Tag: vita vea

Buccaneers DL Vita Vea shows how you can dominate a game with no tackles

Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea wasn’t credited with a single tackle against the Cowboys, but he was still the most dominant defensive player on the field.

Tackling statistics are funny things. There are linebackers who rack up hige totals year after year, and it hides the fact that they can be innocent bystanders in the right place at the right time… well, a lot of the time. Cornerbacks and safeties with large tackle totals may have them because their coverage is sub-par. And interior defensive linemen may be the most mis-represented players by way of these numbers, because tackle totals don’t tell you anything (or at least very little) about the player’s effect on the game.

Exhibit A in the 2021 NFL season came in the opener between the Buccaneers and Cowboys on Thursday night. Tampa Bay defensive tackle Vita Vea was as utterly dominant as any IDL you’ll see all season, but he didn’t register a single official tackle. Last season, Vea missed Week 6 through the divisional round of the playoffs, and he registered just seven solo tackles all season, but the Bucs’ defense was an entirely different animal when he was on the field. Per Sports Info Solutions, Tampa Bay allowed an Offensive EPA of -0.05 when Vea was off the field, and -0.18 when he was in there. As defensive advanced metrics are generally better when they’re negative, that tells you how important Vea is.

Vea was incredibly important with his very presence against the Cowboys, who ran the ball just 18 times for 60 yards. Dak Prescott set a Week 1 NFL record for completions with 42, and he played marvelously for the most part, but the Cowboys also knew that last season, the Bucs allowed 4.0 yards per carry when Vea was off the field, and 2.8 yards per carry when he was active.

So, Vea was going to have to be a pass disruptor, and the stats show that he’s rather good at that, as well. The Bucs created a blown block pressure rate of 13.8% last season without Vea, and 19.2% with him. Basically, with Vita Vea on the line, Tampa Bay was creating disruption on one of every five passing plays.

Not bad at all.

“He plays a very pivotal role in our defense,” general manager Jason Licht said in April, when the team picked up Vea’s fifth-year option. “When he’s in there, a lot of things happen for not just him but everybody else around him. The day that we found out that he was going to come back and play…it was a very big day for all of us. It was a very exciting day. Coaches, scouts, players, owners, everybody – we were all very excited.”

Pro Football Focus credited Vea with one quarterback hit and six total pressures against the Cowboys, which gives you a slightly more accurate indication of his effect on the game in Tampa Bay’s 31-29 win. Vea was all over the place on his 54 defensive snaps, and he wasn’t too bad on his one offensive snap, either.

How can a player with no tackles and one snap as a fullback take over a game? Let’s go to the tape and see exactly how it happened.

No Zeke, no problem: Cowboys are right not to run the ball against Buccaneers

The Cowboys are not giving the ball to Ezekiel Elliott against the Buccaneers. Here’s why that’s the smart thing to do.

As I begin this article with 8:55 left in the third quarter of the NFL’s 2021 regular-season opener between the Cowboys and Buccaneers, Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott has six carries for 11 yards, and Dak Prescott has attempted 41 passes, completing 30 for 278 yards and two touchdowns. As you might expect, social media is in a state of unrest as Zeke’s lack of action, but if you look at the defense the Bucs have put on the field this season (virtually the same defense they had last season), it makes all the sense in the world.

In 2020, Tampa Bay ranked first in the NFL in running back yards allowed per carry with 3.35, and per Football Outsiders, they were great both in short-yardage situations and when running backs hit the second level — which they didn’t that often. Defensive tackle Vita Vea is the real difference-maker here — he was out from Week 5 through the NFC Championship Game with an ankle injury, and while the Bucs’ run defense was very good without him, allowing 4.0 yards per carry, they were the NFL’s best run defense with him — 2.8 yards per carry allowed, per Sports Info Solutions.

Vea is on the field tonight, as is defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. Ask backup running back Tony Pollard how that went for him on his one carry of the night.

Uh, yikes.

