A good 10 days after finally notching their first victory of the 2026 season in primetime on Thursday Night Football, the 1-4 Bucs returned home to Raymond James Stadium Sunday afternoon to host the 3-2 Steelers in a Week 6 matchup. Tampa Bay came in not only looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since October of last year – it was also looking for its first home win of the season on its fourth try.

The first half of the game belonged to the Buccaneer defense, which dominated and helped Tampa Bay take a 13-3 lead into the locker room. Todd Bowles’ team built that into a 16-3 lead in the third quarter and took it into the fourth, but then that same old story played out.

The defense kept getting stops, but Jalon Daniels and the Tampa Bay offense couldn’t put the game away. Eventually, Pittsburgh broke through and found the end zone to get within 16-10, and that woke up a Tampa crowd that heavily favored the visiting team. It was all Steelers from there.

Daniels threw an interception that turned into a field goal, then the Bucs went three-and-out again. That led to another field goal, this time from 58 yards out to tie the game with 1:55 to go. Then, another Daniels interception – this one to former Buc Jamel Dean – set up the go-ahead field goal and the Steelers’ first lead of the day.

However, the Bucs got new life. A couple of big completions from Daniels to Ted Hurst III set up a 53-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal, and that sent the game to overtime.

Bucs WR Ted Hurst III – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

What Tampa Bay did with that new life is another story. The Buccaneer defense allowed Pittsburgh to go right down the field and score a touchdown while bleeding 6:45 off the clock. That gave the visitors a 26-19 lead, and Daniels and Co. had only 3:15 to either match it or better it with a touchdown and two-point conversion for the win.

Instead, the Bucs turned the ball over on downs to end the game. Pittsburgh scored 23 of the game’s final 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to win 26-19, improving to 4-2 while sending Tampa Bay to 1-5. This was the second time this season that the Bucs blew a 10+ point lead in the second half of a home game and went on to lose.

Here’s a recap of all the action from Sunday afternoon’s pitiful collapse by the Buccaneers en route to a fourth straight loss at home.

Steelers 26, Bucs 19 (OT)

Jalon Daniels and the Bucs offense began the day with a three-and-out after Jalen Ramsey got to Daniels for a third-down sack, and after just a 28-yard punt by Riley Dixon, the Steelers offense took over in plus-territory at the 44-yard line.

Lucky for the home team, the defense got out to a strong start and forced a quick three-and-out of its own, forcing a Pittsburgh punt. But a bad drop by Chris Godwin Jr. on third down of the ensuing Buccaneer possession meant another Tampa Bay punt – a second inside the first five minutes.

The Bucs defense kept its momentum going, at least, this time thanks to Yaya Diaby generating pressure on Rodgers, Rueben Bain Jr. deflecting the veteran quarterback’s pass and defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson coming up with his second interception of the season for the game’s first takeaway.

Bucs DT A’Shawn Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs took over at the Steelers’ 39 following the turnover and didn’t go much of anywhere, but they did enough to set up a 43-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal for a 3-0 lead.

Rodgers and the Pittsburgh offense put a little something together on their next drive with a 16-yard pass to Jaylen Warren and a 13-yard run by Rico Dowdle, but a failed fourth-down try at the Tampa Bay 42 kept the game at 3-0 and got the ball back to Daniels and Co.

A third-down conversion by Godwin got the Bucs into Steelers territory on the next drive, and even after Nick Herbig beat Tristan Wirfs for a sack that knocked them back into their own territory, completions to Emeka Egbuka, Godwin, Ted Hurst III and Godwin again got the ball down to the Pittsburgh 24 before the first quarter ended with Tampa Bay up 3-0 and threatening for more.

Daniels unleashed a perfect pass to Hurst on the first play of the second quarter that fell incomplete, but only due to defensive pass interference on Daylen Everette. That gave the Bucs a first down at the 2-yard line, and one play later, Daniels connected with Egbuka for a touchdown. Just like that, Tampa Bay had a 10-0 lead early in the second.

Bucs QB Jalon Daniels – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Todd Bowles’ defense kept the pressure on against Rodgers and his offense on the ensuing possession, with Christian Rozeboom perfectly reading a third-down throw to Warren and knocking it away for another stop.

The Steelers defense got a stop in response, though, and then Rodgers and the offense worked their way into Buccaneer territory again. However, a third-down tackle by Keionte Scott and David Walker forced a field goal try that Chris Boswell missed from 48 yards out to keep the game at 10-0.

