The Bucs have fired defensive coordinator Mike Smith.
Smith's defense was last in 2017 and are allowing 34.6 points per game this season, the most in the league and are on pace to allow the most points in NFL history.
Two weeks ago, the Bucs were embarrassed at Chicago 48-10 and allowed six touchdown passes to Mitch Trubisky. On Sunday, Tampa Bay allowed the Falcons to score on four of their first five possessions and dug a 21-6 hole.
Linebackers coach Mark Duffner will replace Smith. He served as the Bengals defensive coordinator/linebackers coach from 2001-02.
"I have the utmost respect for Mike Smith as a man and as a football coach," coach Dirk Koetter said. "These decisions are always difficult, but our top priority here is to ensure that we do everything possible to help this team succeed. As I have said in the past, the issues as have had as a team are never one person's fault. During the good times, as well as the bad, it is a collective effort between the coaches and the players. We all understand that this is a results-based profession and our results to this point have not met our standards. I want to thank Mike for all the hard work and passion he has displayed here on a daily basis and I wish him well moving forward."
After the loss to Chicago, Koetter seemed resigned to sticking with Smith, who hired him as offensive coordinator when he was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. The two had spent one season together on Jack Del Rio's staff in Jacksonville.
"You know, for those people who think snapping your fingers and changing your (defensive) coordinator a quarter of the way through the seasons, OK, well what would you do after that?" Koetter said two weeks ago. "We fire Mike Smith. OK, then what would the next move be?
"Changing one person when we had things go wrong at all levels yesterday, as I said yesterday, we as coaches have got to coach better and that starts with me. But Mike Smith didn't miss any tackles, he didn't not rush the passer, he didn't blow any coverages, he didn't have any communication errors."
Koetter and the Bucs were hoping Smith could solve the problems during the bye week.
But the Bucs have been doomed by slow starts on defense. Tampa Bay has allowed an average of 30.7 points in the first half of their last three games, all defeats.
