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Bucs: Better tackling is only change needed

Defense vows that short passes won't become big gains.

By ROGER MILLS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 6, 2001

TAMPA -- You could consider that Sunday's effort by Vikings fullback Jimmy Kleinsasser was a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment made possible, in part, by remarkable play from quarterback Daunte Culpepper.

Or, you could surmise that the Bucs' cover-two zone defense allows running backs and tight ends to make short catches in front of the linebackers and safeties.

Both are true.

But Sunday, against a Green Bay quarterback who is equally masterful at improvisation, the Bucs will tell you that they still are willing to give up the short pass underneath.

In fact, they want Brett Favre to resort to his checkdowns as much as possible to keep the ball out of the secondary.

"Against our defense, the backs should catch a lot of balls," coach Tony Dungy said. "We've seen that the whole time we have been here. We have had backs catch nine, 10 (passes), a lot against Green Bay. So, it's nothing that we don't anticipate. But we feel like if we come up and make tackles and knock them back after they catch it, we're going to be good.

"If they are catching the ball and making 10 or 12 yards as opposed to 4 or 5, then we're going to be in trouble."

Tackling is the critical requirement of this philosophy, and the Bucs were inconsistent Sunday.

"True, you just have to put them down when you have a chance to put them down," linebacker Jamie Duncan said. "It's not that easy, but you have to go out there and know that you're going to be in those situations and you can't let them fall forward."

The Packers present a similar offensive threat. While Favre isn't the immovable force that Culpepper was on Sunday, he is crafty and experienced and will sling passes just about anywhere. And in the Packers' three wins, Favre used his running backs and tight ends frequently.

Running backs Ahman Green, Dorsey Levens and William Henderson have 15, five and five catches, respectively. Tight ends Bubba Franks has nine catches for 99 yards and three touchdowns.

"I imagine (Favre will) do some of the same things we saw Culpepper do last week and the big thing is that we have to step up and make the tackle, which is something we didn't do very well last week," linebacker Shelton Quarles said. "We gave them the underneath passes and gave them the opportunity to get those passes in. We were protecting against the deep ball, which is something we did for the most part against the Vikings until late in the game.

"But, the Packers present a different set of challenges. They have a better running back and a great pair of tight ends, which Favre loves to throw to. They are good players, but we have to say that we can make plays when they present themselves. We missed plays last week that we could have made."

While linebacker Derrick Brooks had a team-record 23 tackles, Quarles and others let Kleinsasser, Culpepper and others slip away from the first tackle. "I was disappointed in the way that I was trying to make tackles," Quarles said. "I was trying to make tackles as if I had help which I didn't have. It was my play to make when I had a chance for tackles and I didn't make them. But, it was a learning experience. I have to try to make those same reads in practice and then come up and make the plays in games. That's what I should have done. I should have made the tackles as if I was all alone, as if I didn't have help."

Linebackers coach Joe Barry expects the Packers' approach to be similar to the Vikings'. "It's our job, the two corners outside and the three linebackers underneath, to drive up and pepper them and tackle them," Barry said. "The first thing about tackling is you have to practice it. You have to play games. You have to get your mass on his mass, or your head on the ball and you have to grab cloth.

"Great backs are taught to turn and spin out of tackles. So, if you grab cloth, he's not going anywhere and you can buy time for help."

Dealing with an offense that is averaging 397 yards, 5.9 yards per play and 31 points, preventing gains after the initial tackle could mean the difference.

"It's really about us," Brooks said. "If we execute our defense and read our keys well, it doesn't matter what Green Bay does. We can't go in and say we're going to stop this and stop that. All we can do is run our defense and make the offense adjust to us."

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