Monday Night Football features an interconference matchup between the surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0) and the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1-1).
Before the season started most people would have expected the Steelers to be the unbeaten team by the time this game was played, but the season has not started well for them as Le’Veon Bell is still holding out and Pittsburg’s defense has been utterly disappointing in the first two weeks of the season.
The Steelers “D”, which is usually one of the strengths of the team, has been terrible this year. In week 1 they couldn’t slow down the Cleveland Browns and eventually played to a 21-21 draw, and in week 2 they could not stop Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs offense.
Mahomes passed for six touchdowns (three of them in the first quarter alone), 326 yards and zero picks on the way to a 35-42 defeat. Allowing a rookie quarterback to post that kind of numbers at Heinz Field is not only uncharacteristic of the Steelers but also unacceptable for a team that throughout the years usually prides itself on having one of the strongest defenses in the league.
The Steelers right now have not been able to play man-to-man defense or zone coverage, they’ve failed to effectively rush the passer, and own a secondary that inspires zero confidence.
On paper, this should not be a complicated challenge for Tampa Bay, who have so far been an explosive team with a red-hot quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick has passed for eight touchdowns, over 800 yards and just one interception in two tough games. In week 1 the Bucs defeated the New Orleans Saints 48-40 in a shootout at the Mercedes Benz Superdome, and in week 2 they beat the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles 27-21 at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bucs offensive line is so far doing a superb job of protecting Fitzpatrick, something that has allowed him to make some big plays, including connecting on 75-yard touchdown passes with DeSean Jackson and O.J. Howard last week.
Fitzpatrick, who leads the NFL in passing yards, has injected this team with confidence and is showing them the huge potential that they have. If the Bucs continue to play atop of their game the Steelers will have a tough time stopping them and are very likely to lose their third game in a row.
Prediction: Steelers 24 – Buccaneers 31
