Aaron Rodgers, Steelers rally for OT win in Tampa as Buccaneers' struggles continue without Baker Mayfield

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need Baker Mayfield back on the field. 

The Buccaneers blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter and allowed Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers to rally and take the 26-19 win in overtime at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon. That dropped the Buccaneers to 1-5 on the season, and a brutal 0-4 on their home field. 

Rodgers and the Steelers, who had a look to end the game in regulation, mounted a long drive in overtime that he capped with a 6-yard pass to Germie Bernard for the touchdown. That was Barnard’s first career touchdown, too, and eventually gave them the win.

Jalon Daniels, who stepped in to replace Mayfield in Week 4 of the season, threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter on Sunday. While Daniels guided the team to their first win of the season last week in Dallas, he’s now just 1-2 in the first three starts of his career. And the Buccaneers are now almost certainly out of reach of the postseason.

Mayfield went down in the team’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings last month after he dislocated his thumb while throwing an interception. An MRI later revealed no ligament damage, but Mayfield has not played since and could be out as many as six weeks.

Daniels got the start the following week, and couldn’t quite lead the Buccaneers past the Green Bay Packers. He threw two interceptions in that outing, which was the first NFL start of his career. But last week, Daniels and the Buccaneers rolled to a win over the Dallas Cowboys behind a huge night from Bucky Irving.

At least briefly on Sunday, it looked like Daniels and the Buccaneers were going to pick up right where they left off. They took a 13-3 lead into the locker room at halftime, and Daniels found Emeka Egbuka for a 2-yard touchdown early on. But after pushing that lead to 13 points after a Chase McLaughlin field goal in the third quarter, Rodgers and the Steelers started mounting their comeback. 

Rodgers led the Steelers on their first touchdown drive of the day early in the fourth quarter, and found a wide open Darnell Washington for the score to make it a one-score contest.

Then just three plays later, Daniels threw a bad interception right to Daylen Everette. Daniels just threw it up there on third down, which led to an easy field goal for Chris Boswell. That was the 310th made field goal of his career, too, which is the most in team history.

The Steelers’ defense shut Daniels down again after that, and forced a quick punt in less than a minute. Rodgers put the Steelers in scoring position at the two-minute warning, but he took a huge sack on third down to force them to take another field goal. That tied the game up 16-16.

Any momentum that Daniels had offensively was long gone by this point. On just his second play after the Boswell field goal, he threw what nearly turned into a pick-six. While looking for Egbuka, Steelers cornerback Jamel Dean jumped the pass and ran it down to the 3-yard line.

Somehow, Rodgers couldn’t punch it in from there. The 20-yard chip shot that put them ahead only lasted briefly. Daniels completed his first pass after missing nine straight, and found Ted Hurst for a 22-yard gain to quickly get them into position to drill a 53-yarder to force overtime.

But that led to Rodgers’ game-winning drive, and the Steelers’ final stop to seal their seven-point win. Rodgers went 33-of-49 for 253 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Steelers now sit at 4-2 on the year. While they are still in great position in the AFC North, the win was much more complicated than it needed to be. They were on the 3-yard line in the fourth quarter, after all, and had to settle for a field goal instead of a game-winning touchdown.

Daniels went 22-43 for 164 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He won’t keep the starting job in Tampa for much longer. The reins will be handed back over to Mayfield as soon as he’s able to get back onto the field. While Daniels did lead the team to their first win of the season, the Buccaneers are undoubtedly missing Mayfield. 

Though a playoff push isn’t completely out of the question — the San Diego Chargers lost four straight in 1992 and still made the postseason, though they are the only team in NFL history to accomplish that feat — it’s going to take a massive turnaround to pull that off. And that’ll have to happen quickly.