Todd Bowles said Alex Anzalone had a rough afternoon in the Bucs’ loss on Sunday, but he did not make it a one-note critique. Bowles said Anzalone missed a couple of tackles and also made some plays, then added that the veteran linebacker “just got overexcited.”
That explanation came during a sitdown with WFLA-TV and landed because it followed a game in which Anzalone was described as having poor tackling, shaky coverage and maybe a questionable effort or two. The Bucs are 0-1, and the frustration around the loss is being aimed at a player expected to bring steadiness, not noise.
Bowles was blunt about the fix. He said Anzalone needs to break down a little more instead of running in there out of control. That is a coaching message as much as a diagnosis, and it leaves open whether the next step is simply cleaner technique or a change in how he is used if the mistakes keep showing up.
The criticism also fit a broader complaint about the loss. Baker Mayfield, Vita Vea, Tristan Wirfs and Anzalone were described as healthy captains who played like rookies, a harsh line for four players the team was relying on to steady things. In that frame, the missed tackles were not isolated lapses. They were part of a larger failure of fundamentals from veterans who were supposed to know better.
That is why the postgame comments matter beyond one bad game. If the Bucs would have been 1-0 with the veterans locked in on the basics, then Anzalone’s afternoon is not just a messy individual line. It is a reminder that the margin for error was already thin, and Bowles is now asking for the kind of discipline that has to show up immediately.
