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The 2022 regular season is full swing, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. While the Steelers get ready for their third road game of the season, it is time for the BTSC staff to put on their prognostication hats and guess the winner of the contest.
Who will get closest? We will be keeping tabs, so let’s get the picks. Check out the staff picks below:
Jeff Hartman
Just to reiterate for all those who don’t know, or remember. I’m an open homer when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers. No matter what the numbers say. No matter how poorly the team is playing. I always can mentally find a way the team will win the game. It is certainly a situation where my heart tells me one thing, even though my brain tells me another.
With all of that said, I can see the Steelers finding a way to stun Tampa Bay at home. The numbers in the Mike Tomlin era after getting crushed the week prior are good. Their point totals improve dramatically, and they win games. Whether that’s a Ben Roethlisberger thing, or a Mike Tomlin thing has yet to be determined.
My heart tells me Kenny Pickett and the Steelers find a way, and it is by way of a Chris Boswell field goal at the gun to win it.
Pick: Steelers 26, Buccaneers 23
Dave Schofield
Yeah, I originally thought this was a game the Steelers could find a way to gut out a win. I said as much on the Steelers Preview podcast Thursday night and even picked the same score as Jeff. Then Friday’s injury report happened. I expected players like Minkah Fitzpatrick to play, and possibly even the players in the concussion protocol such as Levi Wallace and Pat Freiermuth. Instead, they are three of the six players ruled out. Of the top five players in the secondary when it came to projected playing time at the beginning of the season, the only one playing is Terrell Edmunds who missed last week. It’s just too much to overcome. I’m not changing the points scored by the Steelers, just how many they will surrender. And since the line has moved to about a 10-point underdog, I guess I’m still picking them to cover.
Pick: Steelers 26, Buccaneers 23 35
Bryan Anthony Davis
Why do I keep doing this to myself? I know the Steelers are having their worst season in eons, but there’s a part of me that thinks that Kenny Pickett is going to put his stamp on this game and lead his team to an upset of Tampa. The defense is going to have a time with Brady and Fournette, but even the dreadful 1988 Steelers found a way to get a win here and there. Let it be so this week at Acrisure.
Pick: Steelers 23, Buccaneers 20
K.T. Smith
Initially, I thought this might be a game the Steelers can stun the NFL world by winning. The Bucs will be overconfident, they’ll overlook this game sandwiched between two NFC South division games, and Kenny Pickett will lead a late charge to victory (for all you history buffs, I’m going to get my money’s worth out of Pickett’s Charge references).
Then I remembered that Tom Brady quarterbacks the Bucs. And that he’s 15-3 against Pittsburgh in his career. And averages 312 yards passing per game against the Steelers. With 46 touchdowns. And 5 interceptions. And that the Steelers have no pass rush. And are missing most of their secondary.
And then I said, “Oh.”
Pick: Bucs 27, Steelers 16
Geoffrey Benedict
Mike Tomlin is 100% correct, the problems this team is facing don’t have quick answers, and all of them are made worse by the state of the Steelers injury report. This week the Buccaneers are by far the more talented team on the field, and they will use the Steelers as an opportunity to get their team back on track.
Pick: Buccaneers 31, Steelers 10
Rich Schofield (Big Bro Scho)
I would love to pick the Steelers in this game. The Buccaneers offense does not scare me as much this year as in year’s past, but they do have Leonard Fournette who has notoriously run over the Steelers on occasion. I am also worried because of all the injuries the Steelers are dealing with on the defensive side of the ball. The scariest part of the Bucs to me is their defense. I feel they have some real playmakers on that side of the ball. I am not sure that the offense of the Steelers can make enough improvement in one week to overcome what I feel is a more elite NFL defensive unit. As much as I want to be a Homer and pick the Steelers, I am also a realist and when it comes to picking games I have always gone with what I see and not what I feel.
Pick: Buccaneers 20, Steelers 17
Shannon White
Tom Brady has always had his way with healthy Steelers defenses through the years, and this Steelers defense is anything but healthy. Leonard Fournette has always looked like the second coming of Jim Brown as he runs over, around, and away from Steelers defenders, even with T.J. Watt playing. I believe in miracles, but not in the Steelers decimated secondary. I feel certain that Kenny Pickett will stand in there and fight until the bitter end, so it's imperative that the Steelers offensive line protects their newfound leader and hope for the future. The Steelers receivers have to help Pickett by taking advantage of every opportunity. The Steelers need to score early and often to keep it respectable. If not, this could get ugly real fast. Sadly, no T.J. Watt = no chance.
Pick: Buccaneers 34, Steelers 17
Jeremy Betz
Steelers fans right now are just looking for a little hope. Something to hang their hats on for the future. What can another week of Kenny Pickett getting the first-team reps do for his and the offense’s development? Can the defense overcome injuries to at least be competitive? It may not be what we’re used to, but it makes every game interesting in its own way.
I think the Steelers put up a little bit better fight this week at home with the crowd really behind Kenny. It doesn’t equate to a win, but look for a fun game against a banged-up Buccaneers squad.
Pick: Bucs 27, Steelers 23
Bradley Locker
This one might not get quite as out-of-hand as last week’s disaster in Buffalo, as Tampa hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders and is dealing with its own plethora of injuries. Nonetheless, I still don’t know who (if anyone) will be able to cover Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, plus actually sack Tom Brady — instead of simply getting pressure, which Brady so deftly avoids. Let’s hope we see Kenny Pickett’s first touchdown pass, at the very least.
Pick: Buccaneers 27, Steelers 13
Kyle Chrise (What Yinz Talkin’ Bout)
Without a pass rush, the Steelers defense can make pedestrian quarterbacks look solid. And the secondary is so beat up, it should be called the tertiary. We’re talking about Tom Brady vs. Josh Jackson. I guess the silver lining is that Devin White says the Bucs play bored with a lead, so Kenny will put up some numbers with another 50 attempt performance.
Pick: Bucs 30, Steelers 10
Anthony Defeo
No Minkah Fitzpatrick? No Levi Wallace? No Cam Sutton? No Ahkello Witherspoon? No DeMarvin Leal? No Pat Freiermuth? Is there anything else that needs to be said here? Oh yeah, no chance.
Pick: Buccaneers 38, Steelers 13
What is your prediction? Let us know in the comment section below, and feel free to tell the contributors above why they are dead wrong, or spot on!
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