Vita Vea Off The Edge
November 13th, 2023
Yesterday wasn’t the first time manbeast Bucs defensive tackle Vita Vea lined up as perhaps the largest edge rusher in the history of the NFL.
In past years, defensive guru Todd Bowles has had Vea take snaps on the edge and he did the same with Ndamukong Suh.
Vea’s latest turn came at the end of the opening drive Sunday. The Titans had a long drive rolling and were in a 3rd-and-goal situation.
Todd Bowles said today that the Titans left tackle thought Vea would be running a pass rush game to the inside and appeared to lean that direction, which gave Vea a slightly easier route to the quarterback off the edge.
As you can watch below, Vea bull rushed the tackle as if he were JV player and grabbed Tennessee QB Will Levis with one hand and brought him down. Vea makes it look a lot easier than it is. Yeah, he’s that strong.
Quality trickery by Bowles at just the right time. If rookie defensive tackle Calijah Kancey continues to be a handful for offensive lines, the Joe expects to see a little more Vea off the edge. It’s a great way to confuse and/or overpower a defense.
VITA VEA 😤
📺: #TENvsTB on CBS pic.twitter.com/5woOtzwaxr
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) November 12, 2023
Midseason flash poll posted at 3:55 p.m.
November 13th, 2023 at 4:27 pm
He’s as fast as a normal NFL DE, but wayyyyyyy stronger.
He’s a beast on the outside (and inside too, obv).
November 13th, 2023 at 4:29 pm
I loved watching that again!
November 13th, 2023 at 4:30 pm
A little more V off the edge might be just what the Dr ordered for this D. He looked good there!
November 13th, 2023 at 4:34 pm
Vea is having a very solid season.
Worth every penny spent.
Our best IDL and is leading the team in sacks.
Imagine what he could achieve if it weren’t for those little nagging injuries that plague him every season…
November 13th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
What is so impressive is that Levis goes down like he’s Baker Mayfield sized, like 5′ 10″ 180lbs – the guy is 6′ 3″ 230lb – that’s a big dude.
November 13th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
I guarantee he requested more snaps at DE during the team meeting.
I love watching him attack tackles one on one.
Do you know why?
Because he always gets double teamed. Like ALWAYS.
So when he plays DE, he actually gets the chance to take on an offensive lineman 1 on 1. Man on man.
He should rush from DE at least 5 times per game.
November 13th, 2023 at 4:50 pm
In other words, Vita Vea needs to do JTS job too because JTS is a soft, weak, useless, sorry as edge rusher 😂
November 13th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
That was awesome.
November 13th, 2023 at 4:52 pm
Agreed. I loved seeing that. WOW! How many LT’s can withstand that man’s bull rush at full speed. Not many
November 13th, 2023 at 4:54 pm
Who is this JTS you speak of? I’ve never seen him…lol
November 13th, 2023 at 4:57 pm
Wish this happened more than once every 3 seasons. Vea lead the team in sacks last year as the NT. Obviously he knows how to rush. Yeah, I know you can’t do this every play, but you can certainly design plays to make him the primary pass rusher. Bowles does it for Devin White, why not Vea?
November 13th, 2023 at 4:59 pm
Not many could stop him on 3 rd and 1 either! We have a short yardage FB on the team. God forbid we should play outside the box huh! It takes two guys to slow him down when his hand id in the dirt. Who is going to stop him when he gets 3-5 steps before hitting them? Let’s get a little creative and use the talent we have!
November 13th, 2023 at 5:03 pm
Vita-Barrett-JTS-Calijah(?)
Nice little package there. I thought i saw Vita and Calijah rushing off of opposite edges a few times. Combo’d with some revitalized Devin White blitzes and a sprinkle of Antoine “The BallHawk” Winfield Jr. makes for some interesting pressure packages.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:18 pm
The funny thing is Vea doesn’t even look like he’s moving that quickly… just sorta jogs right around the LT and then throw Levis down.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:19 pm
VV tossed him like a rag doll lol
November 13th, 2023 at 5:25 pm
That one handed Vita sack gave me hope that we could win a game I expected us to lose. Todd and all.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
Like Joe always says “If you never hear about an offensive lineman from the announcers during a game then he is doing a great job” … But the opposite is true for edge rushers, if you never hear from the announcers during the game about an edge rusher like JTS soft, weak, sorry useless ass during the game then he is terrible job!
November 13th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
JTS makes we want to scoop out my eyeballs with a spoon.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:41 pm
Tackles are taller, and play more upright then guards. Vea get’s under the tackle with his power it’s all over. If we’re going to have a chance against San Fran we need to do to Purdy what we did to Levis.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:43 pm
Just is definitely soft n loss most the time
.wasted pick
November 13th, 2023 at 5:45 pm
I’ve floated this idea since the injury of Shaq last year…I think d white would be better in a le/olb role..rushing the edge every play..
He sucks in coverage..I mean God awful…
So just turn him lose hunt the rb while getting to the qb
.the old Derrick brooks role
November 13th, 2023 at 5:46 pm
Vea on edge. White on inside. 31 every now and then. Dean in man coverage. Tryon on the bench. Diaby in his place.
November 13th, 2023 at 5:55 pm
Tryin riding the pines! Sounds about rite!
November 13th, 2023 at 5:58 pm
hes our best player by far but gets injured to much!
November 13th, 2023 at 6:02 pm
Vea is the KRAKEN!!!
November 13th, 2023 at 6:11 pm
Kinda just pushed him down like Levis was a little kid.
November 13th, 2023 at 6:26 pm
@Buc King, you don’t want White playing outside. He cannot shed to save his life. All his sacks are scheme sacks where he comes through the line unblocked.
November 13th, 2023 at 6:42 pm
I wasn’t to see Vea vs Wirfs one on one in practice!
November 13th, 2023 at 6:42 pm
Want*
November 13th, 2023 at 7:01 pm
and makes the sack while having his helmet almost ripped off his head with a left hand to the face
November 13th, 2023 at 7:02 pm
That play was awesome. His speed totally surprised the LT. Imagine his bull rush with a two-step running start. Then he basically threw a 230 pound quarterback down with one hand.
When it is an obvious passing down, SHAQ, VEA, Kancey look fantastic. Everyone else… No consistency.
November 13th, 2023 at 7:10 pm
Wonder what Dan Quinn would do if he were the head coach here next season
November 13th, 2023 at 7:59 pm
I want to see wirfs and vea in on the tush push cuz they would be fire
November 13th, 2023 at 9:37 pm
I watched every play again and it is very interesting to see all the different looks/spots we have the line playing from play to play. Hard for the opposing line to get comfortable.
Would love to see Watts and Gill out there more like we did in the 4th quarter and for JTS to play less snaps.
I wonder if we will keep the strategy of bringing in those guys as fresh bodies late in the game. We def should. They can obviously play..
November 13th, 2023 at 11:32 pm
Let Vita try the Edge every now and then. It will shake teams up. Dude is
so powerful and strong. They gotta put 2 on him.
November 14th, 2023 at 8:41 am
Even a facemask (that was not called) turned Vea’s helmet 90 degrees, and Vea still one-handed Levis to the turf…
November 14th, 2023 at 10:03 am
My Momma wishes the refs would have called a facemask on the Titans left tackle.
November 14th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
these refs have been absolutely horrible the last couple of year… and each year they get worse
November 14th, 2023 at 9:36 pm
Saw that sack and still can’t belive how easy he made that one handed sack look. With his helmet turned sideways and looking through the ear hole too?
Go Bucs!