Vita Vea Blew Up Middle Of Bears Offense
September 19th, 2023
Dominating inside.
Almost overlooked in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka leading the Bucs on Sunday with two sacks was that Vita Vea had 1.5 sacks.
Speaking yesterday, while Bucs coach Todd Bowles was sure happy with Vea’s sacks, he believed Vea took away the middle of the field from the Bears.
“He got off the ball yesterday, quite a few times,” Bowles said. “He had a heck of a ballgame. He kind of closed down the middle of the field for us. He got pressure in the passing game.
“His stamina as he continues to run, for a guy that size, is still really unbelievable to look at. He plays hard, he plays tough and he’s our anchor.”
If Vea can blow up like he did Sunday on a consistent basis, that is excellent news.
For example, one reason Joe is confident the Bucs pass rush was successful yesterday was Vea routinely getting doubled teamed and creating opportunities for Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett and JTS to pounce.
Think of the Bucs’ 2020 NFC title game in Green Bay. The Packers couldn’t block him. Ndamukong Suh and Vea were wilding in the middle. That forced drama queen Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be flushed outside where Shaq and Jason Pierre-Paul went hunting.
Shaq may have had the best game of his career that day in large part due to Vea.
If the Bucs can continue to pressure the quarterback like they’ve done so far, this defense could be scary good.
And just think, rookie first-round pick Calijah Kancey, but for 11 plays in Week 1, hasn’t been on the field.
September 19th, 2023 at 8:34 am
He is a very big beastly man!!!
September 19th, 2023 at 8:45 am
Whether the Bucs win or lose this is a huge test for them Monday night. The Eagles have probably the best offensive line in the entire NFL. If we can get pressure against them that would be a fantastic sign of things to come. Kelce on the other side is a beast just like VV so I’m going to pay close attention the matchup in the middle. Most likely will face a Center/Guard double team which will open up the lane for others.
September 19th, 2023 at 8:48 am
A really good test is coming up this week. If we can hang tough with Philly, my confidence level will go way up. If we win, we’re definitely playoff bound.
September 19th, 2023 at 9:01 am
Speaking of Russell Gage errrr I mean Callija Kancey is he practicing yet Joe?
September 19th, 2023 at 9:09 am
Bucs first litmus test against a good team will be Monday night. We’ll see how they do.
Also Bucs don’t practice this week until Thursday which is the earliest we’ll be able to see who is and isn’t practicing. I don’t expect either CD or Kancey will go.
September 19th, 2023 at 9:09 am
This defense is allowing Baker to be baking with Canales!
The best part is we are winning as we grow as an offense.
Even if we loose the next two, the future is looking very bright at the Licht House.
LFG!!!!!
September 19th, 2023 at 9:12 am
Hurt’s shoulder is injured, have a lot of Eagle buddies verifiying!! Just need Vita to take him down a few snaps, will be good…. Go Bucs.
September 19th, 2023 at 9:13 am
Why the clear improvement? Who is lining up next to him? Last year, no help. Wait until Kancey gets back. With Tryon coming on, it’s going to be very good.
September 19th, 2023 at 9:17 am
Monster in the middle! What about Kancey?
September 19th, 2023 at 9:25 am
this d-line rotation and edge guys are seemingly deep and efficient all the way down to greene…
a lot of guys have seemed to develop…all the way down to even cam gill – who people tend to sleep on
September 19th, 2023 at 9:27 am
i think kelsey has a new celeb girlfriend, so he’s knee deep in poonanny…so he could be dazed and confused come gametime
September 19th, 2023 at 9:44 am
^^^^
Wrong Kelce. That is his bro dating Taylor Swift
September 19th, 2023 at 9:53 am
^^^
ok good…when i heard it on the radio while driving the other day i was thinking the exact same thing…
“shouldn’t she be dating the other kelsey brother?”…
it made no sense when i heard it…so mahommes has the drama in his building
September 19th, 2023 at 9:56 am
Had the boob tube on with Bucs Radio. Looked like VV and JTS were in tandem in several plays. We’ll need plays like that and more Monday Night.
September 19th, 2023 at 10:03 am
If Shaq really bounces back & JTS continues improving teams wont be able to double team us anywhere we could have a very dangerous defensive line that could have 3-5 guys that can create a pass rush. Very few teams have this and the ones that do usually make playoffs or go further.
September 19th, 2023 at 11:10 am
Weren’t you guys moaning a few weeks back about him being the most expensive part time player in the nfl?
September 19th, 2023 at 11:27 am
Actually, two games in a row Vea is wrecking the middle in the 4th
September 19th, 2023 at 4:38 pm
“Mongo” like candy
September 19th, 2023 at 4:43 pm
LOL, Steve Burke! I see what you did there with the Blazing Saddles reference – one of my fave movies of all time! Yep, Vita Vea is most like Mongo, except Vita doesn’t drop a horse with one punch. LOLz!!!
September 19th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
“Candygram for Mongo! Candygram for Mongo!”
LOL.
OK now I feel the need to re-watch Blazing Saddles…for the 137th time.
September 19th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
He played well again
September 19th, 2023 at 5:40 pm
Vea is a feakin beast!
a sea monster in the middle of the D line that swallows up RBs and QBs!
September 19th, 2023 at 5:44 pm
Kancey won’t be in NFL shape until about the sixth or 7th Bucs game. Remember, you lose a lot of your conditioning with a leg injury not being able to do cardio work affects you adversely.
September 19th, 2023 at 10:45 pm
Wow, Vita is up to playing 62% of defensive snaps!
Of course that’s probably inflated quite a bit since the Bucs controlled the ball vs the Bears and there wasn’t actually that many defensive snaps, period, so the Bucs defense wasn’t on the field that much.
In 2019 he played 66% of snaps, and in 2020, he was playing 70% of snaps before he got hurt. If he could get back to playing 70% of snaps, what a huge advantage the Bucs would have. I wish he’d drop like 30-50 pounds (I don’t believe for a moment he’s still 350, probably more like 380), if he did so, he’d be able to play more downs and I doubt it would take away from his run stopping.
September 19th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
I might be crazy but – The Bucs rotate the line a lot, so it’s not like he’d be out there every down, so it’s really not a huge concern. I’d happily take him playing 50% of snaps until then.
In his limited ALL22 tape from the Vikings game, he looked fantastic. He jumped off the screen he was so much quicker than anyone else on the line. I can’t wait to see him healthy. Him and Vita should be playing side by side, that’s quite the matchup problem.
September 20th, 2023 at 1:35 am
Yup Joe
You saw the same things as I did. Vea was the Key. He gets the game ball on defense. Followed closely by JTS, Shaq, and AWJ. We gave Fields no place to go.
Can hardly wait to see what Bowles has up his sleeve for when Kancey gets back.
Go Bucs!