Rodgers Rallies Steelers Past Buccaneers 26-19 in Overtime

Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Pittsburgh Steelers erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-19 on Sunday, handing Tampa Bay its fifth straight loss by a single score.

The Steelers (4-2) picked up their first road win of the season — they had entered 0-2 away from home — while the Buccaneers (1-5) fell to 0-4 at home, with all five of their losses this season coming by seven points or fewer. According to the NFL's official game page, 64,660 fans attended at Raymond James Stadium.

A 13-Point Hole

Tampa Bay led 16-3 after three quarters, built on three Chase McLaughlin field goals and a touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who was making his third career start in place of the injured Baker Mayfield. Pittsburgh clawed back with a touchdown pass from Rodgers to tight end Darnell Washington and two field goals from Chris Boswell, who finished 4-for-4 on the day. McLaughlin matched him kick for kick, also going 4-for-4 and extending his own season field-goal streak to 14-for-14. A late McLaughlin field goal and a fourth-quarter Boswell kick, set up by a Jamel Dean interception, traded the lead back and forth before McLaughlin's 53-yarder tied the score at 19-19 as regulation expired, according to the Buccaneers' own scoring summary.

In overtime, Rodgers capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ate up more than six minutes with a short touchdown pass to Germie Bernard, who finished with 11 catches for 87 yards, according to the team's official box score. On Tampa Bay's ensuing possession, Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey sacked Daniels on fourth down to end the game. Rodgers finished 33-of-49 for 253 yards with two touchdowns and an interception; with his two scoring passes, the 42-year-old moved into a tie with Peyton Manning for third on the NFL's career touchdown-pass list, behind only Tom Brady and Drew Brees, according to wire-service figures cited in the Associated Press's account of the game. Daniels, in his third career start, finished 22-of-43 for 164 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Injuries on Both Sides

Pittsburgh played without wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson, and cornerback Brandin Echols left in the first half with a hamstring injury and did not return. Coach Mike McCarthy spent part of halftime in the injury tent after being stepped on along the sideline but returned for the third quarter. Tampa Bay was again without Mayfield, who has not played since dislocating his right thumb in Week 3; the team has given no firm timetable for his return. Running back Sean Tucker also sat out with a quad injury.

The Steelers' traveling fans made their presence felt in what is normally one of the NFL's louder home environments. The Associated Press described thousands of fans in black and gold waving Terrible Towels loudly enough to disrupt Tampa Bay's communication at times on offense and defense — what the wire service called a "visiting field advantage." Buccaneers rookie cornerback Daylen Everette, who picked off Daniels for his first career interception, noticed it too.

"I'm not going to lie, it was crazy. Even after that play, I looked in the crowd, and you saw more of those towels than you saw red," Everette said. "We came deep. It was good to see."

Reaction

Rodgers called the win a measuring-stick moment for a Steelers team trying to establish itself in a crowded AFC playoff picture. "These are the most important moments for us as a team to grow. This is a trajectory win," he said, adding that a loss would have dropped Pittsburgh "to 3-3" heading into a stretch of the schedule the team is trying to avoid. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles was blunter about his team's recurring problem closing out close games. "We played hard. We played very hard. Very competitive," he said. "We got to learn to finish ball games. … We got to finish the ball game, and we have no more margin for error." Receiver Emeka Egbuka put it more simply afterward: "We feel like we gave that one to them. We've got to be able to execute better in the second half and make adjustments we need to make."

An independent account of the game from Yardbarker matched the official box score and described the result as "another frustrating defeat" for a Tampa Bay team still searching for its first win at home this season.

The loss extends a lopsided series history. Pittsburgh has long had the better of Tampa Bay in their infrequent meetings, and Rodgers personally improved to an even 4-4 against the Buccaneers across his career, including the playoffs, according to the Associated Press. For Daniels, an undrafted rookie thrust into the starting job by Mayfield's injury, Sunday was a mixed audition: a touchdown pass and some promising stretches of offense undone by two fourth-quarter interceptions in his third career start.

What's Next

Pittsburgh travels to Paris next Sunday to face the New Orleans Saints in the NFL's International Series at Stade de France, a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff. Tampa Bay stays in the NFC South, traveling to face the Carolina Panthers the same day. Both teams will be working with a short week after Sunday's overtime game ran long, with Pittsburgh facing the added wrinkle of an international flight before its next kickoff. For a Steelers team that came in winless away from home, beating a divisional-caliber opponent on the road before boarding a flight to Europe is the kind of result the locker room will want to point to later in the season.