Tampa Bay red-hot offence poised to keep rolling against struggling Pittsburgh

Jay Asser 21:35 23/09/2018
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  • It may only be a matter of time before Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Buccaneers cool off, but with the way the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing, Tampa Bay’s run could extend another week.

    The Monday night match-up pits two teams who are seemingly heading in opposite directions, with the Buccaneers having so far surprised during a flawless start to the season, while Pittsburgh have faced turmoil on and off the field.

    For Tampa Bay, Fitzpatrick has filled in seamlessly for Jameis Winston, who will complete his three-game suspension this week. Even when Winston returns, however, Fitzpatrick has done more than enough to keep hold of the starting job, posting eye-popping numbers through the first two weeks.

    The veteran leads the league in passing yards (819), yards per attempt (13.43) and passer rating (151.5), while the Buccaneers attack tops all teams in yards per game (482.5) and ranks second in points (37.5).

    Tampa Bay have had no semblance of a ground game, ranking last in the league in yards per attempt (2.7), but the pass-catching weapons at Fitzpatrick’s disposal have made the offence explosive. Between wide receivers Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson and Chris Godwin, as well as tight end O.J. Howard, Fitzpatrick has been able to attack downfield with great success.

    Tampa Bay will be licking their chops heading into the meeting with Pittsburgh, who are allowing the most deep passing yards in the league this season with 250 allowed on passes traveling at least 20 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus.

    The Steelers’ secondary needs reinforcements and one could be arriving on Monday in the form of former Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden.

    After suffering a hamstring injury in Week 1 against Cleveland, Haden wasn’t on the field when Pittsburgh were picked apart by the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend. He appears on track to play against Tampa Bay though, following full practices on Thursday and Friday.

    FRUSTRATION SETTING IT

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    The absence of running back Le’Veon Bell had already created some tension in the Steelers’ locker room, but the team’s chemistry has taken another hit with the exasperation shown by Antonio Brown over the past week.

    The star wide receiver was seen having a heated discussion with the coaching staff on the sidelines in the loss to the Chiefs, and then failed to show up for work on Monday while implying on Twitter that he would welcome a trade.

    It’s not as if Brown isn’t being used as he led all players in targets (33) after two weeks, but he’s yet to crack the century mark in receiving yards for a game and has one touchdown so far.

    JuJu Smith-Schuster leads Pittsburgh in receiving with 240 yards and has the same amount of receptions as Brown (18), while having six fewer targets (27).

    Ben Roethlisberger’s play hasn’t helped matters as the Steelers quarterback has struggled to hit on deep passes. Despite attempting 17 throws of at least 20 yards, Roethlisberger has completed just three for 75 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.

    On his connection with Brown, Roethlisberger said: “He’s been garnering a lot of attention for a long time now. I think it’s early in the season. In the first game, we had some elements that didn’t let me get him the ball to him as much as I should have.

    “Last week they put a lot of guys on him. But other guys were open too. I’m not worried about A.B. He’ll be just fine.”

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