Rodgers Wins in Overtime After Pittsburgh’s 16-3 Stall

Aaron Rodgers dragged Pittsburgh from a 16-3 hole to a 26-19 overtime win in Tampa on Oct. 18, the Steelers’ first road victory and a 4-2 record. He finished 33 of 49 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and he was sacked five times.

The rally was the night everyone will keep. The three quarters before it, against a 1-5 club starting an undrafted rookie for the third time, are the part that travels to Paris with them.

A 16-3 Hole Against a 1-5 Team

Tampa Bay led 13-3 at halftime and 16-3 after three quarters at Raymond James Stadium. Chase McLaughlin kicked a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter after A’shawn Robinson intercepted Rodgers, Emeka Egbuka caught a 2-yard touchdown from Jalon Daniels, and McLaughlin added a 33-yarder that capped a 17-play drive in the third.

Pittsburgh’s only points in those 45 minutes were a 52-yard field goal from Chris Boswell as the first half expired. The Steelers ran 76 plays to Tampa Bay’s 73 and held the ball for 38:36, yet they averaged 3.9 yards per play and 5.2 yards per pass attempt. Five of the five sacks on Rodgers came in the first three quarters.

HOW THE SCORE WAS BUILT

Mike McCarthy’s short passing game kept getting knocked off schedule. Third downs were scarce, Jaylen Warren ran 14 times for 50 yards, and Rico Dowdle added 7 carries for 40 after missing three games with a toe injury. The 1-5 Buccaneers, 0-4 at home entering the night, had the Steelers exactly where a trap game lives.

Metcalf and Bernard Caught 22 of 33 Passes

Once the fourth quarter started, the ball went almost exclusively to two players. DK Metcalf caught 11 passes for 93 yards on 15 targets. Rookie Germie Bernard caught 11 for 87 and the overtime touchdown on 12 targets. The rest of the offense combined for 11 catches.

Rodgers said the night changed when Metcalf got involved. “Once we got DK involved, the offense shifted,” he said. “Maybe we can get that going a little earlier next time.”

The conversion that kept the winning drive alive was third-and-13 in overtime, a seam ball Metcalf hauled in with the offense still stuck in the same slog that had produced 3 points through three quarters. Without that catch, Pittsburgh punts from the wrong side of the field and likely leaves Tampa 3-3.

FIVE SCORING BURSTS AFTER THE STALL

• Washington’s touchdown: Rodgers hit Darnell Washington for a 5-yard score at 13:48 of the fourth, cutting it to 16-10.
• The 39-yard kick: Daylen Everette intercepted Daniels, and Boswell made a 39-yarder at 8:08 for 16-13.
• The 58-yarder: Boswell tied the game at 16-16 from 58 yards after Tampa Bay dropped two balls intended for Egbuka.
• The 20-yard lead: Jamel Dean returned an interception 40 yards to the Buccaneers’ 2, and Boswell’s 20-yarder made it 19-16 with 1:21 left.
• Bernard’s first score: Rodgers finished a 12-play, 70-yard overtime drive with a 6-yard throw to Bernard at 3:15 of the extra period.

Bernard, a second-round pick in April, called it a slow start that turned because Rodgers kept looking his way. “Aaron trusted me, he found me,” Bernard said. “I made the most of my opportunities and I did what I could for the team.”

What Two Interceptions Changed in the Fourth?

Daniels, filling in for Baker Mayfield, was making his third NFL start as an undrafted rookie. He completed 22 of 43 for 164 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, took five sacks, and posted a 49.0 passer rating. Antoine Winfield Jr. was inactive with a rib injury, so Tampa Bay was missing its starting quarterback and its best safety on the same afternoon.

The two fourth-quarter picks did more for Pittsburgh’s comeback than any early downfield shot. Everette’s interception set up the 39-yard kick. Dean, a former Buccaneer, returned the second one to the 2-yard line. Tampa Bay still stuffed three plays from there and forced the chip shot, which is how a defense that had just handed Pittsburgh the ball still made the Steelers kick.

McLaughlin, 14 of 14 this season, then drilled a 53-yarder after completions of 22 and 13 yards to Ted Hurst, tying it at 19-19. All five of Tampa Bay’s losses have been by seven points or fewer. “We’ve got to be able to finish games,” Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said. Egbuka, who scored the only Tampa Bay touchdown, put it flatter: “We feel like we gave that one to them.”

