Steelers Fall to Buccaneers Despite Two Key Names Shining

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their preseason schedule, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-14 at Acrisure Stadium.

The game began with a surprise, as Chris Boswell ended his hold-in, kicking off the game for the Steelers.

The game started quite well for the Steelers, as they were able to stop Bucky Irving and Teddy Bridgewater from getting anything going during the first drive of the game.

Following a short pass to running back Kennth Gainwell, Mason Rudolph began the struggle for the Steelers by throwing an interception over the middle of the field to Buccaneers cornerback Zyon McCollum on a pass intended for Roman Wilson.

After the Buccaneers took over, Jalen McMillan made his presence known early, catching an 18-yard pass over Daryl Porter in the middle of the field. McMillan would land on his head, leading to him exiting the game on foot on his own power. The Buccaneers would get a long drive after a roughing the kicker flag on D'Shawn Jamison, and finish the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater to Irving over Payton Wilson.

A scramble for Rudolph on a long third down had him fall just short of the line to gain, and the Steelers would punt once again. The Buccaneers would return it 35 yards, with former Oregon wideout Tez Johnson on the return.

A fourth down conversion on fourth and 6 had the Buccaneers in the red zone once again. Emeka Egbuka made the Steelers secondary pay, as Bridgewater hit Egbuka in the corner of the endzone to beat Brandin Echols for a touchdown.

Mason Rudolph made up for the interception with a 43-yard deep pass to Roman Wilson on a post route. A Jamel Dean pass interference call just outside the end zone put the Steelers on the 2-yard line, then Max Hurleman dropped a bullet pass for the touchdown. Rudolph would then find Brandon Johnson for the touchdown, and Ben Sauls would come into the game to kick the team's first point after try.

The Buccaneers would then opt for Kyle Trask at quarterback, where Steelers first round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft, Derrick Harmon, made his appearance known with a 11-yard sack.

Following a Buccaneers punt, Skylar Thompson came into the game at quarterback and found Roman Wilson for 30 yards on a pass that could have resulted in a touchdown if momentum did not have Wilson run out of bounds. Thompson also hit Scotty Miller for a 12-yard pass, but the Steelers would end up punting.

The Buccaneers drive stalled, so the Steelers took over again and Kaleb Johnson gashed the opposing defense for 14 yards. Another chunk play by the Steelers via a pass from Thompson to Miller put them closer to the end zone.

Then, Thompson targeted Lance McCutcheon, who bobbled the ball and it was intercepted by Kindle Vildor of the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers did little with the possesion, and the Steelers got the ball back just before the two-minute warning.

Another punt gave the Buccaneers the ball just before halftime, and the Steelers stopped their momentum. The Steelers entered halftime trailing 14-7.

Out of the half, the Steelers offense once again stalled. The Buccaneers made a quarterback change, opting to go with Connor Bazelak.

Both teams would trade punts before the Steelers would tie the game up on a Trey Sermon 1-yard rush.