Add in the fact that six-time Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin is out of this game with a positive COVID-19 test, and it makes all the sense in the world for the Cowboys to ride Dak all the way, and put Zeke on the shelf. The Cowboys face the Rams and Aaron Donald in Week 2, and Los Angeles finished fourth last season in running back yards allowed, so the short-term strategy might have Prescott throwing 60 times per game. The Cowboys did try some crack-toss concepts with Elliott near the end of the third quarter with slightly better results, so maybe that’s the key.

Ranking the NFC South’s top DTs: Where do Derrick Brown and DaQuan Jones fit?

We know Derrick Brown is already good enough to crack the list. But do the Carolina Panthers have another defensive tackle worthy of a mention?

At a different moment in time, Carolina Panthers fans would’ve seen the title of these rankings and said “Bring on the hog mollies!” But alas, that term is just about extinct in these parts.

That doesn’t mean we can’t dive into the division’s very best big boys with the same gusto former general manager Dave Gettleman had in collecting them. So, who’s here to represent these Panthers?

Well, we already know there’s one of them afoot. (I mean, he’s featured in the damn picture.) But, will Derrick Brown be joined by any of his Carolina teammates? Let’s get to it.

How Todd Bowles made life miserable for an overmatched Chiefs offensive line

The Bucs gave the Chiefs offensive line a good, old fashioned whoopin.

Blocking, or the inability to, was the defining story of Super Bowl LV. It’s not a profound thing to learn about the game of football, but it was startling that even the great Patrick Mahomes could almost look like a mere mortal against the Buccaneers.

It wasn’t just that the Chiefs were physically outmatched as their patchwork offensive line took on the Bucs front seven, but they were schematically outmatched too. Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles knew that the Chiefs offensive line didn’t have much time playing or practicing together, so he got a little creative with the ways that he attacked them.

Mahomes still put together a Herculean effort that featured multiple insane throws under duress, but the Chiefs receivers weren’t able to haul them in.

One of the first blitzes that Bowles used to attack the Chiefs was a double cornerback blitz that left Mahomes scrambling and trying to find a receiver deep down the field.

To be fair to the Chiefs, this would be a pretty hard block to pick up even for a veteran offensive line with hundreds of snaps together. An offensive line that was missing both starting tackles and the left guard from Kansas City’s Week 1 lineup simply had no chance.

Bowles deployed overload fronts, which is usually three or more rushers on one side of the line of scrimmage, and ran twists and games to free up rushers to rattle Mahomes. Shaq Barrett is tough to block by himself, but getting him an unblocked pressure just isn’t fair to the Chiefs offense.

The Bucs also stacked the offensive line with five man fronts featuring inside linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White over the offensive guards. David and White have the athleticism and range to blitz and cover, which puts a lot of stress on the offensive line. Prior to the snap, the offensive line can only guess whether or not they’re going to drop into coverage or blitz.

Early in the game, David ended up dropping into coverage on one of these five-man blitzes while White ran a twist with pass rusher Anthony Nelson. Nelson was a little clumsy on the play, but his twist with White confused the Chiefs offensive line just enough where he could get into the backfield and disrupt Mahomes — who still somehow managed to make a perfect throw.

When the Bucs weren’t playing games with the Chiefs offensive line, they were just beating them down. There was a severe talent disadvantage for the Chiefs offensive line. Mike Remmers, the Chiefs left tackle for the game, struggled immensely.

Barrett was able to get past him for a sack.

Vita Vea, a 350 pound nose tackle, was able to bully him into the backfield.

And Jason Pierre-Paul was able to get past Remmers with ease.

The Chiefs caught a string of bad luck with their offensive line injuries and the Bucs capitalized. The injury to Eric Fisher was the one the Chiefs simply could not overcome after so many other changes. This game, then, is not a grandiose statement on the quality of Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, or Eric Bienemy.

Bad injury luck caught up to the them. The game is the game.

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The Buccaneers failed on their big-man TD opportunity by not throwing it to Vita Vea

The Buccaneers could have had a big-man touchdown in the Super Bowl. They just threw it to the wrong big guy.

