After a slow first half, the Steelers mounted a comeback on the road to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime. Pittsburgh advances to 4-2 on the season.<\/p>\n
As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had.<\/p>\n
1. Receivers step up in time<\/p>\n
It was no secret that the Steelers were low on wide receivers entering their Week 6 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson are on injured reserve. Ben Skowronek was out. Even DK Metcalf had been dealing with an illness earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
And early on against Tampa Bay, those wide receiver issues were painfully obvious. The passing offense was anemic, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers did not look confident when scanning his options downfield. Rookie Germie Bernard, now that team\u2019s clear WR2, even moved backwards at one point after converting a fourth-down conversion to unintentionally give the Buccaneers the ball back on a turnover on downs.<\/p>\n
And beyond Metcalf and Bernard, not a single other Steelers receiver logged a catch \u2014 or even a target \u2014 in over four quarters of play. Some of that was the game plan, of course, but even that spoke to a lack of confidence in the group\u2019s depth.<\/p>\n
However, both Metcalf and Bernard rose to the occasion in the second half, with each receiver finishing the game with a whopping 11 catches. Metcalf went for 93 yards while the rookie logged 87 and a score, reaching the ball into the end zone on what would be the game-winning touchdown in overtime.<\/p>\n
And the play only succeeded because of a blocking effort from Metcalf.<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s still had some young-player mistakes, and the broken tackles haven\u2019t come as easy against pro competition, Bernard has largely looked like the same possession and yards-after-catch receiver that he was in college. Despite Rodgers famously taking a while to warm up to rookie pass catchers, Bernard looked like a safety blanket against the Buccaneers \u2014 and although injuries ahead of him certainly played a role in his ascension up the depth chart, Bernard\u2019s ability and highly-touted football IQ surely played a part as well.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Metcalf needed to look like a WR1 on Sunday with so many of his teammates missing the game. It took him a while to get going, but he also provided a steady presence on offense, and despite not connecting with Rodgers deep, Metcalf did record five first downs in a game where they were at a premium for the Pittsburgh offense.<\/p>\n
Metcalf hasn\u2019t looked like a star this season, but he\u2019s now recorded 90-plus yards in two of the Steelers\u2019 last three games. He may not be a superstar, but he has certainly rebounded from a dismal start to the season.<\/p>\n
2. Jamel Dean has a great revenge game<\/p>\n
The Steelers secondary certainly had its issues on Sunday, with lapses in coverage contributing to the Buccaneers finding nine first downs through the passing game. However, there was one name Pittsburgh never had to worry about in man or zone: cornerback Jamel Dean.<\/p>\n
Dean was still tested plenty in coverage, but the Steelers\u2019 newly-minted CB1 logged a whopping six passes defensed against Tampa Bay. He also capitalized on a poor throw from Tampa Bay\u2019s Jalon Daniels to set up a much-needed late-game score for the Steelers.<\/p>\n
Dean was everywhere on the field on Sunday despite being questionable ahead of the game with an ankle issue. Playing against his former team \u2014 Dean spent the first seven years of his career in Tampa Bay \u2014 the veteran corner was clearly playing with something to prove. He also had to step up for the Steelers, a team still somewhat shorthanded at defensive back following the Joey Porter Jr. trade.<\/p>\n
A free agent signing this offseason by Pittsburgh, Dean flew somewhat under the radar due to joining a Pittsburgh secondary with bigger names such as Porter and Jalen Ramsey. But he was widely considered one of, if not the best, corner on the market in 2026, and would\u2019ve been in the running for the CB1 spot on a number of teams.<\/p>\n
If Dean can stay healthy, he\u2019ll have a chance to shine in Pittsburgh this season \u2014 and the team certainly needs him to rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n
3. The Steelers offense still needs an identity<\/p>\n
In a win against the Colts last week, there was plenty of talk about the Steelers\u2019 offense finally figuring things out. But against the Tampa Bay defense in Week 6, Pittsburgh showed it still has plenty of work to do.<\/p>\n
The late-game heroics of Aaron Rodgers and co. deserve plenty of praise. For as disappointing as the game began, it turned into a thrilling overtime battle with some fireworks on offense by the end. But let\u2019s be honest \u2014 even though it ultimately worked out, a game that involves the 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers throwing the football 49 times is not ideal, especially when his yards per attempt were a mere 5.2.<\/p>\n
A symptom of that overreliance on the passing game was Rodgers taking five sacks \u2014 a number that could\u2019ve been much higher if the veteran quarterback hadn\u2019t shown off some surprising pocket mobility at a few key moments in the game. Even then, several of the sacks Rodgers took were costly.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, despite the run game averaging a healthy four yards per carry, Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle combined for just 21 carries. And the team\u2019s highly-touted tight end duo (although Pat Freiermuth was banged up) combined for just 36 yards and a touchdown on six catches.<\/p>\n
As I\u2019ve written a few times this year, the 2026 Steelers offense has looked like Pittsburgh\u2019s late-career Ben Roethlisberger offenses at times, with an aging, future Hall of Fame passer intermittently coming alive to will an otherwise dead passing attack to late-game success.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fun to watch. In many cases, it results in a win. But Steelers fans should know by this point that similarly unsustainable offensive production rarely results in long-term \u2014 or postseason \u2014 success.<\/p>\n
4. The Steelers won despite themselves<\/p>\n
