After finally getting into the win column with a primetime victory over the Cowboys in Week 5, the 1-4 Bucs have enjoyed something of a mini bye week ahead of their Week 6 matchup with the 3-2 Steelers this Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Tampa Bay played yet another one-score game in Week 5, though it came out on top for a change. Dating back to last season, Todd Bowles and Co. have had their last 11 games decided by a single possession, and they’ve gone 3-8 over that stretch. Perhaps getting the job done with that win over Dallas to stop a four-game losing streak to start the season will reverse fortunes for Bowles and his team.

As bad as that 0-4 start was and as historically rare as it is for a team to battle back from 0-4 to make the playoffs, beating the Steelers this Sunday to string together a second straight win could suddenly reignite the Bucs’ hopes in an NFC South race that features the 2-2 Panthers, 2-3 Falcons and 1-4 Saints.

On the flip side, a loss to Pittsburgh would drop Tampa Bay to 0-4 on the year at home and damage whatever mini lifeline it earned with last week’s upset win.

While there was early chatter about Baker Mayfield possibly pushing to return for Week 6 after missing the last two games with a dislocated thumb, it’s looking more likely that it’ll be undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels getting a third straight start under center for the Bucs.

Here’s a general preview of this Sunday’s matchup between Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh at Ray Jay:

The Last Time…

These two teams last met in 2022, and it was one of the Bucs’ more embarrassing losses of Tom Brady’s final season. Playing a 1-4 Pittsburgh team at Acrisure Stadium, Tampa Bay lost 20-18 to a team quarterbacked by a combination of a rookie Kenny Pickett and a recently benched Mitch Trubisky.

Pickett led an 11-play, 66-yard drive in 6:24 to give the Steelers a 7-0 first-quarter lead and had his team leading Brady and the Bucs 13-12 by the time he left in the third quarter and entered concussion protocol. In came Trubisky, who went on to finish the job.

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett and Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: USA Today

Brady and the Buccaneers offense were hopeless for much of the day and went three-and-out on back-to-back drives with a chance to take the lead in the second half. Then, Trubisky led an eight-play, 71-yard drive that he finished with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool for a 20-12 lead.

Only then did Brady and the offense get moving, with an eventual 11-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Fournette getting them within a two-point conversion. But the conversion attempt failed, and the Tampa Bay defense let Trubisky and the Pittsburgh offense kill the final 4:38 off the clock — thanks to two third-and-long conversions — as the home team went on to win 20-18.

The Bucs defense let Pickett and Trubisky combine to go 20-of-30 on the day for 211 yards and two touchdowns, while Brady was 25-of-40 for 243 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers were 7-of-15 on third downs, while the Bucs had to settle for short Ryan Succop field goals on three of their four red zone trips.

The Steelers have historically dominated the Bucs, having won 10 of the 12 regular season meetings between the two teams. Tampa Bay’s two wins in the all-time series came in 1998 at home and 2014 on the road.

How The Bucs And Steelers Are Trending

For the first time this season, the Bucs are trending up — even if only slightly. They finally got their first win of the season last Thursday night on their fifth try, improving to 1-4 and actually gaining ground in the horribly awful NFC South — picking up a full game on the Saints and Falcons with their losses and a half-game on the division-leading Panthers, who were on their bye week.

Now, vibes aren’t magically cured by a single win. Todd Bowles made some baffling decisions in that Thursday night win, the offense — while better — still wasn’t firing on all cylinders and the defense allowed a 99-yard touchdown drive to let the Cowboys back in the game and appeared to be on the brink of allowing another late touchdown in the waning moments before a deflected pass was intercepted by Alex Anzalone to seal the win.

Still, a one-possession win feels a lot better than a one-possession loss, and now the Bucs will try to make it two wins in a row and continue a rescue effort for a 2026 season that looked dead at 0-4.

Bucs QB Jalon Daniels – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

On the Buccaneers offense, undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels has brought poise beyond his NFL years since coming in for an injured Baker Mayfield. His numbers aren’t anything special, as he has completed 69.1% of his passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions while rushing for 87 yards on 16 carries (5.4 avg.). But he had Tampa Bay in the game against Green Bay in Week 4 and earned his first career victory in the NFL last week. At the very least, he should give Tampa Bay a shot this Sunday.

Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has yet to fully unlock this offense. Even before Mayfield’s injury, the unit wasn’t humming. And since, the passing game remains a problem. Veteran receiver Chris Godwin Jr. has 19 catches on 22 targets this season for 179 yards (9.4 avg.) and no touchdowns. The catch rate is great, but 22 targets in five games is shocking, and his 9.4 yards per catch average would make for the lowest of his career if the season ended today. Not to mention, Emeka Egbuka has yet to be unlocked, as he has just 21 catches on 33 targets for 192 yards (9.1 avg.) and a touchdown.

