Pro Football Focus has released their grades from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 1 loss, and for Alex Anzalone, the score matches up with the eye test.
Anzalone earned an abysmal 32.3 PFF grade for his performance against the Bengals, the lowest of any Buccaneers player in the season opener. He ranked 62nd out of 68 qualifying linebackers in Week 1.
The veteran linebacker needs to figure out what went wrong and address it quickly. But what if Anzalone’s woes continue?
Alex Anzalone’s struggles could doom Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense
Anzalone struggled with every aspect of his job on Sunday. He missed tackles, gave up a touchdown, and couldn’t stay off the ground. It’s malpractice that the equipment staff didn’t bring him a new pair of cleats as he continued to slip and slide all over the Bengals’ turf.
This isn’t a player the Buccaneers can simply bench, nor can they scheme around his weaknesses. Anzalone is a team captain and wears the green dot, meaning he’s the quarterback of Todd Bowles’ defense.
As a result, he was the only Buccaneer who played 100% of the snaps on Sunday. You simply can’t be the worst player on the field while simultaneously getting the most playing time.
Tampa Bay is really counting on Anzalone, which is why they signed him a two-year deal in free agency. After Lavonte David retired, there was a serious need for a veteran linebacker, and the team expected that Anzalone could fill the void.
In fact, there was an expectation that he could even be an improvement over David in the coverage department, where Anzalone has shined throughout his career. But his Buccaneers debut was the stuff of nightmares, and had fans wishing David postponed his retirement for just one more season.
Bowles doesn’t seem to be too concerned, despite Anzalone’s disappointing debut.
“He missed a couple tackles that he’d like to have back. Obviously you don’t want that part of it. And he was rusty the first game, but I know he’ll bounce back this one.”
Bowles has Anzalone’s back, despite an inexcusable performance. Anzalone needs to return the favor and justify Bowles’ belief with a bounce back game in next week’s home opener against the Cleveland Browns.
One bad game can be chalked up to “rust”, but if performances like this continue to stack up, it will force some uncomfortable conversations about whether Anzalone can actually handle the responsibility Tampa Bay has handed him at this stage of his career.
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