were home games. Come to think of it 3rd and 28 was a home game.
Maybe Sal needs another cup of coffee to wake up.
June 6th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
So many people willingly let the blindfold be placed over their eyes
Don’t be hoodwinked folks.
June 6th, 2026 at 12:33 pm
Didn’t they learn how to tackle in pee wee or Pop Warner?
June 6th, 2026 at 12:36 pm
Poor tackling should be on their college tape…..no? Let’s start a go fund me to pay the fine for the Glaziers for tackling in practice (sarcasm).
June 6th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
Carlton Davis was nasty on the outside.
He would crush people.
I wish he was still a Buccaneer.
June 6th, 2026 at 12:49 pm
My definition of tackling, learned at a very early age, is this ;
Tackling (not the historic term) is the act of bringing another person to the ground. This usually involves impeding the use of the legs.
Tackling antonym ; Bumping into another person
June 6th, 2026 at 1:38 pm
What exactly are you saying Sal? I’m not figuring what you’re getting at? Cannot imagine what the lack of sideline cameras has to do with anything?
June 6th, 2026 at 1:52 pm
I don’t recall normal fans complaining about Dean’s tackling. Just his availability. Anyway, a missed tackle here or there is merely irritating unless it happens at a key moment. It’s when we trap a guy in the backfield and he gets away. Then we trap him at the line and he gets away. Then we trap him 10 yards down field. Then 20. Sometimes it looked like Keystone Kops, but at least the Keystone Kops don’t give up on pursuit.
June 6th, 2026 at 2:04 pm
When in zone defense especially EVERY defender is supposed to crash the ball carrier the moment the ball crosses the line of scrimmage. Not 2 or 3. All of them. That’s how you get turnovers and ensure the guy gets tackled as quickly as possible. Every defender is facing the offense so they should read, react and destroy. Obviously it’s harder in man to man coverage however you can still break off your coverage once the ball crosses the line of scrimmage and is caught (or is being run).in fact, zone defenses are so popular in part because it’s easier to react and gang tackle (increased opportunity to generate fumbles).
June 6th, 2026 at 2:10 pm
The benefit of the doubt done run out!
Should be entering the second season with
Liam Coen as head coach !
Bowels bowl done run dry!
I’m in Baker Mayfield’s camp for paying him 10 ten QB money .
He is our franchise quarterback
Maybe even top 5 money 💰
Just the way the table is set for his caliber QB in the NFL.
June 6th, 2026 at 2:27 pm
Matt:
This is what Sal was referencing with the “camera” mention.
June 6th, 2026 at 2:37 pm
Stpetematt – well said, great point. Yet, this is never seen in the Bucs practices and can easily be done right now in underwear practices. Everyone runs to the ball on every play.
June 6th, 2026 at 2:38 pm
Alot of question marks this year. I dont see a high ceiling for them maybe 9 wins
Since the division is so poor. The rest of the non division games are going to be
Tough.
Their bottom however could be quite bad. New OC again’ inept head coach and
A defense that is historically ineffective. Could be 5 or 6 win year with a full reset
Coming. I dont see the bucs paying Mayfield 50m a year next season unless he
Has a mvp type year.
June 6th, 2026 at 2:40 pm
Unfortunately poor tackling has been part of Bucs culture for multiple years now. This can be blamed directly on Bowles. You are right the teams you mentioned tackle well. I watched the Patriots game and I went why can’t we tackle like that.
Pure fact ,tackling must be demanded and practiced. You will play like you practice. That simple. Bowles needs to change and demand tackling then practice it until they do. Bowles says it well football is not flag football. So if it is a tackle game practice it. Pretty simple . They want a nasty team you can’t miss tackles
June 6th, 2026 at 2:49 pm
I lost in the fantasy playoffs for several thousand dollars to a team with Kyle Pitts by less than 6 points! Man, that still makes me insanely angry that Pitts game against the Bucs. Our defense let me down personally in a BIG way, we should have been triple covering Pitts the whole game. He was the only receiving threat they had left other than Bijan Robinson… I sincerely hope the NFL isn’t like professional wrestling where the results are scripted. Seems too many insane things happen in games to really be able to reliably control the outcomes though.