Vita Vea reveals 'come to Jesus' moment that helped Buccaneers earn upset win at Cowboys

DraftKings Sportsbook had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as 8.5-point underdogs for their game at the 2-2 Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. 

That's understandable, as the Buccaneers were 0-4 and were starting undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels in place of injured QB1 Baker Mayfield (thumb). Tampa Bay nevertheless stunned the NFL community by earning a 24-16 upset win at Dallas' AT&T Stadium. 

Following that victory, Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea spoke on the Amazon Prime Video postgame show about what was and wasn't said behind the scenes leading up to Thursday's contest.

Vita Vea: Buccaneers believed they were better than 0-4

"I think it was more so us players," Vea said about meetings that occurred during the week, per the JoeBucsFan website. "I think we got together as a unit and talked amongst ourselves. It was one of those come-to-Jesus moments. 'We’re not really 0-4. We’re not playing like we are 0-4.' We were shutting it down on defense. Offense was doing their thing. We were just not finishing at the end of the game. It was one of those things we harped on throughout the whole week."

The Buccaneers' defense held a Cowboys team that averaged 30.5 points scored over the season's first four weeks to just two touchdown drives, one of which was on the scripted opening drive of Thursday's game. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay produced 419 total yards of offense and 241 rushing yards in the win. 

As for Daniels, he completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown.

Buccaneers players "knew we had to figure it out" to end losing streak

"I know we had a short week," Vea continued. "It was one of those things that we got together as a whole unit. We knew we had to figure it out. The defense sure did. They got a chokehold on maybe the best offense in the NFL, and even though Dallas finally got that offense into gear late, it wasn’t enough because the defense made just enough plays to put the game away."

Vea is among the Buccaneers players who previously backed often-criticized head coach Todd Bowles. Thus, it's safe to say that Vea is likely pleased that chatter about the Buccaneers possibly firing Bowles as soon as Friday disappeared even before Thursday's game officially ended. 

The 1-4 Buccaneers will next host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 18. This coming Sunday, 2-2 Pittsburgh will welcome the 2-2 Indianapolis Colts to Acrisure Stadium.