Jalen Ramsey ended it. After Bernard’s touchdown, Daniels reached midfield and faced fourth-and-8 from the Steelers’ 48. Ramsey blitzed, sacked him for an 11-yard loss with 1:06 left, and the road crowd started the defense chant that usually lives in Pittsburgh. “As long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going to continue fighting no matter what the score is,” Ramsey said.

The 310th Kick of Boswell’s Steelers Career

Boswell did the quiet arithmetic while the offense was still stuck. He missed a 48-yarder wide left in the second quarter, then made the 52-yarder at halftime that was the 309th field goal of his Steelers career, tying Gary Anderson.

The 39-yarder in the fourth quarter was the 310th, and it passed Anderson for the franchise record. Boswell later added the 58-yard tie and the 20-yard lead, going 4 of 5 on the day and 13 of 17 this season, with 12 of 12 extra points. He entered the game with 308 career field goals in Pittsburgh and left it with 312.

Four made kicks in a 26-19 game means the Steelers still needed the quarterback, the rookie, and a fourth-down sack. It also means a kicker who has been here since 2015 spent a long afternoon covering for an offense that could not find the end zone until 13:48 remained in regulation.

Rodgers Pulls Even With Manning at 539

The two touchdown throws tied Rodgers with Peyton Manning at 539 regular-season passing touchdowns, third in NFL history. Brady, Brees and Manning still ahead of the rest of the all-time list at the start of this season, when Rodgers sat at 527. Twelve scores later, including these two, he has pulled even with Manning. Tom Brady holds the record at 649. Drew Brees is second at 571.

With two touchdown passes on Sunday, Aaron Rodgers (539) is now tied with Peyton Manning for the third-most regular season passing touchdowns in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/p3oEBqmbxJ

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 18, 2026

It was an off night on the stat sheet. NFL game logs now show Rodgers with 12 touchdowns through six games, five interceptions, 1,487 yards, a 61.4 percent completion rate, 6.4 yards per attempt, 19 sacks and an 88.0 rating. Sunday’s 84.8 rating and 5.2 yards per attempt sat under that line. Pro Football Reference counts the finish as his 27th career fourth-quarter comeback.

These are the most important moments for us as a team to grow. This is a trajectory win. You can go to 3-3 and then you’ve got a Paris trip, and that’s just not what you want to do, obviously. To be 4-2, to win our first road game, to beat a team we should’ve beat, there’s no two ways about it, you’ve got to beat teams like that if you want to get where we want to get.

Aaron Rodgers, Steelers quarterback, postgame in Tampa

He is 42, a four-time league MVP, and 4-4 against the Buccaneers including the playoffs. Pittsburgh has won 11 of 13 meetings in the series. That does not change the first three quarters, which looked like the New England loss in Week 2, when he went 23 of 39 for 187 yards, no touchdowns and a 60.5 rating in a 20-3 defeat.

Paris Comes Next With the Receiver Room Thin

The Steelers dress for the first NFL regular-season game in France on Oct. 25 against the New Orleans Saints at 9:30 a.m. ET. They get there 4-2 instead of 3-3, which is the whole point of Sunday. They also get there without the receivers who were supposed to sit beside Metcalf.

THE RECEIVERS WHO DID NOT PLAY

• Michael Pittman Jr.: Already on injured reserve, so the veteran addition was never part of the Tampa plan.
• Roman Wilson: Placed on injured reserve on Saturday, stripping another wideout a day before kickoff.
• Ben Skowronek: Inactive with a calf injury, which is why Bernard was asked to handle a full-game load.

The club listed Pittman Jr. already on injured reserve before the trip to Florida, and offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio had already said Bernard would have to grow into a larger share. Cornerback Brandin Echols left with a hamstring injury in the first half and did not return. McCarthy spent halftime in the injury tent after someone stepped on his ankle, then limped back out for the third quarter. “I got my foot stepped on,” he said. “We’ve got a really good medical staff, so I just communicated from the tent to the locker room.”

Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh sit 4-2 in the AFC North, with Cincinnati at 3-2. Three of Pittsburgh’s next four games are on the road, including Cincinnati and Philadelphia after the Saints. McCarthy did not dress it up. “You are what your record is. I believe that. I live that,” he said. “We needed a win on the road. We got it done today, so this is a big step for us.”

The record is 4-2. The tape from the first three quarters is still a 1-5 team pinning a $highest-paid defense and a 42-year-old quarterback in its own stall, until two interceptions, four field goals and a rookie in the end zone bailed them out. That is the step they are taking to Paris.