Missed tackles have become "a little bit of a disease," according to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The disease has spread throughout a defense that ranks 28th against the run after finishing third last season.
"I was very, very disappointed in our tackling this past game and it’s been like that the last three," Spagnuolo said.
Particularly troubling to Spagnuolo is the prevalence of "block tackle" attempts, when a defender throws his shoulder into a ball carrier. Buccaneers players repeatedly bounced off of those tackle attempts and gained additional yardage.
"The guys know that I’m not a believer in block tackling when you try to get a guy on the ground by just blocking him," Spagnuolo said.