The Death of Tackling

This season in the NFL poor tackling has become an epidemic. Need proof, after 8 weeks this season, there were 81 touchdowns over 50 yards in the NFL, the most since 1970. While the networks and the league may love these numbers, it is due more to horrible tackling than any great influx of game breakers.
There are great athletes on both side of the ball. However, proper tackling requires three things that can't be measured with a stopwatch; technique, effort and attitude. Simply put, you have to know what to do, be willing to do it, and be willing to not just inflict punishment, but to receive it.
There is an easy way to recognize a poor tackle. The most common is when guys just go too high and compound that error with failing to wrap their arms up. Defensive backs are the most frequent types to make this mistake. At times, they do it because they are looking for the highlight film hit. The problem is, a hit that ends up on Sportscenter is like a knockout punch. When timed perfectly, it works great. But if you are a split second off, you end up on your ass and your opponent is dancing in the endzone.
Another reason why DBs and other players fail to tackle properly is a fear of injury. When you are consistently blasting into a runners legs and torso and wrapping you arms up, your own head, shoulders,arms and even fingers take a beating.
Need proof, look no further than Bob Sanders, arguably one of the finest tacklers to come into the league in the past 20 years.
Sanders comes up and forces on the run like a missile. His technique is flawless, head up, great arm wrap and most important, he runs through his opponent, not into him. The fact that unless Sanders is hitting a slot receiver he is typically outweighed by his opponent by anywhere from 20-40 pounds tells you all you need to know about his willingness to take punishment.
The problem is, all of these shots have taken a toll, as evidenced by Sanders missing about half of his team's games due to injury since he came into the league in 2006.
Other players in the league aren't stupid, they know Sanders, and I am sure that they admire and respect him, but they also care about self preservation. With the average career span for an NFL player being about 3 and a half seasons, most players want to be able to earn as much money as possible during that brief window of opportunity.
You might be saying, then why aren't the other aspects of the game suffering due to this fear of injury? i.e. blocking, running, etc. I figure is has to do with the nature of the position that you play. For linemen, they can't avoid contact, it is necessary on every play, so if they shy away, they are benched or cut. Running backs and receivers can avoid or at least lessen contact with their speed, quickness and ending the play by hopping out of bounds. They can do this and still be effective players for a long time. Think about it, when was the last time you saw Randy Moss take a huge hit.
Unfortunately, now safeties, corners and even some linebackers and taking this cautious approach to playing. They figure, why throw my head in to Brandon Jacobs' gut and risk a concussion, let me see if I can just get some shirt and try to drag him down while the cavalry arrives.
Sometimes it works, but over 81 times so far this year, it hasn't.