The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were expected to walk into Acrisure Stadium on Sunday and leave with an easy victory over the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers.
Instead, they were beaten up on both sides of the ball on their way to a crushing 20-18 loss.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay offense didn’t find the end zone until the final minutes of the game, and a failed two-point conversion kept the Bucs from tying things up. The Steelers moved the chains on multiple third-and-long situations on the ensuing drive, running out the clock and sealing the upset win.
Pittsburgh won despite losing rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett to a concussion, and held Tom Brady to just 243 yards passing despite missing most their starting secondary due to injury.
Tampa Bay failed to move the ball consistently all game long, and gave up too many big plays in key moments, despite facing a rookie quarterback and his backup replacement.
The Bucs struggled covering kicks and punts all afternoon, setting their defense up with multiple short fields to defend. Things weren’t much better on offense, as Tampa Bay settled for four field goals before a late touchdown pass from Brady to Leonard Fournette.
Tampa Bay falls to 3-3 on the season, and will head back out on the road next week to face the division-rival Carolina Panthers.
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