There were a lot of positives to take away from the Steelers\u2019 win. But it\u2019s hard to ignore a truly ugly first-half performance even if it all worked out in the end.<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay wasn\u2019t exactly a formidable opponent, either. Were the Buccaneers better than their 1-4 record entering the game? Probably. But you\u2019d hope that a playoff-hopeful team like the Steelers wouldn\u2019t suffer as many cold spells as they did against the team at the bottom of the NFC South standings, starting an undrafted rookie at quarterback and generally lacking star talent.<\/p>\n
And even when Pittsburgh\u2019s offense and defense did start clicking, the team\u2019s overall decision-making kept getting in the way. Once again, the team consistently struggled to get offensive plays set up on time, with a lack of timeouts unnecessarily complicating a two-minute drill at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n
Then, Pittsburgh nearly mismanaged the end of the game, with the Steelers throwing the ball twice while near the goal line in the final two minutes of regulation with the score tied. Both passes were incompletions, letting Tampa Bay hold onto two timeouts with plenty of time left on the clock the ensuing overtime-forcing drive from the Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
That eventual game-tying field goal from Tampa Bay was also handled poorly, with Pittsburgh head coach Mike McCarthy calling a timeout while the Buccaneers\u2019 special teams unit was rushing onto the field with a running clock, slowing things down for the opposition. And if McCarthy had wanted to ice the kicker or try to give Aaron Rodgers some time for one last drive in regulation, he should\u2019ve called that timeout much earlier.<\/p>\n
That play was the second Steelers\u2019 field goal gaffe of the game, as well. Earlier, Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell ended up having to kick a 58-yard field goal twice as the two-minute warning accidentally nullified the first attempt.<\/p>\n
Had any of those scenarios contributed to a Pittsburgh loss, we\u2019d be hearing a lot more about the Steelers\u2019 questionable decision making this week. A win makes up for a multitude of sins, but there was still plenty to be concerned about following Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
I dedicated an entire segment to Keeanu Benton\u2019s strong play in last week\u2019s column, but I might\u2019ve been a week early on the defensive tackle\u2019s first real breakout performance this season. Benton logged two tackles for loss and one pass defensed against the Buccaneers, leading a disruptive Steelers front seven that managed 11 tackles for loss in total.Outside of end-of-half drives, the Steelers had six drives of three offensive plays or less: one interception and five three-and-outs. Not great. Somehow, Pittsburgh still won the time of possession battle, but the Steelers won\u2019t be playing the Buccaneers and Jalon Daniels every week.T.J. Watt\u2019s incredible snap timing stood out to me in this game. He might not be as explosive as he was in his prime, but the veteran still has some tricks up his sleeve for getting off the ball in a hurry.Jalen Ramsey\u2019s two-sack game was highlighted by the play that sealed the win for Pittsburgh. Sending such a heavy blitz in overtime \u2014 even against a rookie quarterback \u2014 was a gutsy call from coordinator Patrick Graham. It\u2019s always good to see those trust-heavy decisions pay off.Nick Herbig also recorded a two-sack performance after failing to log one through the first six games after his big extension. The team\u2019s usage of such an explosive edge rusher has been questionable at times this season, but it was good to see his speed play a role in containing an athletic quarterback such as Daniels.It hasn\u2019t been a great rookie campaign for return specialist Kaden Wetjen, but he had two of his better plays this year \u2014 including a 55-yard kick return \u2014 called back due to penalty against Tampa Bay. It was a step in the right direction for the young receiver, even if his lack of involvement on offense despite the team\u2019s shorthanded receiver room wasn\u2019t exactly a glowing endorsement of the fourth-round pick\u2019s value to the team.The Steelers had at least two instances on Sunday where the team seemed close to blocking a Buccaneers punt. The team seems due for a successful block at some point this season. Massive defensive lineman Yahya Black also got a hand on a field goal attempt even if the ball still powered through the uprights. With a nearly 7-foot wingspan, Black should continue to be an asset on field goal defense units.I saw a good number of plays with both Rico Dowdle and Jaylen Warren on the field against Tampa Bay. I\u2019m curious to see if this was simply a reflection of a lack of wide receivers, or if this will be something we see more of going forward.While Jaylen Warren\u2019s performance the last few weeks has earned him the Steelers\u2019 RB1 role, it was good to see Dowdle back in the rotation. The latter actually had the more efficient game on the ground in Week 6, rushing seven times for 40 yards. He\u2019s a downhill force who clearly benefitted in his first game playing behind a revamped Pittsburgh O-line.As mentioned earlier, Boswell hitting back-to-back 58-yard field goals to keep the Steelers in the game was an incredible feat, even by modern NFL kicking standards. With yet another miss this season earlier in the game, this hasn\u2019t been the near-perfect year many expected from Boswell, but he obviously still has the goods.The broadcast pointed this out many times, but the Tampa Bay crowd sounded an awful lot like a Pittsburgh one due to the sheer number of Steelers fans in attendance.It wasn\u2019t a perfect game, but this felt like the most consistently disruptive performance we\u2019ve seen from the Steeler defensive front this season \u2014 against a solid Tampa Bay offensive line, as well.<\/p>\n
Steelers fans will have to set their alarms next Sunday as Pittsburgh will kick off at 9:30 a.m. EST (or 6:30 a.m. PST) against the New Orleans Saints in Paris.<\/p>\n
What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Buccaneers? Agree\/disagree with the ones above? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a slow first half, the Steelers mounted a comeback on the road to defeat the Tampa Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[140106,140107,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-431926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-analysis","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-commentary","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}