Tag: vita vea

Tristan Wirfs earns All-Pro honors, other Bucs players earn votes

Tristan Wirfs set history on Friday when he was named an All-Pro by the Associated Press and their voting members. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a long history of teams with great players. All of them have become franchise staples, and the current Bucs team has the luxury of having another.

Tristan Wirfs set history on Friday when he was named an All-Pro by the Associated Press and their voting members. Earning the honor wasn’t history, but he became the first offensive tackle to earn the honor as both a left and right tackle.

 

It was Wirfs’ second time earning All-Pro honors, the first coming in 2021.

Wirfs earned 28 votes, while other Bucs on the team earned votes but not enough to be a first-team selection. Mike Evans earned 10, rookie Graham Barton earned 1, Vita Vea earned 3, Lavonte David earned 3, Chase McLaughlin earned 1, and Bucky Irving, alongside Tavierre Thomas, also earned one for special teams roles.

Wirfs found out about the selection when the team surprised him with his family informing him of the honor which they shared on social media.

 

Gimme Him Wild Card edition: One player the Commanders would steal from the Buccaneers

The Washington Commanders face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their first playoff game in 2025, and there’s one player they’d love to steal.

The Washington Commanders are having the best season they’ve had in over 30 years. 1991 was the last time Washington won more than 11 games in a season, and they finally did it again in 2024, earning themselves a playoff berth for the first time since 2020.

As they gear up to head south to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, we can’t help but notice that they have one guy, in particular, the Commanders would love to steal from the Bucs: defensive tackle Vita Vea.

At 6-foot-4 and 347 pounds, Vea is a big, bad run-stuffer, something the Commanders have struggled with all season. For the Bucs, Vea has recorded 42 tackles (27 solo), seven sacks, one pass defensed, and 10.5 stuffs. He is a large part of the reason the Bucs have the fourth ranked run defense in the entire NFL, meanwhile the Commanders’ run defense is ranked 30th.

If the Commanders could use Vea, we aren’t replacing Jonathan Allen or Daron Payne, instead we would simply shift them do defensive end. No one wants to lose Allen or Payne, but they could definitely use some help on that line.

Unfortunately, the Commanders cannot actually steal Vea from the Bucs, but it is always fun to play. The two teams face off on January 12 at 8 pm EDT at Raymond James Stadium.

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Bucs’ Vita Vea earns contractual bonus with 2024 Pro Bowl selection

On Thursday, Vita Vea was named to his second Pro Bowl, and as a result, he is now receiving some extra money. 

Vita Vea, who joined the Bucs in 2018, leads the team’s monstrous defensive line. He was drafted 12th overall out of Washington in the 2018 draft and has since become not only a fan favorite but also one of the best players at his position.

On Thursday, Vita Vea was named to his second Pro Bowl, and as a result, he is now receiving some extra money.

According to Spotrac, several NFL players are cashing in various amounts from Thursday’s Pro Bowl announcements. One of them is Vita Vea of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Vea is now slated with his latest Pro Bowl selection to be in line for a $500k to be added to his base salary of $15.5 million.

Vea signed a four-year, $71 million dollar contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January of 2022. If his play keeps on the course it currently is on, he could be in line to keep adding value to his contract through various bonuses, like the Pro Bowl one.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles praises Vita Vea’s ‘best year yet’

Through it all, though, Vita Vea has remained a constant for this team and made an impact that not many are recognizing, except Todd Bowles.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has played exceptionally well when you look at the year and everything they have faced. Antoine Winfield Jr. has missed most of the year, while other starters have all taken turns being out.

Through it all, though, Vita Vea has remained a constant for this team and made an impact that not many are recognizing, except Todd Bowles.

This week, the Bucs head coach was asked about Vita Vea’s play this past Sunday and how it relates to his year as a whole.

“I think it’s probably the best year I’ve seen him have since I’ve been here, and this is my sixth year having him. From coming back in shape to playing hard every week to using his hands more and becoming more of an unstoppable force. He used to just use brute strength without using technique, and then he’d get stuck a few times, but right now, he’s got the whole gamut working. . .”

