Todd Bowles: Antoine Winfield Played As Well As Anthony Nelson
October 29th, 2025
NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Bucs edge rusher Anthony Nelson, probably should be sharing the award.
That was the message from Bucs head coach/defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
Winfield was robbed by officials and twice was seen standing in the end zone in disbelief that he wasn’t awarded six points.
Most important, he looked like the 2023 All-Pro safety that took a giant step backward last season while battling injuries.
Winfield had a dynamic interception and a fumble recovery on Sunday to go along with six tackles.
“I think Win had just as good a game as Nelly, personally,” Bowles told the Buccaneers Radio Network. “Win was flying around back there, he was taking the ball away. Obviously, he got a fumble and he got an interception, taking the ball away that way. Win was doing some very good things; he was making some open field tackles. He did a heck of a job. I thought that was his best game this year.”
The Bucs’ safeties are on a roll. Yesterday, Joe documented some of Tykee Smith’s eye-opening stats.
Jamel Dean and Jacob Parrish have become playmakers at cornerback and SirVocea Dennis is on the rise.
Joe has a lot of faith in the regular-season Bucs defense if it can stay healthy.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:52 am
The corrupt or incompetent referee’s must have consequences with these outrageous calls and/or no calls. It’s reaching critical mass across the league.
You hear that Goodell??? God I hate that guy.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:52 am
It was a shame he did not get credited for TD’s on those takeaways, but to see AWJ making plays again is exciting.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:55 am
todd with his foot in his mouth as is frequently the case.
October 29th, 2025 at 10:59 am
Defund the referees.
October 29th, 2025 at 11:00 am
Championship Defense is on display!!!!!!
6-2!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
October 29th, 2025 at 11:00 am
Glazers and Mr. Licht need to start flexing their muscles with the league office. Watched a lot of football in my life and my father was a Umpire and Referee for 50 years!!! He is rolling around in his grave!! Calls are out of hand now, blatant and unacceptable. Go Bucs
October 29th, 2025 at 11:19 am
At the beginning of the season, we were all groaning about how bad the defense was playing, and it was bad. Now it’s looking like a championship caliber defense. Let’s just hope it continues. If the offense can get back to playing like it’s capable of and the defense continues to play lights out, I wager that we may just plough through the playoffs all the way to SB!
October 29th, 2025 at 11:29 am
Yes, it was the Saints… But, the ‘defensive secondary’ is starting to look a whole lot more like, how I’d expected them to look this season!
October 29th, 2025 at 11:31 am
And, what is the point of even having ‘replay’ in the first-place, if they’re not going to get-it right!? Seriously. Get. It. RIGHT.
October 29th, 2025 at 11:57 am
Sometime u have to shake the bush for other player to wake up. Jamel Dean pay cut woke up some slackers hmmmmm
October 29th, 2025 at 11:59 am
he sure did. he should stick around long enough to see his OSU team play for the CFP title in Raymond James in 2028-29. so wonderful to see him healthy. wasn’t 100 pct. that would ever happen.
October 29th, 2025 at 12:09 pm
There is more than what we see in those bad calls from the Refs’….Corruption, gambling needs. We will never know and they really don’t care for the transparecy and legality of the game
October 29th, 2025 at 12:20 pm
The results are the results. Winfield did NOT record two TDs. Had he, then he’d be DPOW. But he didn’t. And he’s not.
Whining about officiating is a waste of time. Bad calls happen.
October 29th, 2025 at 12:25 pm
Antoine did fantastic. I am still upset about him being robbed of the TD. Not right.
I was wondering how much refs make for their part-time job and found, “For the 2025 season, the average salary is estimated to be around $250-270k. This represents the crew chief or head referee, who is responsible for leading the officiating team and making final decisions on the field.”
“Other officiating roles, such as line judges, back judges, and umpires, typically earn between $150-200k, depending on experience and tenure.”
“Job security is performance-based. Every call is graded by the league, and consistent under-performance can lead to demotion or removal from the rotation.”
Interesting, that’s a lot of money when all your travels costs are paid for too. For that amount money they should all be the best of the best. But they are not.
