The Pittsburgh Steelers are traveling to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6 of the 2026 season, and the team is pursuing its first road win of the year. There should be a decent amount of pressure on the Steelers to get the win as the defense will be taking on a rookie undrafted free agent quarterback in Jalon Daniels, so if the defense struggles like it has in recent weeks it will be quite alarming. One positive for the Steelers has been the offense. It has been a high-powered unit that has scored at least 30 points in two of its last three games, and hopefully that trend can continue.
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) pitches to running back Jaylen Warren (30) in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 3 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and running back Jaylen Warren are in the middle of a great stretch of games. Warren has had some of the best games of his career, and Rodgers has thrown three touchdowns in each of the team's last three games. Their individual success can be attributed to the other as it has been a fairly balanced attack from the offense that has kept the defense guessing, but that may be hard to build on in Week 6 against the Buccaneers.
Rodgers has historically struggled against defenses that are called by Todd Bowles. Bowles just knows how to disguise his coverages properly and make Rodgers make mistakes. This was pointed out by Jenna Laine of ESPN, and she noted it in a recent article.
"Bowles has been relatively successful using disguises against him," Laine wrote. "Rodgers has a career raw QBR of 33.9 against Bowles when he uses disguised coverage -- which ranks 40th among all QBs against Bowles teams. Rodgers' QBR is 54.6 against disguised coverages as a whole."
Bowles has been with the Buccaneers since the 2019 season, and he had some battles with Rodgers back when the quarterback was still with the Green Bay Packers. Bowles was the defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay before becoming the head coach, but he has remained the play caller on defense. He also spent time with the New York Jets as the defensive play-caller and head coach, and the Arizona Cardinals before that.
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Aaron Rodgers throws a pass during a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025.
Tampa Bay has had an extremely disappointing season in 2026, and Bowles is certainly on the hot seat. The Buccaneers collapsed to end the 2025 regular season and miss the postseason, and the group has just one win through five weeks in 2026. He may be able to get his team to put together a little bit of a winning streak, but the Steelers stand in the way.
Bowles is going to try to get Rodgers off of his game. He will do that by sending the blitz, but also by disguising coverages in an attempt to trick Rodgers. The Steelers could stay in the game regardless if the defense can handle business against the undrafted rookie.
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Has Always Struggled In Tampa Bay
Rodgers has played in Tampa Bay five times in his career, and the numbers have not been good for the future Hall of Famer. In those five games he has thrown seven touchdowns and nine interceptions, and he is also 2-3 against the Buccaneers when the game is being played in Florida. That combined with his struggles against Bowles means there is a lot for the veteran quarterback to overcome. Fans in Pittsburgh should be confident that he will be able to do so, especially with how the offense has been performing over the last several weeks. Hopefully the defense can make life easy for Rodgers and the offense by securing a few turnovers and setting the group up with decent field position.
What do you think about the struggles Rodgers has had against Bowles and against the Buccaneers? Is it something to worry about going into this game? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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