TAMPA — Sack races aren’t usually run by defensive tackles to determine the winner, and it’s even rarer when they go wire-to-wire.
But the Bucs’ pass rush has been led this season by Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea, the behemoths in the middle of the defense who have totaled 11 sacks together and counting.
Last Sunday, they each recorded a takedown of Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito in the Bucs’ 30-7 win.
“We definitely have been talking about it,” Kancey said of the sack competition. “We were on the sidelines and there was one play where we thought I had ended up stealing one (sack) with rushing Tommy out of the pocket and him getting out of bounds. We thought I had stolen another sack, Vita was like, ‘Dang, you’re trying to take the lead on me!’ So we always talk about it and compete and help each other be better. But we both want to get double digits this year.”
Kancey registered the first of the Bucs’ four sacks on the Giants’ third offensive play when he leveled DeVito for a 7-yard loss on third down.
It was Kancey’s fifth sack of the season, a career high. What’s remarkable is that he has a chance to reach 10 or more sacks despite missing five games with a pulled calf muscle.
This is the kind of production the Bucs envisioned when they selected Kancey in the first round out of Pittsburgh in the 2023 draft. He also has 19 tackles, eight tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits this season.
What’s made Kancey so successful rushing the passer this year?
“It’s always fundamentals for me down there with his technique,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “We know he’s fast, we know he’s strong, but when he uses his hands he’s unstoppable. When he doesn’t use his hands, he gets stuck a little bit. He’s using his hands quite a bit right now getting in the backfield and he’s really just unlocking his potential. We look for more things to happen for him every week.”
It doesn’t hurt that Kancey is playing next to Vea, who is cat quick on his feet for a 355-pound man, but has as much power as any player in the league.
In registering his team-leading sixth sack of the season, Vea forklifted Giants center John Michael Schmitz Jr. and deposited him into the lap of DeVito.
You have to go back almost to the time when Warren Sapp lined up next to anyone to find when the Bucs’ pass rush was so dominant inside. Sapp had 16.5 sacks and won the Defensive Player of the Year in 2000, and Anthony McFarland added 6.5 sacks. In 1999, Sapp had 12.5 sacks and Brad Culpepper added six.
Meanwhile, Kancey has produced sacks in each of his last three games.
