Buccaneers at Steelers final score: Tampa Bay rallies to shock Pittsburgh 27-24
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers entered Sunday’s game looking like two teams going in different directions. The Bucs were last in action on September 18 when they were embarrassed by the Atlanta Falcons 56-14. The Steelers, on the other hand, were extremely impressive in a 37-19 victory over the Carolina Panthers Sunday night.
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That all changed as the Buccaneers rallied to defeat the Steelers on a touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Vincent Jackson with seven seconds to go, giving the Bucs a 27-24 victory. Glennon, starting for the injured Josh McCown, completed 21-of-42 passes for 302 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Ben Roethlisberger completed 28-of-39 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns and Antonio Brown had seven receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns
After giving up 56 points to the Atlanta Falcons in their last outing, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and defensive end Michael Johnson returned to the field for the Bucs and made an immediate impact. McCoy sacked Roethlisberger on the game’s second play and Johnson took him down on the third, forcing a fumble the Bucs recovered on the nine-yard line. Just two plays later, Glennon found rookie Mike Evans for a seven-yard touchdown.
The Bucs followed that up with another stop and a 50-yard field goal by Patrick Murray to make it 10-0.
The Steelers drove 73 yards on 10 plays on their next drive but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham. The Steelers then forced a quick three-and-out and tied the game when Roethlsberger found Brown for an 11-yard touchdown.
Roethlisberger hooked up with Brown again, this time from 27 yards out, giving the Steelers a 17-10 lead, which was the core at the half.
The Bucs started the second half about as well as they could have hoped. The Bucs marched 80 yards on just eight plays by a 40-yard pass from Glennon to Evans. Doug Martin finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 17.
Unfortunately Evans injured his groin and did not return to the game. The Steelers answered by driving 80 yards themselves and regained the lead 24-17 when Roethlisberger found Heat Miller for a five-yard score. On the ensuing possession, Glennon was picked off by Cortez Allen. The Bucs were able to get a stop and put together an excellent drive that went into the fourth quarter but they had to settle for a 27-yard Murray field goal. The Bucs got the ball back and drove to the Steelers’ 14-yard line but couldn’t get into the end zone. On fourth down, Vincent Jackson broke open but Glennon overthrew him. The Bucs forced one last Steelers punt and a poor kick set the Bucs up on the Steelers’ 47-yard line with 40 seconds to go. A 41-yard pass to Louis Murphy, who was just signed this week, put the Bucs at the Steelers’ six-yard line. Two plays later, Glennon found Jackson for the game-winner.
The Bucs will play a key division game when they travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints next week while the Steelers will be in Jacksonville to battle the Jaguars.
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