With all that said regarding Robinson’s offense and its passing game, the rushing attack took a big step forward in the team’s Week 5 win at Dallas. Granted, the Cowboys have the league’s worst run defense. But Bucky Irving‘s 165-yard, two-total touchdown performance was a big shot in the arm for the Bucs last week, and he’s averaging a healthy 5.3 yards per carry this season with 406 yards and two scores on 77 carries. Another big day from him, as well as former Steeler team MVP Kenny Gainwell, could be the key to getting the offense going in this Week 6 contest.

Bucs DT A’Shawn Robinson – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Defensively, the Bucs are playing better than they have in a long while. The pass rush still hasn’t rounded into form and somehow is performing worse than it did last year, but Anzalone has begun to find his footing, rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter already looks like a real pro and the secondary has fared far better than expected through five weeks. The Tampa Bay defense took the ball away three times against the Cowboys totaled 10 passes defensed on the night, led by four from Jacob Parrish. 

As much as Trotter, Parrish, Zyon McCollum, Tykee Smith and veteran defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson have stepped up and performed for the Buccaneer defense over the first five weeks, that’s a group that still needs much more from the likes of Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr.

On the Steelers’ side of things, they’re looking for some consistency. Head coach Mike McCarthy, who replaced longtime Pittsburgh head coach and former Bucs assistant Mike Tomlin this season, has his team at 3-2 and right on the cusp of the AFC playoff picture as mid-October rolls around. But this is also a group that has gone win-loss-win-loss-win thus far, beating the Falcons, Bengals and Colts at home while losing to the Patriots and Browns on the road.

Led by 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has completed 59.8% of his passes thus far for 1,234 yards and 10 touchdowns to four interceptions, the Steelers offense has been up and down. Pittsburgh scored 20 points in Week 1, three in Week 2, 30 in Week 3, 24 in Week 4 and 34 last week. McCarthy and Rodgers obviously won a Super Bowl together way back when and are plenty familiar with each other, but there have been times during the early stages of this reunion where it’s looked like the two haven’t quite seen eye to eye.

Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Rodgers has been sacked 14 times in five games, which is an average of nearly three per game. That’s not good enough. But running back Jaylen Warren has picked up some steam and has 410 ayrds and a touchdown on 70 carries (5.9 avg.) this season. He is also the Steelers’ leading receiver with 19 catches for 230 yards (12.1 avg.) and another score. DK Metcalf is close behind with 19 catches (but on 37 targets) for 225 yards (11.8 avg.) and a touchdown. Third-leading receiver Roman Wilson is now set to miss multiple weeks, but tight end Pat Freiermuth is also dangerous with his team-high four touchdowns.

On defense, the Steelers remain extremely talented. Their two linebackers lead the way in tackles, with Payton Wilson totaling 46 (25 solo), a sack, six tackles for loss, two passes defensed and a fumble recovery through five games and Patrick Queen adding 35 tackles (nine solo), a tackle for loss, two passes defensed and an interception. T.J. Watt is as dangerous as ever, and he leads the team with 4.5 sacks in five games and also has an interception, a forced fumble and a tackle for loss.

Steelers DL Cameron Heyward and OLB T.J. Watt – Photo by: USA Today

The Pittsburgh cornerback room is currently being tested, with Jalen Ramsey playing through injury and former Buc Jamel Dean injured and set to miss Sunday’s game. But on the whole, this is a unit that is top-10 in points per game allowed and top-15 in both total defense and run defense. The Steelers’ eight takeaways have them with a +2 turnover differential thus far, which is four better than the Bucs’ -2 differential through five games.

Here’s how the two teams stack up with the rest of the league leading into Week 6:

Bucs Offense: 25th in scoring offense (20.0 PPG), 22nd in total offense (306.4 yards per game), 27th in passing offense (173.4 yards per game), 7th in rushing offense (133.0 yards per game)

Steelers Offense: 18th in scoring offense (22.2 PPG), 19th in total offense (324.6 yards per game), 15th in passing offense (223.4 yards per game), 19th in rushing offense (101.2 yards per game)

Bucs Defense: T-14th in scoring defense (22.4 points allowed per game), 7th in total defense (299.4 yards allowed per game), 20th in passing defense (226.6 yards allowed per game), 2nd in run defense (72.8 yards allowed per game)

Steelers Defense: T-10th in scoring defense (21.8 points allowed per game), 13th in total defense (324.2 yards allowed per game), 16th in passing defense (220.8 yards allowed per game), 13th in run defense (103.4 yards allowed per game)

As of Wednesday night, the Steelers are 2.5-point road favorites over the Bucs, with the Over/Under set at 39.5 (per Hard Rock Bet).

Bucs vs. Steelers Game Information

When: Sunday, October 18
Where: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: CBS – Andrew Catalon (Play by Play), Logan Ryan (Analyst), AJ Ross (Reporter)
Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Tony Castricone (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Color), Jay Recher (Reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Martín Gramática, Santiago Gramática