Pittsburgh Steelers Meet The Opponent: Week 3, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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TAMPA, FL – SEPTEMBER 16: Adarius Taylor #53 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers takes the field during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Interview

As previously stated, every week I’ll have the opportunity to interview an expert covering the team. This week, I was fortunate enough to have grabbed some insight from Matt Matera, current intern at PewterReport.com, while also contributing for Sports Al Dente and LetsTalkPens.com. You can follow Matt on Twitter @matty4_matera2.

DD: First of all, you’re a busy guy so thank you for taking the time to do this. Simply put Tampa Bay is riding red-hot into week three. The Buccaneers went on the road and beat the Saints before returning home and beating the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. What’s been the most surprising thing for you so far?

Matt: The easy answer would be to say the incredible hot start by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the chemistry he’s had with receivers. I’ll go a step further and say the it’s been the offensive line keeping Fitzpatrick upright.

First with Fitz: Going into the season people were saying he just needs to win one out the first three games for the Bucs to still have a chance of even thinking about the playoffs, and now look where they are. There was no doubt that Fitzpatrick could do enough to help win the Bucs a ball game, but this? Over 800 yards, eight touchdown passes, and two NFC offensive player of the week awards, are you kidding me? He is playing out of his mind. His chemistry particularly on deep balls with DeSean Jackson has been spectacular and that goes back to training camp. Listen, no one ever wants to play a game without their starting quarterback, but if you had to, wouldn’t you want to know beforehand?

Anytime a backup is in, it’s because the quarterback unexpectedly got injured and is now thrust into the action with players he hasn’t thrown too much.. Knowing that Jameis Winston’s suspension was three games, this gave Fitz all of training camp and preseason to work with the one’s, and he got the majority of the reps with the one’s even while Winston was there. Like I said, you’re not asking for this kind of situation, but the fact that Fitzpatrick got all this extra time to get ready to be the starter has paid off dividends, and that’s why you see them at the top of every passing statistic.

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As for the Offensive Line: There were question marks on how this group would gel together. Ryan Jensen was signed in the offseason to upgrade the center position, he is certainly an upgrade but it took a little time to get that chemistry with his other linemates that every offensive line desperately needs. That’s in part because right tackle Demar Dotson missed the first few weeks in camp returning from knee surgery, and once he got back, left tackle Donovan Smith suffered what looked like a serious leg injury that many thought would keep him out of the regular season. Luckily Smith was able to play, and that’s a big shout out to him because he’s definitely not at 100 percent.

He kept his consecutive games played streak alive (now at 50 games), something he takes a lot of pride in. He is one tough player. This starting offensive unit didn’t have all five starters playing together in unison until week one, but when they finally did get together, they have done a fantastic job of protecting Fitzpatrick in the pocket. They let up zero sacks against New Orleans and only one against a very difficult Eagles defensive line. Head coach Dirk Koetter even said that center Ryan Jensen has played like a man possessed. What Fitzpatrick has done has been great, but he wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the guys blocking for him. They deserve a ton of credit.

DD: Many experts had Tampa Bay finishing with a low amount of wins, and some even giving them the number one pick in next year’s draft. Ryan Fitzpatrick has taken the league by storm and returned to the “Fitzmagic” we all know. How much longer do you think he can keep this up?

Matt: Ryan Fitzpatrick is the same exact guy who will throw five touchdowns one game and then throw five picks in the next. There’s a reason he’s bounced around to several different teams. If he continues to play at a formidable rate and the Bucs continue to win, they will continue to ride that wave. There’s no way that we don’t see him starting week four if he plays anything close to what he’s been doing, especially since Tampa will be coming off a short week and going to face the Bears in Chicago with a pass rusher like Khalil Mack. I think that will be his toughest test there. If he plays well enough, his first two opening games have earned him enough points to get another start.

If he goes back to the turnover Fitz that we’ve seen, than the coach has a lot to think about during the Bucs week five bye. Fitz’s teammates absolutely love him and would be happy if he continued to be there quarterback. A lot more of these questions will be answered after we see how he plays Monday night. If the Bucs go into the bye at 3-1, Fitz will be the starter in week six. If they go 2-2, you could see Jameis, who will have the bye week to get extra prepared, start week five at Atlanta. If there’s any quarterback change it will happen between weeks six through eight, there’s a lot if’s.

