Another Bucs game, another Bucs collapse. Where's the killer instinct? Contrary to what you may think, the Bucs do not have the worst defense in the NFL. Just the most heartbreaking, which may be even more infuriating. No matter what the scoreboard says, or who the opposing quarterback is, every fourth quarter feels like a clumsy horror movie. Somehow, someway, there's going to be blood on the field before that thing ends. In a span of 36 days, the Bucs have blown second-half leads in four different games, including Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Panthers. By itself, that's brutal. Unfortunately, it's the details that make it seem even more crushing. A 17-14 lead against the Saints late in the third quarter? Blown. A 28-14 lead against the Falcons with 10 minutes remaining? Blown. And on Sunday, the Bucs blew a 17-13, third-quarter lead, tied the game in the fourth, and then gave it away in the final minutes. But here's the real kick in the pants: Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans had the 26th, 28th and 29th highest-scoring offenses in the NFL coming into this week. That means the Bucs aren't falling to Hall of Famers or legends but instead are losing to backup quarterbacks and head coaches who have never made the playoffs. “It definitely is (heartbreaking), it's tough. Especially, being a leader on this defense," said linebacker Lavonte David. “It's hard; it's hard to deal with. But I know we're going to be better. Whatever we need to get done, we're going to get it done." We've heard that before. You might have even believed that at various times. But with seven losses in nine games, it's hard to put your trust in a defense that has the killer instinct of a monk. “I would have never expected this, but it is the NFL. Everybody is capable of making plays," said cornerback Jamel Dean. “We've just got to stop making so many mistakes, myself included." Is there a common thread to all of these collapses? Players in the locker room say no, but that feels like teammates trying not to point fingers at one another. The truth is, the outside pass rush has been weak for most of the season, and that creates problems everywhere else on defense. Todd Bowles acknowledged the lack of a consistent pass rush from the edge has had some effect but declined to place all of the blame there. “It doesn't affect everything," Bowles said. “I thought for the most part the coverage held everything in front of them. They got behind (Benjamin) Morrison one time at the end, they got behind Dean before the half … when the pressure was there, the ball was coming out so fast. But we've got to make some plays in the pass rush." The Bucs got two sacks on Sunday, but both came on inside linebacker blitzes. That's great when it works, but it can also be catastrophic if the blitz doesn't cause the quarterback to release the ball sooner than he wants. The lack of trust in his pass rushers seemed to be behind Bowles' decision to call an all-out blitz with the Panthers out of timeouts and on the Tampa Bay 22 with 12 seconds remaining in the first half. Even though it seemed obvious Carolina would take a shot at the end zone, which made it a curious time to call a blitz, Bowles had linebackers David and SirVocea Dennis, and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. rushing the quarterback, which left Dean all alone against receiver Tetairoa McMillan in the end zone. Even with seven pass rushers coming at him, quarterback Bryce Young threw a perfect pass to McMillan for a touchdown, and Carolina went into the half with a 13-10 lead. “There's not one thing I can tell you that's going wrong, it's just a question of everybody doing their job," said Winfield. “It's tough, obviously it's tough. I want to go back and watch to see what we did wrong and how we could have been better and how I could have made more of an impact than I did." At this point, it's not as if the decline of the defense is a surprise. The Bucs were seventh in the league in scoring defense in 2023, slipped to 16th last season and were 24th going into Sunday's game. Between them, the top four edge rushers on the roster, Haason Reddick, Yaya Diaby, Anthony Nelson and Chris Braswell, have 12.5 sacks. Or just about 10 less than Cleveland edge rusher Myles Garrett. A week ago, after the collapse against the Falcons, Bowles angrily challenged his team to take a look in the mirror. How disappointing is it to have another self-inflicted collapse a week later? “It's not disappointing, it's frustrating," Bowles said. “But you've got to wake up and move on like you do every other day. We know that as a team, and we understand exactly where we are. We've got some great leaders that'll lead us there." John Romano, Tampa Bay Times, published 22 December 2025