The Bucs have a Steelers problem.

No, I don’t mean the Bucs have a Steelers problem in the sense that this 1-4 Tampa Bay team has to beat a 3-2 Pittsburgh team Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in order to build on whatever momentum was gained with that Week 5 primetime win. That’s true, of course.

But this Steelers problem is bigger than this Sunday’s game. It’s a historical problem for the Bucs organization.

They just don’t beat the Steelers.

In 12 all-time regular season meetings with Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay is 2-10. Two wins in 12 games over 50 seasons of football. That’s a .167 winning percentage, and it’s the Bucs’ worst against any opponent.

Former Bucs S Chris Conte and former Steelers TE Vance McDonald – Photo by: USA TODAY SPORTS via Reuters Connect

The Steelers’ history of dominance over the Bucs dates back all the way to the beginning of Tampa Bay’s existence — its 1976 inaugural season. The Steelers handed the Bucs their 13th loss in that infamous 0-14 1976 season, winning 42-0 in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers then visited Tampa and won in 1980, won back in Pittsburgh in 1983 and then made it four straight wins in another trip to Tampa — this time in 1989.

It wasn’t until 1998 that they met again, and that’s when the Bucs finally got their first victory over the Steelers. But that was just a temporary reprieve, as Pittsburgh won the next four matchups — emerging victorious in 2001, 2002 (the Bucs’ first Super Bowl season), 2006 and 2010.

Tampa Bay finally beat Pittsburgh for the second time in 2014, which was — ironically enough — a 2-14 season in Lovie Smith’s first year at the helm.

Pittsburgh has won the two meetings since — in 2018 and 2022 — and is favored to make it an 11-2 all-time advantage over Tampa Bay this Sunday.

Looking Back At The Bucs’ Two Wins Over The Steelers

Tampa Bay’s first victory over Pittsburgh was a special one for head coach Tony Dungy, who of course spent time with the Steelers both as a player and a coach. Four months after beating the Steelers in the Hall of Fame Game, the Bucs got the job done for real at Raymond James Stadium.

It was a victory that was extremely characteristic of Buccaneers football at that time, as Dungy and his team won 16-3. After falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter, Tampa Bay came back with two Michael Husted field goals to take a 6-3 lead into halftime. A 3-yard Mike Alstott touchdown extended that advantage to 13-3 in the third, then Husted tacked on another field goal for the 16-3 win.

Legendary Bucs FB Mike Alstott – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Bucs held the Steelers to 166 total yards on the day and kept them to a 2-of-10 mark on third downs and held them to an 0-for-2 on fourth downs. Pittsburgh turned the ball over five times, with John Lynch coming up with two interceptions and Donnie Abraham and Brian Kelly adding one apiece. Steve White also had a sack-fumble that was recovered by Warren Sapp.

Trent Dilfer was just 9-of-18 for 111 yards that day, but Alstott carried the ball 24 times for 78 yards and the game’s lone touchdown. That was enough to complement a dominant day by the Bucs defense.

Fast forward 16 years, and that brings you to the Bucs’ second and most recent victory over the Steelers. In Week 4 of the 2014 season, an 0-3 Tampa Bay team found itself in Pittsburgh 10 days after a 56-14 primetime loss to the Falcons in Atlanta. On this day, it was Lovie Smith and his Buccaneers who came away with an unlikely win.

Tampa Bay started fast, going up 10-0 from the jump. Michael Johnson got to Ben Roethlisberger for a sack-fumble on the third play of the game, with Jacquies Smith recovering the ball at the Pittsburgh 9-yard line. Two plays later, Mike Glennon fired a 7-yard touchdown to a rookie Mike Evans. It was Evans’ first career touchdown catch — a first of many, of course.

Legendary Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After the Bucs forced another three-and-out, they went down and kicked a field goal to make it a 10-0 lead. But the Steelers rallied back and scored 17 straight points to take a lead into halftime.

Out of the break, the Bucs scored on a 3-yard touchdown run by Doug Martin to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive. But the Steelers came right back with a 10-play, 80-yard drive to retake the lead at 24-17.

Tampa Bay got within 24-20 early in the fourth, but it looked hopeless when Glennon and the offense failed to convert on 4th & 10 at the Pittsburgh 14 with 1:44 to go. However, a quick three-and-out followed by just a 29-yard punt offered a lifeline to the visitors.

A 41-yard pass from Glennon to Louis Murphy ultimately set up a 5-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson. The Bucs won the game 27-24 and wouldn’t win again for seven weeks before going on to a 2-14 finish.

That victory on Sept. 28, 2014 will have been 4,403 days ago by the time the Bucs host the Steelers at Raymond James Stadium this Sunday. It will have been 10,171 days since the last time Tampa Bay beat Pittsburgh at Raymond James Stadium, for that matter.

The Bucs have long had a Steelers problem, and they’ll have to overcome it on Sunday if they want any semblance of a chance to rescue their 2026 season.