DD: Defensively, Tampa Bay has talent scattered all over the depth chart. We know what the offense brings to the table, but what needs to happen on the defensive side of the ball to convince you these guys are legit?

Matt: We have to see growth from their young secondary. Right now the Bucs have two rookies starting at the cornerback position in Carlton Davis and M.J. Stewart. Now they were thrown into this role because of injuries to Vernon Hargreaves in the first game, and Brent Grimes has yet to play this season because of a groin injury. Hargreaves is now done for the season after getting shoulder surgery and the time-table for Grimes return is still unknown.

Outside of safety Chris Conte being an 8-year vet, the Bucs secondary is littered with second and third year players like Justin Evans and Ryan Smith, and even have another rookie safety in Jordan Whitehead, who Steelers fans may have heard of because he went to Pitt. Now both rookie corners Carlton Davis and M.J. Stewart are physical corners that will try to jam you at the line, Davis has great length as well, which helps when he goes up against Mike Evans in practice. They really struggled in the opening game against the Saints letting up 40 points, Davis in particular, however both rebounded next week against a less effective and injury ridden Eagles offense.

With that being said, Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster will give a lot of problems to them on Monday.

DD: Frankly put, this Steelers team looks like a mess right now as they go on the road to play Monday Night Football. From a Buccaneers perspective, do you view the Steelers slow start as a good or bad thing heading into this game?

Matt: I think it’s a bad thing for the Bucs. The first two weeks they went in as underdogs and that helped them with a “prove everyone wrong” mentality. Now after beating the defending Super Bowl champs, they are confident and certainly cocky. We all saw Ryan Fitzpatrick wear DeSean Jackson’s close after the big win. I’m not saying they are by any means overlooking the Steelers, but they definitely are feeling themselves at the moment.

DD: This game is expected to be a shootout, and rightfully so with the potential of these two offenses. What match-ups are you looking forward to watching the most?

Matt: I’m looking for how either defensive coordinator can stop the other team’s wide receivers. I mean Antonio Brown is a top two wide receiver in this league and Mike Evans is a top five. DeSean Jackson leads the league in receiving yards and JuJu is another star in the making. The Steelers also have to worry about O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin, two second year players who also have all the skills in the world to be pro bowlers eventually.

Between both team’s secondaries, I’m not sure how you stop either team in the passing game through four quarters, each can and will go deep. It will be interesting to see what wrinkles the defensive coordinators put in to try to get a stop. Whoever can get off the field once or twice could be the difference.

DD: The Buccaneers have proved doubters wrong two weeks into the season, yet many are still taking the Steelers to rebound in this match-up. If the Buccaneers are able to (fill in the blank), they will win this football game.

Matt: If the Buccaneers are able to get a rush from their defensive line, they will be successful. I know it’s one of most overused clichés in football, but in this case it’s true. As I previously said, their secondary is young and learning on the fly. They will have a ton of problems dealing with the Steelers receivers. Now in the off-season the Bucs revamped the defensive line trading for Jason Pierre-Paul and signing Vinny Curry and Beau Allen from the Eagles, and Mitch Unrein from you Steelers (though Unrein hasn’t played yet because of a concussion). In game one the Bucs were able to stop the run but only had one sack as Drew Brees picked them apart. In game two, they pressured Nick Foles constantly and got three sacks, but had a tough time stopping the run, yet still limiting Philadelphia to 21 points.

You’re not exactly sure which one will show up against the Steelers, and it’s well known how difficult it is to bring Big Ben down. If the Bucs can somehow find a way to get to him, the Bucs offense should be able to do enough to win them the game.

Next. 3 changes that need to be made in Week 3. dark

The Steelers stroll into week three still searching for their first win of the season, a problem that hasn’t been seen since Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie season in 2004. Tampa Bay, in their current state, presents another huge test on defense following week two’s duel with Kansas City. A win would work wonders for the Steelers, but if we’ve learned anything, it’s Mike Tomlin and his staff have their work cut out for them.

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