October 29th, 2025 at 12:30 pm
Not gonna deny AWJ’s best game this year, but why not let Nelly bask in the sun alone and take full glory. This was his mountain top, AWJ got his glory many a day, especially on contract signing day. No need for Todd to be yodeling for the guy. Ntm, AWJ was behind the wrecking ball, Nelson
October 29th, 2025 at 12:34 pm
ModHairKen Says:
October 29th, 2025 at 12:20 pm
Bad calls happen.
———–
Yeah, they do but not like this: Jets, Lions, Aints, etc. These games were way out of hand with the zebs, in top of being blatantly one-sided. It is hurting the game cos long time fans are getting disgusted with it, and them. If Goodell and ownership want to be in bed with off-shore and Vegas gambling, go for it. I have a lot of entertainment choices, not just the NFL. Good to see AWJ getting back to his usual top form.
October 29th, 2025 at 1:05 pm
Wonder what game Todd B was watching? Antoine Win Jr wasn’t even the best safety on the field vs Saints. Tykee outplayed Winfield. Nelson has the most meaningful impact of any Bucs defender this year. Ok to just admit it.
October 29th, 2025 at 1:16 pm
Agreed.
October 29th, 2025 at 1:34 pm
@ Jeffrey Becker – His dad played at Ohio State. Junior played at Minnesota, where he ‘grew-up’ due to his dad playing most of his career with the Vikings.
@ ChiBuc – I totally, agree with that 💯.
October 29th, 2025 at 1:42 pm
The game last Sunday against the Saints was what used to be called a “get right” game… a game to fix both your tactics and your mindset. The D wasn’t terrible against Detroit, but there were lots of missed tsckles, missed assignments, etc. The O on the other hand needed to “get right” against the Saints, but fell way short. They’ve dealt with injuries and played tougher defenses all year so there’s really no excuse for coming out so flat and uninspired and it has to start with Grizz. I hope the bye week gives us the time to figure it out and maybe even get a couple of players healthy. The O-line was a mess all of a sudden the past 2 weeks.
I agree it’s great to see Win back to being a playmaker and Nellie is gonna get more playing time with Reddick out. Now we need Baker & Co to shake off the cobwebs and start firing on all cylinders again.
October 29th, 2025 at 1:45 pm
If anyone watched B.A. and McAfee yesterday, they had THE BEST Idea! Why doesn’t the NFL just go ahead and start an Academy for ex-NFL Players… Like, NOW. It’s a total ‘win-win’ for EVERYONE, and just makes perfect sense. It gives ex-players a nice job post career, and keeps them still involved with the league. Also, they have the perfect ‘eye’ to see things that a lot of others can’t, because they know WHERE to look and WHAT to look for! They basically, have to be dead ass broke though, because NOBODY wants THAT job. And, it doesn’t matter WHAT they pay, either. It takes a special, VERY ‘confident’ individual. There is ZERO glory, and ZERO thanks or appreciation given. You’ve got NFL COACHES constantly in your ear AND now with tv and social media, and etc. You are constantly under the microscope… Your EVERY move and your EVERY call. Ummmm… “No-Thanks.” You can keep THAT BS. “Uh, I don’t think so!” To Hell Wit DAT.
October 29th, 2025 at 1:57 pm
If this defense can match the 02 and 20 defense then we have a great chance at a SB
October 29th, 2025 at 2:04 pm
If they were to do that, then they would have a ‘pipeline’ with a constant stream of NFL-trained and ready NFL-referees. They could even offer Power-5 Conferences readymade ‘officials’ as part of the training program… And, call-up and send guys back down, as part of an ‘incentive-based’ pay-plan structure. And/or as a MLB-like, Minor/Major-League partnership with the USFL/XFL (or whatever in th hell it’s now called). They really need to work something out there (with the teams) anyway, for when they go to an 18-20 game season. There are already way too many injuries as it is. Teams need better and more access to season-ready players, to begin with.
October 29th, 2025 at 2:17 pm
The second TD the refs took away from Win was bad enough and I was able to get over that one but the first one where they said a ref blew the whistle, that was the most ridiculous thing I think I’ve ever seen watching football. Whatever referee blew that whistle (if they’re actually was one, there’s no proof of that) must have been on the other side of the field and couldn’t see what was going on. Why would a referee far from the action even do that? I stand by the fact there was no whistle blown and the officials once again are just screwing us over. A couple times here and there isn’t a conspiracy but when it’s happening almost weekly against the same team, hmmmmmm….
