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BY IRA KAUFMAN
It started off poorly — and never improved.
Although the 2025 Bucs won their season opener at Atlanta, warning signs emerged for Todd Bowles and his young defense.
The game was only 94 seconds old when Michael Penix Jr. took a second-down snap and saw star running back Bijan Robinson wide-ass open as he drifted into the right flat. SirVocea Dennis scurried from the middle of the field toward Robinson and was five yards away when the ball was caught.
Robinson, who would go on to earn All-Pro honors, beat Dennis down the sidelines and didn’t stop running until he reached the end zone for a 50-yard score.
It was a preview of things to come.
Week 1 issues continued all season, writes Ira Kaufman.
Scary things.
Robinson was stymied on the ground that afternoon, gaining only 24 yards on 12 carries, but he burned Tampa Bay for 100 yards through the air, catching 6-of-7 targets.
The rest of Tampa Bay’s opponents couldn’t help but notice this Buc defense was often lost while covering in the flats. When the season ended, opposing running backs had finished with 79 catches, the 10th-highest total in the league.
It gets worse.
Those 79 receptions resulted in 860 yards allowed, the most in the NFL. Backs averaged almost 11 yards per catch against Tampa Bay, a sure sign that tackling in the flats was a major issue.
In contrast, the Raiders allowed 78 catches to backs, but only 474 receiving yards, an average gain of only 6 yards.
Robinson exploited that soft coverage again later in the year, catching eight passes for 82 yards during Atlanta’s inexplicable 29-28 comeback victory.
You know, the one that culminated with the infamous “Third-and-28” scream by Mike Evans.
Those two matchups against a division rival were also painful reminders that the Buc defense was exploited by tight ends from start to finish.
Kyle Pitts caught seven passes for 59 yards against Tampa Bay in Week 1, but that was merely a warmup. In the rematch at Tampa, Pitts burned the Bucs for 11 catches, 166 yards and three of his five TDs on the season.
Overall, opposing tight ends latched onto 100 catches against the Bucs. Only seven teams yielded more.
They reached the end zone 12 times. Only the Bengals (16) allowed more.
Those are two of the major challenges facing Bowles and Jason Licht this offseason. A better pass rush would help for sure, but the Bucs must find linebackers who can cover and tackle.
Signing Alex Anzalone should help, but that’s only a start. Even if Lavonte David returns for a 15th season, he’s not the same player. His 61 solo tackles last year were his fewest as a pro and he is no longer considered a sideline-to-sideline defender.
An outstanding leader, David shouldn’t be on the field for 98 percent of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps this fall.
There’s not much left at linebacker in free agency, so Licht and his scouts need to land one or two in the draft.
Texas Tech inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
Georgia’s C.J. Allen, Jacob Rodriguez of Texas Tech and Pittsburgh’s Kyle Louis could be enticing for an organization that cries out for reliable tacklers in space.
Nobody’s asking for another Derrick Brooks or another Lavonte David. That bar’s way too high, But is it too much to ask for linebackers who can stop 5-yard swing passes from turning into 14-yard gains?
Bowles acknowledges the level of tackling has been unacceptable the past few years. His staff has to do a better job of coaching up fundamentals. Licht has to do a better job finding linebackers who can cover and wrap up securely. More defenders need to swarm to the football.
The 2026 Bucs can’t afford to turn the flats into the NFL’s version of the Bermuda Triangle — where defenders disappear without a trace. And while you’re at it, clamp down on opposing tight ends.
This Southern hospitality has gone way too far.