Roethlisberger holds off Bucs’ rally
TAMPA — Ben Roethlisberger apparently found Ryan Fitzpatrick’s secret path to the Fountain of Youth.
For Fitzpatrick, however, the fountain was far from dry.
Heading into the Monday night battle of aging quarterbacks, Roethlisberger was the wrinkled, struggling veteran and Fitzpatrick was the youth-like godsend of the Gulf.
The 35-year-old Fitzpatrick struggled during the first half against Pittsburgh, while the 36-year-old Roethlisberger had the Steelers rolling to a 20-point halftime lead. Then Fitzpatrick woke up, but it was too late for the Bucs to rally back. Tampa Bay lost its first game of the season 30-27 to Pittsburgh at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bucs were the NFL’s darlings after rolling to a 2-0 start without suspended quarterback Jameis Winston.
Meanwhile, the Steelers struggled, going winless during the first two weeks with a loss and a tie. The Pittsburgh locker room was in disarray with its own star player, running back Le’Veon Bell, still a holdout over contract squabbles.
Roethlisberger stole the show Monday.
Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions, the Bucs also had a fumble by receiver Chris Godwin as the Steelers rolled out to a big lead.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin convinced his team to forget about Bell and move forward and that’s exactly what the Steel-
ers did Monday night.
But the way things started, it looked like the Bucs and Fitzpatrick were going to keep their momentum rolling from the first two weeks.
Roethlisberger was intercepted by Bucs safety Justin Evans on the Steelers’ second offensive series and Fitzpatrick quickly led Tampa Bay 53 yards in five plays, capping the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to fellow Harvard product Cameron Brate.
There would be no foreshadowing from that drive, however, as the Bucs didn’t see the end zone again until the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the Steelers took advantage of most every Tampa Bay miscue.
Pittsburgh’s first touchdown came after Roethlisberger hit Vance McDonald with a 15-yard pass and McDonald pushed Bucs defender Chris Conte to the ground, running untouched the rest of the way for a 75-yard touchdown. The Steelers’ Chris Brown shanked the extra point off the right upright, but the damage had been done.
Roethlisberger, who ended the first half throwing for 273 yards and three touchdowns on 21 of 25 passing, hit Antonio Brown and Ryan Switzer for touchdowns, sandwiching a Bud Dupree pick-6 of a Fitzpatrick pass at the Bucs’ 10-yard line, and the Steelers rolled into halftime leading 30-10.
The Bucs, however, didn’t roll over and made a game of it in the second half. They held the Steelers scoreless in third quarter and slowly crept back into the game.
Fitzpatrick, who came into the game having completed 78 percent of his passes (48 of 61) with eight touchdowns and just one interception, struggled early. But he wasn’t fazed.
He was 11 of 21 in the first half for 184 yards and a touchdown, but the three picks spelled disaster in the first 30 minutes. Fitzpatrick would come out firing in the third and the results were much better, as he hit on 8 of 10 attempts for 112 yards and kept the Bucs in business. He finally found the end zone to start the fourth quarter with 4-yard touchdown pass to Godwin.
It wasn’t enough, however, and Roethlisberger made plays during the final drive to salt the game away and keep the ball out of the Bucs’ hands.
Now Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter will face the questions all week: Will Fitzpatrick or Winston start the next game against the Bears in Chicago on Sunday. Winston is due to come off his suspension for allegedly groping an Uber driver last year.
Koetter has a decision to make, but it won’t likely come until later in the week.