Anthony Nelson holds the ball aloft after walking into the end zone with his first NFL pick-six Sunday.
Veteran Bucs outside linebacker Anthony Nelson had his first start of the season. He may never forget it. Bucs fans will remember his start for a long time.
Nelson single-handedly blew up two of the slimy Saints’ first three possessions. And Nelson accounted for the winning score, all by himelf, too.
With the game scoreless early in the second auarter, slimy Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler rolled to his right and uncorked a pass from the slimy Saints-1. He tried to throw over Nelson, even though he had 90 percent of the field where Nelson wouldn’t have had any impact.
The 6-7 Nelson looked like he was going up for a rebound. He tipped the ball to himself at the 5. He then boxed out and muscled his way past a desperate Rattler and walked into the end zone like he was walking to the fridge to grab a beer.
Nelson claimed he didn’t remember his first interception since high school.
“I hit the ball up and I guess I caught it because I don’t remember what happened,” Nelson said. “I just remember getting across the goal line and being in the end zone.”
It gave the Bucs a 7-0 lead and that’s all the Bucs needed as the defense locked down New Orleand for a 23-3 win.
Nelson’s pick-six wasn’t the first time he tormented Rattler. On New Orleans’ first possession, Rattler ran for about seven yards when Nelson ran him down from behind and punched the ball out with Lavonte David coming up with the ball.
Nelson had himself a day. He had four tackles, two sacks, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, a pass defensed, a pick and a forced fumble.
About the only thing Nelson didn’t do was wear the green dot and call plays.
“We fed off of ‘Nelly,'” Bucs safety Antoine Winfield said, who also had a wonderful day that would have been historic if not for the incompetence of NFL zebras.
“We were flying around, taking the ball away,” Nelson said of the Bucs defense. “Everybody was. It was good to get it started and fun to be aggressive on defense.”
The four takeaways today were the most the Bucs had since Christmas Eve 2023 when the Bucs had four in a win over the Jags.
Could Nelson finally be the guy who the Bucs have been looking for forever to be a steady impact player on the edge? Remember Nelson also had a game-saving forced fumble at Carolina in overtime last season that saved the Bucs’ NFC South title.
ANTHONY NELSON PICK-6! WOW! 🤯
TBvsNO on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/bI9AhPHJtk
— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2025