Daniels scrambled for a gain of 17 on the first play of the Bucs’ next possession, then Kenny Gainwell got loose for another 14. But after Daniels just missed Egbuka for a touchdown on an eventual 3rd & 11, Tampa Bay settled for another McLaughlin field goal. The 47-yarder made it a 13-0 lead for the home team with 4:08 left in the first half.

The Bucs defense continued its dominance on the next Steelers drive, with a pair of rookies getting to Rodgers for their first career sacks. First, it was Keionte Scott coming on a blindside blitz to drop Rodgers, then on an eventual 3rd & 16, fellow Miami Hurricane Rueben Bain Jr. took Rodgers down in a collapsing pocket to force another Cameron Johnston punt.

Bucs OLBs Yaya Diaby and Rueben Bain Jr. and ILB Josiah Trotter – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

A quick three-and-out forced by the Pittsburgh defense gave Rodgers and the offense one final shot to get something before halftime, and they took that shot. Rodgers dinked and dunked the ball down the field over the final minute and a half, and Boswell redeemed himself after an earlier miss by connecting on a 52-yard field goal as the clock expired. With that, the Bucs took a 13-3 lead into the locker room.

Out of the break, Josiah Trotter dropped what would’ve been an easy pick-six, but the defense got a three-and-out in less than a minute nonetheless to keep the game at 13-3.

Daniels and the offense then went on quite the drive, starting from their own 15-yard line and converting three third downs – with a 21-yard completion to rookie Bauer Sharp mixed in – to get down into the red zone. Eventually, though, the drive stalled at the Pittsburgh 15. Even still, a 33-yard field goal from McLaughlin made it a 16-3 advantage for Tampa Bay after a 17-play, 70-yard drive that lasted 9:02.

Bucs P Riley Dixon and K Chase McLaughlin – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

From there, it was another Steelers drive and another three-and-out, with the visiting offense moving to 1-of-8 on third downs before punting the ball away again.

The Bucs went three-and-out themselves after that, and the Steelers responded by finally putting together a touchdown drive. Even after a David Walker sack pushed them back to 2nd & 21 near midfield, they converted a 3rd & 16 to start the fourth quarter with a 17-yard pass to a wide-open DK Metcalf. A roughing the passer penalty on Calijah Kancey then put Pittsburgh on the doorstep, which led to a 5-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Darnell Washington. And thus, Tampa Bay found itself in a one-score game yet again in the fourth quarter, this time at 16-10.

And to make matters worse, the Buccaneer offense had no answer. Instead, Jalon Daniels made his first big mistake of the day, throwing an interception to Daylen Everette.

The Bucs defense did its job in not allowing that giveaway turn into anything more than another Boswell field goal, but the Steelers still pulled within 16-13 with 8:08 to go.

The Buccaneer offense then Grampa Simpson’d their way onto/off of the field, going three-and-out yet again to keep the door wide open for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh looked to be threatening, especially when a generous defensive pass interference call gave Rodgers and Co. a free first down on 3rd & 5. But David Walker would soon step up again, dropping Rodgers for a sack and a loss of 9 yards on third down.

That made it a 58-yard field goal attempt for Boswell on the other side of the two-minute warning, and he nailed it to tie the game at 16-all with 1:55 to go.

Everything kept unraveling from there, with Daniels throwing another interception – to former Buccaneer Jamel Dean, no less – that was returned down to the 2-yard line. To the credit of the Bucs defense, though, the Steelers couldn’t punch it in. They ultimately settled for a 20-yard field goal to take a 19-16 lead with 1:21 to go.

Down to one last chance to make something happen, Jalon Daniels did. He started the next drive with a 22-yard pass to Ted Hurst III into Pittsburgh territory. And even after taking a sack, Daniels found Hurst again for 13 yards.

That set up a 53-yard field goal for the tie, and Chase McLaughin nailed it. Because of course he did. That made it 19-19 and sent the game to overtime.

Bucs K Chase McLaughlin – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

The Steelers got the ball to open the overtime period and methodically worked their way right down the field after an early 3rd & 13 conversion. By the end of the drive, they had killed off 6:45 of the 10-minute overtime period and led 26-19 thanks to a 6-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Germie Bernard.

An early fourth-down conversion by Daniels briefly kept the Bucs alive on their ensuing possession, but they eventually turned the ball over on downs to finish off a really, really pathetic collapse and a 26-19 loss.

Up next, the Bucs (1-5) will finally play their first NFC South contest of the season in Week 7 when they travel to Charlotte to face the reigning division champion Panthers (3-2). Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.