playESPN News ServicesMultiple AuthorsOct 18, 2026, 05:52 PM ETOpen Extended ReactionsTAMPA, Fla. — Aaron Rodgers threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns to rally the Pittsburgh Steelers from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to a 26-19 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.With the two touchdown passes, Rodgers tied Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning for third all time on the NFL’s career passing touchdown list with 539. Only Drew Brees (571) and Tom Brady (649) have thrown more passing touchdowns than Rodgers and Manning.Rodgers shrugged off a slow start to lead four fourth-quarter scoring drives, then finished off a 12-play, 70-yard march with a 7-yard TD throw to Germie Bernard to give the Steelers (4-2) the lead for good with 3:15 remaining in OT.Pittsburgh began the day undefeated at home, but 0-2 on the road.”These are the most important moments for us as a team to grow. This is a trajectory win,” Rodgers said after the game.”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,” he added. “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.”The Steelers play the New Orleans Saints next Sunday in Paris.Rookie Jalon Daniels drove the Bucs (1-5) to midfield on the ensuing possession, but Tampa Bay could only get as close as the Steelers’ 48 before Jalen Ramsey sacked the undrafted free agent on fourth down for an 11-yard loss to end the game.Rodgers completed 33 of 49 passes.
He was sacked five times in the first three quarters and also tossed a first-quarter interception that led to the first of four field goals by Tampa Bay’s Chase McLaughlin.Playing without injured receivers Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson, Rodgers struggled to consistently move the ball for three quarters against a Bucs defense that has played better the past two games.The 42-year-old, four-time NFL MVP’s string of three consecutive games with three TD passes not only ended, but the Steelers didn’t come anywhere close to getting the ball into the end zone until his 5-yard TD throw to Washington early in the fourth quarter.Steelers coach Mike McCarthy, meanwhile, spent all of halftime in the injury tent while being evaluated for a sore ankle that was the result of being stepped on along Pittsburgh’s sideline.He was limping across the field toward the visiting locker room before turning back and continuing to the injury tent behind the Steelers’ bench. McCarthy returned to the sideline for the start of the third quarter and finished the game.”I got my foot stepped on,” McCarthy said. “We’ve got a really good medical staff, so I just communicated from the tent to the locker room.”The Associated Press contributed to this report.
