Bucs are facing a big problem and it has nothing to do with their struggling offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a good defense, but there's a major flaw that has to be fixed moving forward.

Said flaw is allowing the big play. It's been an issue all year long and it crept up, again, in the Bucs' recent loss to the New England Patriots. Rookie receiver Kyle Williams started things off with a 72-yard catch-and-run touchdown and then fellow rookie running back Treyveon Henderson ripped off touchdown runs of 55- and 69-yards, with the latter putting the game on ice for the Patriots. Mack Hollins also threw in a 54-yard catch of his own on a 3rd and 14. In all, those four plays accounted for 57% of the Patriots' net yards.

"Obviously, we didn't play it well enough," Todd Bowles told reporters after the game. "We definitely didn't coach it well enough and I definitely didn't coach it well enough, and it starts with me. Those things can't happen if you play against a good team like that, or any team in this league. So we gave them up. They were inexcusable, on our part. [It was] bad on the coaching [and] bad on the players."

Bucs defense is one of the worst when it comes to giving up big plays

Per Stathead, the Bucs have allowed eight touchdowns of 25+ yards, which is tied for the lead league. They've allowed 23 plays of 25+ yards, which is seventh-most. 17 of those are pass plays, which is ninth-worst and six are runs, which is sixth-most.

The breakdowns have ranged from poor communication, bad play-calling, and bad execution. In other words: everything has played a role in the mistakes.

It's frustrating because the defense will string together several strong drives that keep teams from moving the ball and getting into the end zone, but then will give up a massive play that totally wipes out all the previous success.

Not to mention it also puts a struggling offense in bad positions. It compounds the issue and isn't conducive to winning. NFL defenses are all about stopping explosives and the Bucs defense can't stop them. That's a problem that needs to be fixed and fixed, soon.

If not, there will be plenty more frustrating moments to come and with the Bucs' remaining schedule, it could really contribute to making things a lot more stressful than they already could be.

This article was originally published on A to Z Tampa Bay as Bucs are facing a big problem and it has nothing to do with their struggling offense.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.