NASHVILLE – In the parity-driven PBR Camping World Team Series’ third summer of 5-on-5 action, the league has made it pretty clear that any given team can win on any given night.

So, when the streaking (4-6) New York Mavericks came into Saturday’s showdown 4-1 in their last five awaiting a matchup against the (2-7) Texas Rattlers, they knew they’d have to give their all if they wanted to defeat the defending 2023 PBR Teams Champions.

While they produced a sound effort, they eventually found themselves on the wrong end of a dramatically close 264-264.25 final inside Bridgestone Arena.

Thanks, in part, to the team’s 40-year-old veteran Joao Ricardo Vieira, who embraced the closer role as he sealed the deal for the Ariat-infused unit.

And while Head Coach Cody Lambert didn’t think the lineup change was the ultimate difference-maker, as he believes his guys should and will ride their bulls, we can’t help but have some flashbacks to the 2023 PBR Teams Championship when we saw the veteran stay clutch en route to earning the postseason MVP honors.

“Just trying to change a little something there. It was just trying to change the order. It’s a big deal when you’ve got to have that last score to win it but if he was in the first spot and he would’ve gotten the same score it’s worth the same amount of points there,” Lambert explained.

“I didn’t see it as some great strategic play. He rode his bull. He did his job and those guys won on the bulls they had whenever we put them on them, so I didn’t see it as a big deal. But when we’ve lost more games than I thought we were going to lose there off the bat I wanted to change something.”

Needing 85.75 points in the final out of the game in order to get his team back into the win column, the oldest rider in regular 5-on-5 rotation may not have been used to the closer role. But he sure seemed used to delivering walk-off wins, as he stepped in and stepped up, eventually besting Mojo Bone for the win.

Forcing the team to wave some hats and exchange high-fives as they began celebrating atop the chutes, it wasn’t just a high note for the night two showcase.

The win snapped the Rattlers’ league-high, six-game losing streak.

Not a feat any of the Rattlers are proud of assembling. But even the reserved PBR co-founder in Lambert couldn’t help but relay how important getting it over with was.

“It always feels better than losing. Winning beats the shit out of losing,” he said.

“It’s funny that we’d be in a losing streak or a winning streak or anything because these guys don’t live that way. And I certainly don’t see it that way – that we’re streaky. I see it that we’re supposed to have a good chance to win and have a good chance to win the bulls we get.”

Staying within one game of the New York Mavericks, Florida Freedom, and Oklahoma Wildcatters, who each share matching 4-6 records, Texas still technically occupies the league’s No. 10 spot heading into the Sunday slate. And knowing that they’ve made some impressive runs in seasons past in order to better their odds of surviving a run inside T-Mobile Arena means Lambert has remained confident in his group, despite the recent down stretch.

“We knew we were going to eventually win. We felt like we’ve been in a good place and ready. We enjoyed that but we have to get to work and try to do it again tomorrow,” Lambert said.

“The big change that we want is winning instead of losing. But we worked very hard and we know what we need to do and we try to get better. We’ve got a program that we know is going to work if we do things right. We have a group of guys who can ride any kind of bull if they do their job.”

Teaming up with Vieira before the veteran walked off the win in dramatic fashion, it was good to see both Brady Fielder (89.25 points aboard Hunting Trip) and Marcelo Procopio Pereira (89 points atop Tchoupitoulas) find the 8 as well.

Still just 3-7, the team hadn’t enjoyed a victory since Week 2, where they opened the season with an encouraging 2-1 performance in Duluth, Georgia. And while they’ll enjoy the night, it’s right back to punching the clock when Sunday rolls around.

Tonight, however, they’ll have something to walk out of the building with. Some momentum. An opportunity to reflect on what it feels like to get the job done.

And for the first time in 22 days, a victory.

“Think about how much better it feels when you do your job than when you don’t achieve your goal for the day and you try to duplicate that,” Lambert concluded.

“Really, we don’t want to do anything different other than try to win the game. We try to find a way to win in every game.”

Pulling out quite the dramatic effort less than 24 hours later, Vieira not only walked-off the team's final game (ending their weekend with a nice 2-0 record), but tallied his 431st premier series conversion, now ranked No. 5 in PBR history as the veteran continues to leave his mark.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media