Buccaneers vs Steelers: what to watch
An undrafted rookie quarterback off his first win, Aaron Rodgers in his farewell season, and a remade Pittsburgh sideline collide at Raymond James Stadium with both teams a game off the division lead.
The schedule-makers could not have known that this one would arrive carrying so many subplots. When the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4) at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), the game features an undrafted rookie quarterback trying to extend a revival, a future Hall of Famer in what his hosts' own game preview describes as his final season, and a Pittsburgh sideline remade since January. Both teams, per the Buccaneers' preview, sit one game behind their division leaders.
The Jalon Daniels audition
With Baker Mayfield still out with a right thumb injury, Jalon Daniels makes his third straight start — and the undrafted rookie has been better than anyone had a right to expect. He completed over 70% of his passes in each of his first two starts, per CBS Sports, including 76% for 189 yards and a touchdown in last week's 24-16 upset of the Cowboys in Dallas — his first career win. The team's preview offers the historical frame: Daniels would be the first undrafted rookie quarterback to beat Pittsburgh since Warren Moon in 1984.
The Dallas win was built around him rather than on him. Bucky Irving ran for a career-high 165 yards at 7.9 a carry and scored both a rushing and a receiving touchdown, while the defense forced three turnovers. Tampa Bay's question this week is the one that follows every surprise win: was that the start of something, or a one-off? Sports Talk Florida frames Sunday as exactly that crossroads.
Rodgers' farewell tour hits Tampa
Aaron Rodgers has given Pittsburgh steady quarterbacking in what the Bucs' preview describes as his final NFL season — 1,234 passing yards and 10 touchdowns so far, including three scores in last week's 34-22 win over the Colts. Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles was blunt about the assignment: "It's a nightmare game-planning against him."
The more spectacular Steeler, though, has been running back Jaylen Warren. He leads Pittsburgh in both rushing (410 yards) and receiving (230 yards), averages 5.9 yards per carry, and last week produced a 50-yard touchdown run and an 80-yard touchdown catch in the same game — the first player to do both since Herschel Walker in 1986, per CBS Sports. He now meets the league's most unwelcoming run front: Tampa Bay ranks second in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed (364), rushing touchdowns allowed (2) and yards per carry (3.3). Something gives.
New faces on an old sideline
This is not the Pittsburgh operation Tampa Bay last saw. Mike Tomlin stepped down in January after 19 seasons, and the Steelers arrive under new head coach Mike McCarthy, per the Bucs' game preview, with Patrick Graham calling the defense. The connective tissue runs the other way too: Danny Smith, Pittsburgh's special teams coordinator for 13 seasons, is now on Bowles' staff in Tampa — and special teams is a genuine Pittsburgh soft spot, with Chris Boswell having missed three field goals already and the kick-return unit averaging more than three yards below the league norm. Expect Smith's inside knowledge to show up somewhere on the margins.
The Steelers' pass rush is the matchup Tampa Bay should fear most: CBS's preview expects T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer to test a rookie quarterback's processing speed all afternoon. Daniels' two starts have come against defenses that pressured him less consistently than this group can.
Health, history and what's at stake
The injury ledger is long on both sides. Pittsburgh is without Michael Pittman (foot), Roman Wilson and Ben Skowronek, with DK Metcalf questionable after an illness — though Sports Talk Florida reports he cleared protocol and is expected to play. Tampa Bay remains without safety Antoine Winfield Jr., but gets encouraging news elsewhere: Chris Godwin Jr. has returned to full practice and Tristan Wirfs is back to full health. Godwin needs 103 yards from scrimmage to become just the third Buccaneer to reach 8,000 for his career.
History says this is Pittsburgh's game — the Steelers lead the all-time series 10-2 — but the recent past says otherwise: the last three meetings were each decided by three points or fewer.
The stakes are oddly symmetrical for teams five games apart in reputation. Pittsburgh is chasing Baltimore in the AFC North, and a road loss to a backup-led 1-4 team would puncture the contender case a 3-2 start has built. Tampa Bay, in an NFC South without a runaway leader, is somehow still only a game off the pace. Win this, and the Bucs' lost October becomes a live division race. Lose, and the Dallas night goes back to being a highlight instead of a turning point.