Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tampa Bay: full preview and prediction

The Pittsburgh Steelers have passed their 1st two tests without star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Their next test is against the undefeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0) who have beaten Carolina and Cleveland. The winner of this game will be an even more surprising 3-0.

About Tampa Bay:

Tampa Bay's starting quarterback is second-year and former 1st round pick Josh Freeman is a really young qb who hasn't been spectacular but has been successful, winning four of his last five starts overall and completing 29 of 52 passes for 360 yards and four touchdowns with a 95.0 passer rating. He threw two td's last week with a 102.4 rating against Carolina and has five two- TD games in his career, two so far in 2010. He has a big arm is mobile, so look for him to try to go deep a few times.

Carnell Williams is a talented back, carrying the ball22 times in both games this season. The Bucs are 13-0 when his workload reaches 22 of more. Rookie receiver Mike Williams has been the go-to receiver for the bucs, scoring a touchdown in each of the first two games.

Veteran tight end Kellen Winslow is a big time talent, and is one of the best players in the league on third downs this year having eight catches for 115 yards on third down. He caught four balls for 83 yards when last playing the Steelers - while with Cleveland in 2007. Shutting him down

Tampa Bay won't be able to run on the Steelers, so they are gonna have to spread the Steelers defense out, use screens, and make Winslow their main target.

Defensively the Bucs are pretty good. Their corners being the best part of their defense with young start corner Aqib Talib and  cornerback Ronde Barber is not showing his age right now, already having two interceptions on the season. 

Inside linebacker Barrett Rudd is considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL. Tampa Bay was dealt an off-the-field blow when safety Tanard Jackson was suspended indefinitely for a repeat violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

The keys for the Steelers are pretty simple to me.

No mistakes: You can't afford turnovers on the road without your star quarterback in a hostile environment.
No special teams touchdowns, no defensive touchdowns allowed. The Steelers do not have the offense(without Big Ben) to come from behind right now.

The Steelers also need to do a better job of staying hydrated. Last week in Tennessee, rookie Maurkice Pouncey was the only offensive linemen to play every snap. It's going to be even hotter and more humid in Tampa with another 1pm kick-off.  Not to mention that the Steelers offensive line is already thin with injuries to guard Trai Essex and Max Starks(who will play).

Special teams will have to be solid once again, no big returns allowed and no miscues. Tampa Bay is very good at feeding off of other teams mistakes, especially at home. 

The Steelers have to better on third downs. Well I guess they can't be any worse. Through the first two games, Pittsburgh’s offense has only converted six of 29 third down attempts, good enough to be last in the league in 3rd down percentage. 

Bottom line: The Steelers are favored -2.5 points over the Bucs. The Steelers usually play better as the underdogs and now they are getting praised and getting favored on the road. Some people are even saying that this game is going to be "easy". Let me tell you something, this game is definitely not going to be an easy game. Put it this way, right now, with that efense we can be anyone in the league, but with that Offense we can lose to anyone in the league.

Bothing about the Steelers' first two wins was easy. An overtime win and a win that came down to the last play of the game. This will be a tough road game after an emotional road win and Tomlin has been spouting off as if the Steelers have already gone 4-0 without Roethlisberger. He should have kept his mouth shut. They could still go 2-2.

Hopefully Batch can stay healthy for these next two games. Byron Leftwich is not 100% and can use the extra healing time. Who knows though. The way it's been going for the Steelers he may have to come in against the Bucs.

I do think the Steelers will win this game but other then turnovers, it's unclear how they will score. I just don't think young Josh Freeman will be able to dissect the Steelers defense.

Steelers 13 Tampa Bay 9