TAMPA, Fla.– Ben Roethlisberger threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 30-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
Capping a tumultuous week in which star receiver Antonio Brown made headlines by shouting at an assistant coach on the sidelines and getting into a spat on social media, the Steelers (1-1-1) built a 20-point lead before holding on for their first win.
Vance McDonald scored on a 75-yard pass play and finished with four catches for 112 yards. Brown and Ryan Switzer also had first-half TD receptions for Pittsburgh, which led 30-10 at halftime.
The Steelers forced four turnovers, including three first-half interceptions of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the 35-year-old journeyman who threw for 819 yards and eight touchdowns in two victories to begin Tampa Bay's season.
Fitzpatrick threw interceptions on three consecutive pass attempts during one stretch of the second quarter. But the only player in NFL history to open a season with consecutive games with over 400 yards passing and four touchdowns, tried his best to create "FitzMagic" again in his third start in place of the suspended Jameis Winston.
He led a long field goal drive in the third quarter, and then tossed fourth-quarter TD passes of 4 yards to Chris Godwin and 24 yards to Mike Evans to rally the Bucs (2-1) within 30-27 with 5:43 remaining.
The Bucs got the ball back with just over three minutes left; however, the Steelers forced a punt and Roethlisberger ran out the clock.
Fitzpatrick finished 30 of 50 for 411 yards and three TDs. Roethlisberger was 30 of 38 with one interception, completing nine passes to JuJu Smith-Schuster for 116 yards and six to Brown for 50 yards.