Vita Vea is on pace for another productive year for the Bucs. He has cemented himself as the centerpiece of the defense in Winfield Jr.’s absence. He is on pace for a career-high in sacks in 2024 while already setting a career-high in tackles for a loss.

Tons to be happy about when it comes to the play of Vita Vea.

5 takeaways from the Bucs loss to the Cowboys in Week 16

Overall, it was one of the more entertaining games of the season. Unfortunately, the Bucs were on the losing end of a 26-24 must-win game.

Entering Sunday night’s contest against the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers controlled their destiny when it came to making the playoffs and holding on to their lead in the NFC South.

Overall, it was one of the more entertaining games of the season. Unfortunately, the Bucs were on the losing end of a 26-24 must-win game.

The Buccaneers are not a prime-time team

Prime-time games and the Buccaneers do not mix well. When the lights are the brightest, the Bucs are the dimmest. This season alone, 4-of-7 losses have come on a Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night game. Three of the four losses were one-score games, with two games going into overtime, but they featured the Buccaneers playing from behind and needing to come back to make the game closer. Following suit during Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys, the Buccaneers were playing from behind and ultimately lost the game as they have on each prime-time game this season.

A true lack of identity

Typically, when you think of the top teams in the league, each one has an identity. The Buccaneers do not have an identity. They have stars on both sides of the ball but are not a team known for doing anything extraordinary. With the amount of talent on offense and defense, something should stand out, yet it doesn’t. Even more of a head-scratcher as they are a top 5 team in the league in both passing and rushing offense through 16 weeks of the regular season. This played out last night as a Cowboys team with nothing to play for, as they were eliminated from the playoffs before kickoff on Sunday night. It allowed a team that ranks near the bottom of the league in team defense and is a middle-of-the-pack team on offense to control the game completely.

Questionable clock management strikes again

Todd Bowles and clock management are as prevalent a pairing as the Buccaneers and prime-time games in that they do not mix well. Throughout the entire first half of the game, the Buccaneers could not stop the Cowboys on defense. Calling a timeout with 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter was questionable at best. The timeout would not have impacted Mayfield’s 11-yard strike to Jalen McMillan. Instead, it gave the Cowboys 48 seconds to move the ball down the field and get into scoring position with two timeouts remaining, and with the Buccaneers defense unable to slow down the Cowboys all night, they did just that.

Improper utilization of Irving and White

The box score will tell you that Bucky Irving led the team with 16 carries to Rachaad White’s three, but there is much more than meets the eye. For the final ten minutes of the game, Irving, the NFL’s leader in yards after contact per attempt, sat on the sidelines without a single touch while White finished the game for the Buccaneers offense. White is better in pass blocking than Irving is, but pass protection from the running back wasn’t the biggest issue for the team, as the Cowboys generated 22 pressures on the night. White led the team in receptions with seven and tied Evans for a team-high eight targets. To correctly use a dynamic backfield like the Buccaneers have, look towards a team like the Detroit Lions and how David Montogmery and Jahmyr Gibbs have been used this season.

Something is missing from the defense

Saying the defense needs leadership isn’t the right observation because it slights a veteran like Lavonte David and stars like Vita Vea and Antoine Winfield Jr., which isn’t an entirely fair assessment. However, it’s missing something at every level. This comes back to the lack of identity, which, if not player-related, has to fall back on coaching. This has been a theme for most of the season when the Bucs lose. The defense ranks 25th in yards allowed with 354.3 per game and 22nd in points per game allowed with 23.5. Their inability to routinely stop opposing offenses forces their offense to play mistake-free, which is a lot to ask for in a pass-heavy league. Football is a team game, and the best teams in the league typically find their offense and defense ranks not to have such a large gap.

As the season is winding down, the seat for the Buccaneers coaching staff should be scorching hot as they entered Week 16 in the playoffs and left Week 16 on the outside looking in. Simply put, there is too much talent on this Buccaneers team for the array of issues that rear their ugly heads more often than not.

 

Bucs’ 347-pound Vita Vea swallows Cowboys’ 153-pound KaVontae Turpin with tackle

KaVontae Turpin ran smack into Vita Vea of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This was a mismatch of the largest proportions.

