It had all the makings of another disaster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, namely a red-hot Pittsburgh Steelers team, fresh off a blowout over the Panthers last week. But there was nothing easy about this one. With Mike Glennon making his first start of the season, the Buccaneers pulled off an incredible, improbable 27-24 win on the road against Steelers.
Steelers vs. Buccaneers final score: 3 things we learned in Tampa’s 27-24 upset win
The Buccaneers picked up their first win of the season on Sunday, shocking the world with a last-minute comeback win on the road over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Vincent Jackson caught the game-winner with seven seconds left to go. The Bucs probably should have never had the chance to score a last-minute game-winner. Pittsburgh’s defense made a key stop, but the offense couldn’t get a new set of downs inside the two-minute mark. A bad punt put the ball at midfield, leaving Glennon’s Bucs with just 46 yards between them and the biggest upset of the NFL season so far.
Here’s what we learned in Sunday’s barn burner in Pittsburgh:
NFL Week 4
1) Mike Glennon is the answer. OK, he’s an answer, a potential answer, a potential short-term answer at the very least. The ginger giraffe made the start this week in place of an injured Josh McCown, and he was a big reason the Bucs played so much better than they have all season. Glennon completed 21 of his 42 passes for 302 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His numbers weren’t great, but he did a much better job throwing the ball and taking advantage of Mike Evans. Having Doug Martin back on the field certainly didn’t hurt Glennon or the Bucs this week.
2) Who are the Steelers? They looked like a team that found its stride in a Sunday night hammering of the Carolina Panthers last week, after getting blown out by the Ravens the week before and sneaking by the Browns in the season opener. Pittsburgh outproduced the Bucs on the ground and through the air. The Steelers also outdid their opponents with sloppy play. They had 13 penalties, including a costly one on third down late in the fourth quarter that gave the Bucs new life on the Steelers’ 35-yard line. The defense bailed them out on that drive, keeping Tampa Bay out of the end zone. It was special teams’ turn to screw up next, punting to midfield and leaving the Bucs with just 46 yards to go on the game-winning drive.
3) Le’Veon Bell is Pittsburgh’s MVP. It’s now four weeks in a row that Bell has totaled more than 100 yards. He ran for 63 on 19 carries and caught six passes for 46 yards. Tampa’s defense limited his effectiveness on the ground, though, to just 3.3 yards per carry.
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