We all love big-man touchdowns, especially in a Super Bowl, so the miss in the second quarter from Tom Brady to offensive lineman Joe Haeg was quite unfortunate. Bruce Arians was trying to get tricky, and Haeg couldn’t bring it in, and the Chiefs wound up stopping the Bucs at the Kansas City one-yard line on fourth down for a crucial goal-line stand. Bucs score a touchdown there, it’s 14-3, and the Chiefs are in big trouble.

I would like to posit that the failure wasn’t the play itself — the failure was that the Bucs threw it to the wrong guy. Let’s get in the Wayback Machine to November 24, 2019, when Brady was back in Boston, Jameis Winston was still Tampa Bay’s quarterback, and THIS HAPPENED.

I guess we have to blame the Falcons for not picking up the F-Drag responsibility. Not that this was expected, per se.

Actually, the play was historic. Per Pro Football Reference, (via Football Perspective’s Twitter account), no player heavier than  the 347-pound Vea has ever caught a touchdown pass in NFL history.

That’s Ravens Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden, Bengals four-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Willie Anderson, and ex-Bears defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry. We would concur with the suspicion regarding Perry’s listed weight, but one must go with what one has.

So, we’ll have to count this as a massive failure of self-scouting. The Bucs had the guy who had done this before in a historical sense, and they should have done it again.

Super Bowl LV: Will the Kansas City Chiefs’ run game matter?

Defenses try to slow the Chiefs by turning Patrick Mahomes into a spectator. Do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers follow suit in the Super Bowl?

One of the most popular football columns in the media space this week, and perhaps every week since 2018, has been a variation on this theme: How do you beat the Kansas City Chiefs? A quick Google search for “how to beat the Chiefs” returns over 53 million results in under a single second. There are stories about formulas, blueprints and more. Touchdown Wire is no different, as yesterday I tried yet again to craft a game plan for slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the rest of their talented offense.

A pillar of that plan, and a part of many such pieces, is the notion that you beat Mahomes by turning him into more of a spectator. Play light up front, dare the Chiefs to run the football, and if you see #15 turn and hand the football off on a given play, consider it a victory.

Of course, if a chucklehead like me can put that together, the bright minds in the NFL can certainly do the same. Reviewing the Chiefs’ 2020 season sees that more than a few teams dared the Chiefs to run the football through formation, alignment and personnel. The kicker? Kansas City was willing to oblige, and at times it might not have gone the way defenses hoped it would.

Here’s how the Kansas City Chiefs’ rushing attack could be an x-factor in Super Bowl LV.

We all know the NFL is a copycat league, and if something works, teams will try their darnedest to mimic what they do. Given that Bill Belichick is one of the handful of coaches who has found ways to at least slow the Chiefs down over the past few seasons, it makes sense that teams would incorporate some of what he does into their own game plans.

It has not always worked.

But the premise is this: If you play with sub packages defensively, putting five, six or even seven defensive backs on the field, you might be able to play with some bracket coverages or even a true double-team on some of the Chiefs receivers, whether Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman or even Travis Kelce, as Belichick has done in the past. The added benefit of having so many defensive backs in the game? Mahomes, Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy might be willing to check to the run game against those looks.

Anytime Mahomes is handing the football off, and not dropping back to throw, is a chance to keep them from scoring on a huge play in the blink of an eye.

Studying the Chiefs’ rushing attack from 2020 uncovers numerous examples of Kansas City playing along and turning to the run game against these sub personnel groups and lighter boxes, and putting together big runs on the ground.

One such team that tried this?  The Baltimore Ravens back in Week 3. Yes Mahomes still threw for 385 yards in the win, but the Chiefs also ran for 132 yards on the night. Take this 2nd-and-six play from late in the first half. The Ravens align in a 2-3-6 package with just two defensive linemen in the game. Mahomes becomes a spectator, handing the ball off to rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire on a split zone design:

The rookie finds a crease behind the flow of the play, and spurts upfield for a 16-yard gain. Kansas City would finish the drive with a touchdown from Mahomes to Hardman from 49 yards out to take a 27-10 lead into the locker room.

