Joe loved the angst in tough-guy Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s voice when answering a question about Vita Vea this week.
Joe is confident saying Vea is having the best season of his eight-year career. The consistency has been better and he’s just been ferocious.
Look at his half-sack Sunday against the 49ers. On a three-man Bucs rush, Vea knifed through his double team and blew up the play.
Campbell knows the challenge.
> “Look, the size is one thing, but his quickness to get off the ball, he’s got explosiveness and he’s got really good feet,” Campbell said of Vea. “You know, and when you’re a man that big and you can move like he moves, then you gotta do everything right \[against him\], man. You gotta play with leverage. You gotta have the get-off of your life. We have double teams; we gotta be able to fit the double teams together. You’re off just a little bit and he will split you. He’ll crease you. He’ll get an edge. He’ll do that in the pass game, too. He’ll swim sometimes, you know. So if you’re not locked in and you’re not perfect fundamentally, he’ll get on you. So it’s just another one of those, ‘We gotta be locked in on every stinkin’ play.'”
To win Monday night, to duplicate their stunning defensive performance in Detroit last year, the Bucs likely need Vea to have one of his best games. He’s certainly capable.