Aaron Rodgers needed 49 passes, five sacks and an overtime period on Sunday, October 18, but the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback left Raymond James Stadium tied with Peyton Manning for third on the NFL’s career list with 539 touchdown passes, and with a 26-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he believes can shape the rest of the season.
“This is a trajectory win,” Rodgers said after the game. Pittsburgh is 4-2, has its first road victory of the year and heads to Paris with a two-game winning streak instead of a .500 record.
How the comeback came together
For three quarters, little went right for the 42-year-old. His first-quarter interception handed Tampa Bay a short field and an opening 3-0 lead, the first of four McLaughlin kicks on the day, and the Steelers went into the final period trailing 16-3 with one Chris Boswell kick to show for their afternoon.
The fourth quarter belonged to Rodgers. Early in the period he hit tight end Darnell Washington for a 5-yard touchdown that cut the gap to six. Boswell then made three field goals in a little more than six minutes of game time: a 39-yarder, a 58-yarder that tied the score at 1:55, and a 20-yarder at 1:21 after Jamel Dean’s interception and return put the ball at the Tampa Bay 3. McLaughlin answered from 53 yards with eight seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Pittsburgh received the overtime kickoff and drove 70 yards in 12 plays, and the march ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass to rookie Germie Bernard, who stretched the ball over the goal line with 3:15 left in the extra period. Jalen Ramsey’s fourth-down sack of Jalon Daniels sealed it.
Rodgers finished 33 of 49 for 253 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked five times for 42 yards.
Aaron Rodgers speaks to the media following our win over the Buccaneers. @Acrisure pic.twitter.com/oJCm4XD7s3
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 18, 2026
A rookie he trusts
Bernard and DK Metcalf did most of the catching. Each finished with 11 receptions, Metcalf for 93 yards on 15 targets and Bernard for 87 yards on 12. Rodgers said the offense changed once Metcalf became involved, and he singled out the rookie for the way he has grown into a bigger role with Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson unavailable.
“There comes a time when the confidence starts to match the potential, and I think we’re reaching that time with Germie,” Rodgers said in his postgame news conference. He added that Bernard should have simply secured an earlier fourth-down catch, but praised the decision to reach for the end zone on the winner.
Chasing Brees and Brady
The touchdowns to Washington and Bernard moved Rodgers alongside Manning at 539. Only Drew Brees, with 571, and Tom Brady, with 649, have thrown more. Rodgers needs 33 more to pass Brees for second place.
What comes next
The Steelers face the New Orleans Saints at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday, October 25, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, the first regular-season NFL game played in France. Tampa Bay, now 1-5, plays the Carolina Panthers next.
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