The Pittsburgh Steelers shocked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday by beating them 20-18.

After having a mediocre game, starting quarterback Kenny Pickett left the game with a concussion in the third quarter. This opened the door for Mitchell Trubisky to step in and prove himself once more.

Trubisky didn’t waste his opportunity as he strung together nice throw after nice throw to help the Steelers secure the win. The biggest play by Trubisky was a 45-yard pass to rookie tight end Connor Heyward. A few plays later, Trubisky found receiver Chase Claypool in the end zone for a touchdown. 

Throughout his short amount of time in Pittsburgh, Trubisky has been scrutinized quite a bit. For him to be able to perform the way he did, especially in front of a crowd that often booed him, had to feel good. 

Another player who has been criticized as of late is Chase Claypool. Claypool took a big step towards silencing some of the doubters as he caught all seven of his targets for 96 yards and a touchdown. As the Steelers were trying to run out the clock, Claypool made a phenomenal catch on a third and eleven that helped put the game in the books. This was just one of the many important plays Claypool made throughout the day.

The Steelers’ defense responded well to their poor performance last week as they held Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to just 304 total yards. Despite missing their top three corners and star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick due to injury, the Steelers’ secondary overcame adversity and played really well. Arthur Maulet, Josh Jackson, and Tre Norwood were some of the names of players who shined despite normally sitting on the bench.

It seemed as if the entire team overcame adversity to beat the Bucs. After their biggest loss under Mike Tomlin, the Steelers were able to respond with an extremely gutsy performance against one of the most talented teams in the league. 

During the week leading up to the game, all the radio talk shows were asking questions about whether Mike Tomlin should become an analyst after the season because of his struggles this season. To call this an overreaction would be an understatement. Tomlin showed just that as he coached his team to a big win to snap a four-game-losing streak.

Pittsburgh will travel to Miami for a tough match-up against the Dolphins on Sunday night. The Dolphins have now lost three straight games after their 24-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Though their losses could be credited to the fact that their third-string quarterback has had to start the last couple of weeks.

Miami has been the talk of the league after their quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, was concussed after wrongly being cleared to play the week before. Tua will make his return from the scary injury against Pittsburgh on Sunday night.