October 29th, 2025 at 2:34 pm
LVMYBUCS…there’s a longtime (over 10 years) poster named LUVMYBUCS.
Perhaps you might consider changing your name….a lil confusing.
October 29th, 2025 at 2:35 pm
B.A. said that it was a back official (that nobody even heard), and that it wasn’t even HIS CALL to make in the first place. RIDICULOUS. It makes zero sense. I mean, WHAT other reason is there FOR REPLAY, to begin with!? JUST. GET-IT. RIGHT. Period. There has to be HUGE dramatic changes made during this offseason. This past Sunday, all across the league, was THE breaking point. That Hurts ‘non fumble’ on the Tush Push was ABSURD on soooo many levels. It has now become a play, that officials cannot even referee-it. It’s a JOKE. And, I don’t even have a problem with the play itself. But, when you now reach the point, to where it CAN’T BE refereed, then THAT’s a PROBLEM. And, the OBVIOUS ’off-sides’ in front of a NATIONAL audience with Pittsburg still LEADING like 16-7 against Green Bay… I mean, come-on Man!? B.A. said that it was a back official (that nobody even heard), and that it wasn’t even HIS CALL to make in the first place. RIDICULOUS. It makes zero sense. I mean, WHAT other reason is there FOR REPLAY, to begin with!? JUST. GET-IT. RIGHT. Period. There has to be HUGE dramatic changes made during this offseason. This past Sunday, all across the league, was THE breaking point. That Hurts ‘non fumble’ on the Tush Push was ABSURD on soooo many levels. It has now become a play, that officials cannot even referee-it. It’s a JOKE. And, I don’t even have a problem with the play itself. But, when you now reach the point, to where it CAN’T BE refereed, then THAT’s a PROBLEM. And, the OBVIOUS ’off-sides’ in front of a NATIONAL audience, with Pittsburgh STILL LEADING like 16-7 against Green Bay… I mean, come-on Man!?
October 29th, 2025 at 2:42 pm
Well, that looks-like a double-post by accident. I usually copy (and not paste) my comments, so that I don’t lose them for just in case they don’t go through, or for when my page just randomly decides to refresh. Learned the ‘hard way’ way too many times, that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Lots of times, I’ve typed shizzzz and just completely lost interest anyway, by the time it reloads LoL.
October 29th, 2025 at 2:48 pm
Can’t remember right off who it was or which game it was, but hell, there was an O-LINEMAN who literally WENT IN MOTION LoL, and NO-CALL. Embarrassing.
October 29th, 2025 at 3:20 pm
There will not be any consequences for the refs. They are doing what they are instructed to do. Rigged.
October 29th, 2025 at 6:42 pm
Easy, fellas. Everybody’s gettin’ a little too chatty for their own good. You keep tossin’ around accusations and next thing you know, our ‘friends’ in New York start takin’ an interest — and nobody wants that kinda attention. Let’s just take the W, enjoy the moment, and everyone keep your questions to yourselves. Trust me… life’s a lot easier when nobody’s gotta go lookin’ for ya.
October 29th, 2025 at 7:09 pm
Well, I guess now we know why Anthony Nelson isn’t starting, he wins Defensive player of the week, and Bowls has to diminish it. I see a disturbing pattern! Yes Winfield would have been considered had they not stolen his TD, but save that for another time!
October 29th, 2025 at 7:28 pm
Antoine got robbed.
It’s as simple as that.
Those should have been TDs.
October 29th, 2025 at 9:51 pm
The difference is Anthony Nelson is a backup filling in for a free agent. Who was touted as the fix Tampa needed at edge. I have to honest here. I felt when Anthony Neslon made it to the field he played well. I’ve felt that way for a couple of years. But for some reason the think tank at One Buc has him pegged as a career backup. Maybe he is. Maybe he had one good game. But I feel Nelson has more than earned the praise being heaped on him. I also feel the job should be his for now.