Final
Bucs beat Steelers on late TD
Sep 28, 2014 - 10:34 PM Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Embarrassed in their last game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 at Heinz Field.Mike Glennon threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as Tampa Bay picked up its first win of the season.
Glennon, playing in place of Josh McCown (right thumb), was 21-of-42 for 302 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Louis Murphy caught six passes for 99 yards for the Buccaneers (1-3), who were clobbered 56-14 10 days ago in Atlanta.
Ben Roethlisberger completed 29-of-40 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns for Pittsburgh (2-2).
The Steelers were flagged 13 times for 125 yards, a contributing factor in the loss.
"The bottom line is that we are an undisciplined group. We are too highly penalized," said Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin. "Obviously we are not coaching it. We are allowing it to happen. So I take responsibility for that. We are not going to win close football games being penalized in the manner in which we've been penalized over the first month of the season."
The Buccaneers were held to 64 yards of offense in the first half, but marched to the end zone on the opening series of the third quarter. Doug Martin, who missed the last two games with a knee injury, finished off the 80-yard drive with a short touchdown run, tying the game at 17-17.
Roethlisberger came right back with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller.
Glennon was then picked off by Cortez Allen when rookie wide receiver Mike Evans pulled up limping on his route. Evans, who caught his first touchdown pass in the first quarter, left the game with a groin injury and didn't return.
The Steelers failed to capitalize on the turnover and were forced to punt.
Tampa Bay reached the red zone on its next possession before settling for a 27-yard Patrick Murray field goal.
The Bucs were at the Pittsburgh 14-yard line at the two-minute warning, but wound up turning the ball over on downs after three straight Glennon incompletions.
Pittsburgh was unable to get a first down and a short punt gave Tampa Bay excellent field position. Starting from the Pittsburgh 46, Glennon hit Murphy for 41 yards before Jackson made a diving grab on 3rd-and-goal.
"We still have a long way to go. We made so many mistakes out there, but we found a way to win and that was a hurdle we needed to get over," said Lovie Smith, who earned his first win as Tampa Bay's head coach.
The Buccaneers got off to a good start.
The defense sacked Roethlisberger on consecutive plays on the first Pittsburgh drive and Michael Johnson came off the right edge unblocked to cause a fumble on the second one. Jacquies Smith made the recovery at the Pittsburgh nine- yard line, resulting in Evans' TD catch.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Buccaneers went up 10-0 five minutes into the game on Murray's 50-yard field goal.
The lead vanished by the end of the first quarter.
Shaun Suisham kicked a 25-yard field goal and Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for an 11-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.
Roethlisberger hit his right hand/wrist on the helmet of one of his offensive lineman while delivering a pass on the next Pittsburgh possession. He appeared to be in pain, but remained in the game and connected with Brown on a 27-yard touchdown, capping a 93-yard drive.
It looked like Brown pushed off before making the diving grab in the end zone.
Roethlisberger looked fine on the next series as he moved the Steelers inside the 30-yard line, but Suisham missed a 50-yarder at the end of the half. Suisham had made a franchise-record 24 consecutive attempts.
Game Notes
Brown finished with 131 yards on seven receptions. He has at least five catches and 50 receiving yards in 20 straight games, breaking a tie with Laveranues Coles for the longest such streak in NFL history ... Miller caught 10 passes for 85 yards ... The Bucs won for the first time in four games at Pittsburgh and second time in 10 all-time meetings with the Steelers ... Roethlisberger was sacked five times ... Le'Veon Bell, who ran for a career- best 147 yards last week in Pittsburgh's win at Carolina, had only 63 yards on 19 carries ... Tampa Bay safety Dashon Goldson left the game with an ankle injury.
- TAMPA BAY: 27
PITTSBURGH: 24
Final
Sep 28 4:30 PM - TAMPA BAY: 27
PITTSBURGH: 24
End of Regulation
Sep 28 4:30 PM - Mike Glennon pass to Vincent Jackson for 5 yards.
Buccaneers 26, Steelers 24 4th - 0:07Sep 28 4:21 PM - 54
roots - TAMPA BAY: 17
PITTSBURGH: 24
End of 3rd
Sep 28 3:35 PM - Ben Roethlisberger pass to Heath Miller for 5 yards.
Buccaneers 17, Steelers 23 3rd - 7:50Sep 28 3:15 PM - TAMPA BAY: 10
PITTSBURGH: 17
Halftime
Sep 28 2:37 PM - Ben Roethlisberger pass to Antonio Brown for 27 yards.
Buccaneers 10, Steelers 16 2nd - 4:58Sep 28 2:14 PM - TAMPA BAY: 10
PITTSBURGH: 10
End of 1st
Sep 28 1:54 PM - Ben Roethlisberger pass to Antonio Brown for 11 yards.
Buccaneers 10, Steelers 9 1st - 0:15Sep 28 1:49 PM - TAMPA BAY: 0
PITTSBURGH: 0
1st Quarter - 15:00
Sep 28 1:03 PM
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