ANAHEIM, Calif. – Dating back to the launch of the PBR Camping World Team Series in 2022, Texas Rattlers head coach Cody Lambert has had one goal for his team.

Ride. Every. Bull.

It’s paid off, as the Rattlers have been one of the most consistently high-performing teams in the league. In 2022, they finished the regular season ranked No. 2. In 2023, they finished the regular season ranked No. 3, narrowly missing a first-round bye at the PBR Camping World Teams Championship, and went on to be crowned the 2023 PBR Teams Champions.

While perfection in a game is extremely hard to come by – it’s happened just four times in league history – the Rattlers have one perfect game on their ledger from the 2022 season.

But a team doesn’t have to be perfect to be impressive.

In their first game at PBR Teams: Anaheim in Anaheim, California, the Rattlers defeated the New York Mavericks with a 4-for-5 showing, 349.25-86.75.

Not only did it help the Rattlers hold the No. 3 ranking and improve to 10-9, it was their third consecutive 4-for-5 performance.

“We’re in a pretty good place,” Lambert said. “We’re in a good place mentally and physically, and we plan on trying to ride as many bulls as we can. The idea is to ride them all.”

Despite coming within seconds of three consecutive perfect games, Lambert says he’s not losing any sleep over what could’ve been.

“We’d like to be perfect all the time, but we’re never frustrated when we win,” he said. “And we play to win every game.”

The Rattlers brought the heat right out of the gate in Anaheim. While Brady Fielder got a re-ride, Daniel Keeping got things going with 87 points on Oyster Creek Brawler. Claudio Montanha Jr. chipped in 83.75 points on Pistola before Joao Ricardo Vieira dropped the hammer with 89.5 points on Shot in the Dark.

Fielder then added 89 points on Watch Out to bring the Rattlers to a perfect 4-for-4.

It wasn’t until the final out of the game that the run ended as Marcelo Procopio Pereira bucked off Mighty Mike in 5.35 seconds.

In the shootout round, Fielder rode Firewater for 90.5 points to win the day for Texas.

When asked who on his roster he’s impressed with, Lambert simply can’t choose.

“Joao Ricardo Vieira is 40 years old and strong, and Brady Fielder, I think, is really good. About as good as they get,” he said. “Our team is good. Daniel is doing good. Everybody on the team is working really hard and putting out maximum effort in the arena. There’s a lot of guys that work out hard, but taking it to the arena is another thing.”

A surprising star for Texas has been Claudio Montanha Jr., who returns to PBR Teams – and regular premier-series action – for the first time since 2022.

Texas signed the 35-year-old veteran, who spent most of 2024 on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, and hasn’t looked back. Montanha is 5-for-6 this season for the Rattlers – before 2024, he was 1-for-6 for the Austin Gamblers in 2022.

“Claudio has done really well,” Lambert said. “Claudio has been a good addition. It’s been a pleasant surprise. But Claudio, eight years ago, when he got here, he looked like he should be World Champion. He’s gone through some stuff in his life that slowed him down a little bit mentally. He’s 35 years old, and he’s working as hard as anybody can work. We gave him a chance, and it’s working out well for us.”

Texas has now won eight of its last 10 games and, in this streak of three 4-for-5 games, has scored 1,048.5 points out of a possible 1,500.

It’s an incredible run, and it cements Texas as a second-half team.

In 2022, the Rattlers won the final three events of the regular season. In 2023, they went 5-1 to close out the regular season – including an event win at home at Rattler Days – before winning the PBR Teams Championship.

Early September might be a bit early for the Rattlers to turn up the heat, but it’s not shocking to see the boys in snakeskin climbing the standing as the season starts winding to a close.

“We want to win every game,” Lambert said. “We want to win every time, but our objective is to ride better. To constantly ride better. We’re not just trying to slip by and steal a victory here and there. We want our guys to ride better, and we work towards that, and it seems like it takes a little longer for us. I hope we keep getting better.”

The Rattlers hope to keep climbing when they take on the No. 4 Florida Freedom (10-9) on Saturday night in Anaheim (9 p.m. ET on Merit Street).

The battle is an important one, as the Rattlers and the Freedom are tied with identical win-loss records; the only distinction in the standings is the Rattlers’ 3,564.5-point aggregate score to Florida’s 3,414.

They’re also tied with the Austin Gamblers, who are No. 5.

“We look at (the standings). We don’t want to be last,” Lambert said with a laugh. “We don’t really want to be third, but that’s where we’re at.

“As a bull rider, your job is to just ride your bull. And if you complicate it more than that, you’re worrying about things that are out of your control. If you get your bull rode, you’ve done your job. If you get your bull rode, you’ve done it right. So I try to keep our guys focused on getting their bulls rode.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media