The Tampa Bay Bucs’ nose tackle Vita Vea goes around 347 pounds on a good day.

The Dallas Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin weighs 153 pounds soaking wet.

Turpin ran into Vea on Sunday night and guess who won the tussle? The Bucs’ DL threw Turpin to the turf.

It could have been a WWE-style move but Vea showed some mercy.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles likes the improvements he has seen on defense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have found a way to play winning football in recent weeks. One major reason is the defense. From the starters to the rotational players, everyone has been making plays, allowing the Bucs’ offense to remain on the field and …

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have found a way to play winning football in recent weeks. One major reason is the defense. From the starters to the rotational players, everyone has been making plays, allowing the Bucs’ offense to remain on the field and produce points.

Everyone is doing their part and on Wednesday, Todd Bowles was asked about the improvements that the group has made during the win streak.

In the eyes of Bowles, nothing crazy is happening, the team is just doing their jobs. He said it comes down to, “Just the understanding of the game. There [weren’t] that many big plays going down the field. I don’t like the one tackle we missed on the third-and-2-or-3 that we had right there, but for the most part, they followed the gameplan. They finished [the] two-minute [situation], which was important for us on defense. The offense did a good job two weeks ago; the defense did a good job this week.”

Going against the Chargers on Sunday is going to be a tough task for this group. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has only thrown one interception this year and he is playing at an elite level. This team doing the basics is nice but someone will have to make some extraordinary plays on Sunday.

5 key takeaways from the Bucs 28-13 win over the Raiders

The Bucs are 7-6, there are some things that fans should keep their eyes on as we are closing in on the home stretch of the regular season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked into Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders needing a huge win. This is not because the Raiders are in the midst of a mid-season rebuild but because a win would put this Buccaneers team over .500 for the first time since they fell to 4-4 following their second loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

While the boxscore displays what appears to be a lopsided 28-13 victory, pushing the Bucs to 7-6, there are some things that fans should keep their eyes on as we are closing in on the home stretch of the regular season. Here are five key takeaways from the Buccaneers Week 14 win.

Live and Die by Baker Mayfield

For all of the great things that Bucs QB Baker Mayfield brings to the table, there is also an erratic counterpart, ala a modern-day Brett Favre. Mayfield’s 3329 passing yards and 28 TDs are each, respectively, the third-most in the NFL. His 13 interceptions put him right behind the leader in interceptions, the Falcons’ Kirk Cousin- who has 15. You can argue that a lot of this has to do with Chris Godwin not being available, as Mayfield and Godwin had a top-tier connection.

To put into context just how good that connection was, Godwin had only played in seven games this season and was the team’s leader in receiving yards until Week 14. Godwin’s 50 receptions are currently still the second-most on the team behind TE Cade Otton’s 57. Both sides of the coin, mixed in with his personality, make Mayfield one of the most polarizing players in the league. He is both fun and frustrating to watch, oftentimes within the same game.

With a defense that is still trying to find its way and navigating injuries, the Buccaneers are a lot more reliant on its quarterback play than some other teams in the NFL.

Increased defensive-line snaps

It’s been observed week in and week out that Todd Bowles plays his defensive line with some odd rotations, namely keeping Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea, and Calijah Kancey on what appears to be snap count restrictions. Sunday’s contest saw upticks to 79% for Diaby and 70% for Vea, and a 66% snap count for Kancey. The Bucs are now a Top 10 team in total sacks with 35 on the year, and Diaby’s 52 pressures have him with the eighth-most in the NFL.

As the Buccaneers’ defense battles injuries in its secondary, it’s imperative for Bowles to continue to increase the snap counts for his best defensive linemen into pressuring quarterbacks to make quicker decisions to help his younger and less experienced set of defensive backs.

 Liam Coen’s unconventional passing offensive success

Piggy-backing off of Mayfield, the carousel in the backfield, and one true, reliable target at wide receiver, the Buccaneers offense is Among the top three in yards per game at 379.2 and fifth in points per game, averaging 27.9. For all of the questions surrounding this Bucs offense, offensive coordinator Liam Coen has displayed an innate ability to generate a lot of yards and a lot of points on a regular basis. Against the Raiders, Mayfield had seven different targets, with five of those seven having more than three targets each.

