TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers squandered a 16-3 fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-19, in Week Six of the 2026 season, falling to 1-5 and into fourth place in the NFC South.
The collapse was the Buccaneers’ first overtime game since Week 13 of the 2024 season and dropped their all-time overtime record to 20-27-1. Tampa Bay’s next game is in Charlotte against the 3-2 Carolina Panthers, their first divisional matchup of the season.
Second-year outside linebacker David Walker delivered the defensive highlight of the afternoon, recording five tackles, 2.0 sacks and three quarterback hits against Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It was the first multi-sack game by a Buccaneer in 2026 and the first since Anthony Nelson accomplished the feat at New Orleans on Oct. 26, 2025. Walker is just the ninth Buccaneer to record a multi-sack game within the first six outings of his career and the first to do so since Joe Tryon-Shoyinka at New England on Oct. 3, 2021.
Walker’s 4.0 sacks through six games rank third in Buccaneers franchise history for that span, behind Santana Dotson’s 7.0 in 1992 and Eric Curry’s 5.0 in 1993. Outside linebackers Rueben Bain Jr. and Al-Quadin Muhammad and defensive back Keionte Scott each added a sack. It was the first sack of Bain’s career, the first of Scott’s career and the first by Muhammad since he joined the Buccaneers as a free agent this offseason.
Bain and Scott became the first pair of Tampa Bay rookies to each record a sack in the same game since linebacker Kwon Alexander and edge rusher Howard Jones did so against Jacksonville on Oct. 11, 2015. Bain also deflected a pass in the fourth quarter that defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson hauled in for an interception - Robinson’s second pick of the season. Robinson, who recorded just one interception across his first 10 NFL campaigns, tied the Buccaneers’ single-season record for interceptions by a defensive lineman at two, matching Booker Reese (1983), Warren Sapp (2002), Simeon Rice (2003) and Gaines Adams (2008).
Despite the five sacks, Tampa Bay surrendered 300 total yards to Pittsburgh at a season-low 3.9 yards per play. The run defense held the Steelers to 89 yards on 22 carries. Entering Monday night’s game between San Francisco and Washington, the Buccaneers had allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game in the NFL at 75.5, behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars at 72.2.
Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels made his third consecutive start in place of injured Baker Mayfield, completing 22 of 43 passes for 164 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while rushing four times for 39 yards. His two-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Emeka Egbuka came early in the second quarter. Egbuka led Tampa Bay with seven catches and ranks second among all players drafted in 2025 in receiving yards with 1,178, behind Carolina’s Tetairoa McMillan at 1,485.
Kicker Chase McLaughlin accounted for 13 of Tampa Bay’s 19 points on four field goals and an extra point, remaining perfect on the season across 14 field goal attempts. His 53-yard field goal with eight seconds left in regulation tied the score at 19-19 and forced overtime. That kick was the 47th field goal of 50 or more yards in McLaughlin’s career, the 11th most in NFL history. McLaughlin’s 85.5% success rate on kicks of 50-plus yards - 47 of 55 attempts across seven franchises - is the highest in NFL history among kickers with at least 25 such attempts.
Tampa Bay travels to Charlotte to face the Panthers next weekend.