Another team that tried this strategy is the Denver Broncos. The results? Kansas City ran for 185 yards in a 43-16 victory back in Week 7 – obviously game script played a role there – and another 134 yards in a 22-16 victory in Week 13. Looking through those two games provides yet more examples of a defense using sub packages to dare Mahomes to hand the ball off, and the quarterback complying with good results for the offense.

Take this play from Week 7:

The Broncos put a 2-4-5 defense in the game for this 1st-and-10 play, using two defensive tackles and putting two linebackers on the edges to give them a four-man surface. Mahomes again hands the ball off against this light package and box, as Edwards-Helaire follows left tackle Eric Fisher and left guard Nick Allegretti to the right edge. The result? A 27-yard gain on this play. Kansas City’s drive would stall as Mahomes’ next three passing attempts would fail to pick up a first down. Perhaps Denver chalked this one up as a win for them, and they might be right.

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If the Chiefs could steal one player from the Buccaneers, who would it be?

Vita Vea and Chris Jones would just crush people. Can you even imagine?

For a moment, let’s imagine that the teams in the Super Bowl each get to choose one player off the opposing squad to add to their teams for the game. One player to shore up a weakness — or to make a strength even stronger. (For the sake of allowing us to stretch our brains, both quarterbacks are off limits here.)

Picking a player to put on the Chiefs team was a bit difficult. They don’t really need anymore firepower on offense, but picking just one player to take from the Buccaneers defense is tough because there are so many options. Considering the state of the Chiefs linebackers, Devin White or Lavonte David would be reasonable choices.

However, the Chiefs could create a defensive tackle group that would detonate the line of scrimmage and make life hell for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers’ offensive line by poaching defensive tackle Vita Vea.

Vea missed a good chunk of the season with a fractured ankle, but when he’s been on the field he’s been an extreme force to be reckoned with for the Buccaneers. The dude is pushing 350 pounds and he almost ran a sub-five second 40-yard dash — just insane for a man of that size. That athleticism and explosiveness is littered all over film from the Buccaneers.

Vea can ruin single blocks in the run game because NFL offensive linemen simply struggle to match his strength.

His bull rush is impossible to stop once he gets going, making him a rare pass rusher for a nose tackle.

Even though Vea is explosive and can create plays all by himself, he excels at creating plays for White, David, and the other Buccaneers defenders because of how he eats up blocks at the line of scrimmage.

Vea would be a clear upgrade next to Chris Jones on the interior of the Chiefs defensive line. Derrick Nnadi and Mike Pennel are solid run defenders that deserve a spot in the rotation, but neither of them possess the raw, unique level of talent that Vea does.

The Chiefs really struggled against the run during the regular season. According to Ben Baldwin of The Athletic, the Chiefs defense ranked 27th in expected points per rush (0.011) and 25th in rushing success rate (44.3%). The Chiefs were one of seven teams to give up positive numbers in terms of expected points added per rush.

So yeah, this is an area that could be a dangerous spot for the Chiefs during the Super Bowl. Over the course of a season, teams can generally get away with porous run defense, but in a one-game sample that sort of weakness can really come back to bite you. Vea would make stopping the Buccaneers running game much easier for the Chiefs.

The Buccaneers ranked 10th in terms of expected points added per rush on offense (-0.031), but just 21st in rushing success rate (39.9%). Tampa Bay’s running game has the capability to rip off chunks on the ground, but wasn’t all that consistent on a down-to-down basis.

You know what would help with that? A behemoth nose tackle that can shut down any running play you throw at him. That’s what makes this an enticing add to the Chiefs defense. This isn’t an impossible run game to slow down like the Ravens or the Titans. Adding Vea would make slowing down the Buccaneers running game a rather feasible task and one that would make the Buccaneers’ offense one-dimensional.

In this scenario, there is the risk that the Buccaneers would just quit on the run game and air it out with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Rob Gronkowski, but at least it would make defensive playcalling a bit easier for the Chiefs.

The finesse and speed Jones can bring as a pass rusher paired with the dynamite punches that Vea packs would be insane to watch — and make winning Super Bowl 55 a little bit easier for the Chiefs.