Evans is always going to draw attention from opposing defenses, and Otton is toeing the line between a mid-tier and top-tier tight end. Outside of that, which receivers are stepping up? This is where Coen’s playcalling is standing out. With such a youthful and unproven wide receiver room outside of Evans, no single player needs to play with the weight on their shoulders of needing to step up and have a huge game. Jalen McMillian saw seven targets for the second time this season and logged two touchdowns against the Raiders, however he had just five total targets in the previous two games combined.

Playing in rotational roles is clearly proving successful as the Buccaneers offense continues rolling.

The defense is tightening up

Yes, they played the 25th-ranked offense, but you play who you are scheduled to play. Bowles’s defense held the Raiders to under 100 rushing yards and under 200 passing yards with a depleted linebacking group, losing Antoine Winfield without Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards, just to name a few.

Just a week prior, they gave up a lot more to the Carolina Panthers, but divisional games are meant to be closer and more difficult; that should not be a tell-tale sign- unless you’re allowing a quarterback to have a career day in his 13th year. Despite having three turnovers on offense, holding the Raiders offense to under 300 total yards and only 13 points is noteworthy.

Anyone can get an “A”; it’s keeping it that’s the hard part

“It’s one thing getting to first place. It’s a whole other thing staying there,” coach Bowles said after Sunday’s game, as the Buccaneers took over first place in the NFC South. It was a tale of two halves for the Buccaneers offense, but the defense, which has been a liability at times this season, remained grounded and held up their end of the deal.

With four tough games remaining on their schedule, including two division games, the Buccaneers are eyeing their fourth-straight division title, but it won’t be easy, especially not having a tiebreaker over the Falcons. The Bucs’ remaining opponents have a combined record over 21-30, while the Falcons are 15-37, with only the Washington Commanders, the only team remaining that has more than four wins through Week 14 of the season.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles praises Vita Vea’s performance in 2024

This week, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles spoke about the dominance he has displayed this season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have loved the growth of defensive lineman Vita Vea over the years. Through 11 games of the 2024 season, Vea is looking like one of the best interior defensive lineman in the league today.

This week, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles spoke about the dominance he has displayed this season.

“I mean, he has a good season every year for me. It’s not about the Pro Bowl, it’s about helping us win and the accolades will come as they come. . .In my opinion, he’s playing good football, he’s got the sacks to show it – that’s not the whole story that it tells because he’s destroying the middle and he’s keeping us in ballgames.”

Pro Bowl voting opened this week and Bowles also discussed how Vea has been deserving of a spot In past years but recognizes that a team’s record plays a role. If the Bucs can win a couple more games and Vea plays a part then perhaps we can see him being apart of Eli or Peyton Manning’s team.

Pro Bowl Voting is now open, vote for your favorite Bucs players

On Monday, the NFL announced that Pro Bowl voting is now open which means you can vote for your favorite Bucs players. 

The Pro Bowl has had its ups and downs over the years, but it has never ceased to give us memorable moments. From Sean Taylor derailing a punter on a trick play to Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson toying with defenders in flag football, we get memories out of these events, and you, the fans, get to decide who makes those for you.

On Monday, the NFL announced that Pro Bowl voting is now open, which means you can vote for your favorite Bucs players.

Most positions allow you to vote for up to six players in each of them. On offense, you have so many options from Baker Mayfield to Tristan Wirfs to Cade Otton. This offense has so many pieces that Bucs fans can vote for and should so make sure you don’t forget anyone.

On defense, we haven’t had much success, but a player like Vita Vea is emerging as one of the best interior pass-rushers in the NFL. Lavonte David has been a monster this year as his Hall of Fame career enters it’s last chapter.

It is also worth mentioning Chase McLaughlin is 17 for 18 kicking this year and is a whopping 7 for 8 from 50+ yards. He has been pivotal to this team’s success this year on special teams, so don’t forget him.