A recurring problem once again hurt the Green Bay Packers defense during Sunday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Tackling.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Packers missed 16 tackles on defense in the 27-17 loss to the Bills, setting a new season-high.
Seven of the 16 misses came against the run, meaning there were nine more against Josh Allen or the Bills pass-catchers. Unsurprisingly, the Bills gained 92 yards rushing after first contact and 89 yards after the catch.
Darnell Savage, Adrian Amos and Preston Smith all missed three tackles each. Rasul Douglas had two, and the Packers had nine total players miss at least one, including one from each member of the starting secondary.
A few notables: Savage swung and missed badly on a tackle attempt of Allen during his 20-yard run in the first quarter, and Amos missed Isaiah McKenzie in the open field on his touchdown run in the second.
The number of misses was especially notable given the fact that the Bills only ran 54 total plays. The Packers were missing a tackle on one of every three plays or so.
Through eight games, the Packers have 66 missed tackles on defense and the fourth-lowest overall tackling grade at PFF.
Tackling is a core fundamental of playing winning football. The Packers, for whatever reason this season, aren’t tackling at a high percentage. For a defense so dependent on keeping plays in front and rallying to the football, the misses are creating huge issues.
In the team’s five losses, the Packers have missed 45 total tackles, or nine a game.
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