tackling

[3rivers]

I watched the highlights from Henry vs the jags, and that has to be some of the worst attempts at tackling that I can remember. Is this normal in todays NFL? I know the steelers tackling isn't that good, but not as bad as what I saw there with the jags. 

DB's really lack tackling compared to in the past,  it's that bad to watch at times. . Derwin James is the exception, he is textbook, and should be all pro in no time, a real stand out. 

Is it the rule changes that brought all this poor tackling in recent time?

[Thomas5737]

I'd like to defend tackling but as a Browns fan it hasn't been very good this year. The effort is better than the Jaguars was last game but the results often aren't much better. There is a lot of hitting without wrapping up, been that way for a decade or more though. Get offensive players with good balance and there are a lot of big plays to be had from missed "tackles". Also a lot more athletes than football players playing in the league, might add to the issue or at least the mentality.

[Malfatron]

deion sanders never liked to tackle either

[Thomas5737]

11 minutes ago, Malfatron said:

deion sanders never liked to tackle either

He didn't and he was terrible at it. He would still run people down and get his tackle broken, not just stand around.

[Calvert28]

Could you imagine the carnage if they faced a top 15 kind of RB? 

[N4L]

Well they are limited with the amount of padded practices they are allowed to have during the season now. Also training camp has very strict rules about contact drills. 

It's has made tackling worse in the NFL, no doubt. 

I also think there is a greater emphasis on speed than ever before, so offensive guys are moving faster (harder to get your hands on them) and also defenders have smaller frames which makes it easier to break their tackle attempts. 

[hornbybrown]

First defender should go low and try to wrap the legs, next guy/s can go high and attack the ball.

 

those guys on that 99 yard run got stiff armed so easily because they went high

[vikingsrule]

Teams practice differently than they used too. I think fundamentals have become lost in an attempt to make practices safer.

[dtait93]

I don’t think it’s a lost art, but it has likely diminished a bit due to some of the reasons already mentioned. It’s not like Jacksonville’s defense went from the best in the NFL to all of a sudden forgetting how to tackle a year later. Henry was just the final nail in the coffin to a season they had high hopes for. They were already imploding but they finally just gave up and tapped out. 

[3rivers]

9 hours ago, Malfatron said:

deion sanders never liked to tackle either

he also usually removed the other teams best WR, so lets cut him some slack to say  the least (not to mention most would pick him as their CB1) . He would tackle, similar to what we see now sometimes, so maybe he was ahead of his time.  

I can't believe how bad the tackling is most of the time, I thought it was just the steelers and some other teams, but now it stands out when a DB DOES tackle well.

[Tugboat]

I do think tackling in general has suffered in the NFL in recent years.  But i certainly wouldn't call that pathetic TNF effort from the Jaguars defense "the norm" either.  They've had more tackling problems than last year in general this season.  The DLine have been less consistent, losing a beastly tackling machine like Paul Posluszny hurts, Telvin Smith has also had some uncharacteristic whiffs this year, and Barry Church has looked really old and slow and late to tackles in the secondary (before being replaced by Harrison).  But that was something else.  That was the look of a defense that is entirely fed up with carrying a completely inept offense and just doesn't care anymore.  Like some commentators suggested...that defense on Thursday night looked pretty much checked out on the season.  The hustle, tackling, rallying to the ball are some of the first things that really go when a defense checks out, and the hallmarks are all there.