But who would the Chiefs be losing in this imaginary scenario? The answer might be different than you expect.

An active Vita Vea has the potential to be a critical factor against the Packers

Defensive tackle Vita Vea can be a critical factor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and the Packers offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers received great news on Sunday, when the team announced that defensive tackle Vita Vea would be active in the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers. Vea has the potential to be a critical factor against the Packers as the Buccaneers look to slow down Aaron Rodgers and the dangerous Green Bay offense.

Sometimes the numbers tell a story, and they certainly do in this case. If you are Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, one of the things you definitely want to do is slow down Davante Adams. One way to do that? Playing with two-high safeties. As discussed recently on the Touchdown Wire NFL Matchup Podcast, Adams this year has feasted against single-high coverages, but struggled a bit against those dual safety looks.

According to data from Sports Info Solutions, against two-safety coverage (Cover-2, 2-Man, Cover-4, Cover-6, and Tampa-2) this season Adams has 18 catches on 27 targets for 223 yards, 51 yards after the catch, and one touchdown. Against single-high coverage this season (Cover-1, Cover-3, and combination coverages), Adams has 72 catches on 95 targets for 970 yards, 576 yards after the catch, and 14 touchdowns.

So you play Adams with a single safety up top at your own peril.

The fear as a defense is that when you play with two safeties deep, you might struggle to stop the run. Furthermore, with those two-deep packages you invite teams to run against lighter boxes.

That is where Vea comes into factor. How good is he against the run? This season, when Vea is on the field, the Bucs allowed 2.8 yards per carry. Without him, 4.0. Without Vea, Tampa Bay allowed a Rushing EPA of -0.17 — they were still good — and with him, they allowed a Rushing EPA of -0.32. So, maybe Tampa Bay doesn’t have to cheat anybody up to stop the run.

With Vea back, he can keep linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White clean and he can help the Buccaneers stop the run without sacrificing a safety into the box. That means they can play the two-high looks, which could go a long way towards slowing down Adams in the passing game.

 

Bucs returning DL Vita Vea for NFC Championship Game vs. Packers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting back a key defender for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting back a key defender for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.

The Bucs announced the activation of defensive lineman Vita Vea from injured reserve on Friday, clearing his way to play against the Packers after missing 11 regular season games and both playoff games with a fractured ankle.

The 347-pound Vea is one of the NFL’s best nose tackles. In the first five games of 2020, he produced two sacks, three tackles for losses and three quarterback hits. At Pro Football Focus, Vea earned an overall grade of 90.1 through the first five games, the sixth-best overall defensive grade among all qualified defensive players from Week 1-5.

Vea injured his ankle in a loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 5 and missed the Bucs’ win over the Packers in Week 6.

Vea is similar to Packers defensive lineman Kenny Clark in that he’s equally capable of stuffing the run at nose tackle while also contributing as a pass-rusher.

It’s fair to wonder how much impact a nearly 350-pound player coming off a fractured ankle will have after missing three straight months of game action. The Bucs are willing to find out on Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

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Damon Harrison declined signing with other teams to stay with Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks nose tackle Damon Harrison turned down offers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins to stay with the Seahawks.

 

The Seattle Seahawks recently signed Damon “Snacks” Harrison to the practice squad with the hopes he can eventually be promoted to the active roster.

After receiving offers from the Buccaneers and Dolphins recently, Harrison chose to remain on the Seahawks’ practice squad.

The Buccaneers were reeling from Vita Vea’s season-ending injury in Week 5 and extended an offer to Harrison, which he declined.

One week later, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reported that the Dolphins attempted to lure the nose tackle away from the Emerald City to no avail.

As Pelissero noted, Harrison may be trying to work his way up into the rotation.

Pete Carroll previously spoke favorably of Harrison’s abilities and character, as well as the opportunity to obtain him and put him on the practice squad.

Harrison has built up a reputation as a solid run-stopper, leading the NFL in run-stop percentage in 2013 and 2016.

The Seahawks will hope he can step in if they need him to, as they may need all the defensive line help they can get.

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