Steelers Beat Tampa Bay in Pre-Season Opener

                        Rudolph, Bush Lead Steelers Past Bucs 30-28

[Pittsburgh,Pa] The Pittsburgh Steelers began Preseason action Friday night  defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-28 in front of 45,396 at Heinz Field.

Like most of their wins in 2018, it wasn’t easy as the Steelers had to hold Bucs comeback after leading 30-16. After Quarter back  Jameis Winston got the Bucs to an early 7-0 lead finding Tampa Bay wide out  Chris Goodwin, Steelers QB Josh Dobbs got the Steelers going when leading the black and gold on a late scoring drive  ending with  a 33-yard Field Goal  by Kicker  Chris Boswell. Then QB Mason Rudolph got the Steelers into the end zone on an 8-yard TD pass to WR James Washington to give the Steelers a 10-7 lead and they never trailed again.

One player who really made a good job of accounting for themselves was 1st round pick Devin Bush who helped spark a struggling 1st quarter defense with 10 tackles, which included a 4th down stop and broke up a pass that he almost intercepted and returned for a TD. Bush was truly all over the field. “I did decent. I did alright.” Said Bush “I think the pick would’ve made it a lot better. Some throws got behind me, that disappointed me a bit, so I got a lot to work on.”

After a less-than-par 2018, Washington is aiming for a better 2019 as he finished with a 4 catch- 84-yard night that included a 43-yard catch from Dobbs. An improved Washington would really benefit a Steelers WR corps that was affected by the loss of All-Pro Antonio Brown “I would say the game has slowed down a little bit.” Said Washington. “I know the playbook and being more of a well-rounded player.”

Dobbs would finish the game with 85 yards completing 5 of the 8 passes he attempted. He also led the Steelers with 44 yards rushing which included a 36-yard run. Meanwhile Rudolph  who also went  5/8 passing finished with 91 yards and the 2 TDs. Undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges went 8/14 passing and finished with 79 yards and a TD pass to WR Tevin Jones.

“Obviously it was good to start.” Said Dobbs “It was good. It was fun to get out there and compete.”

For the Bucs, Winston finished with 5/6 passing for 40 yards and the TD, and Ryan Griffin led with 330 yards and a TD. 119 of those yards went to WR Spencer Schell. WR Tanner Hudson had 84 yards and a TD.

Local Product Takes the Field for Steelers- Defensive back Trevon Mathis signed  with Pittsburgh on Thursday after he was waived by the Minnesota Vikings. The undrafted free agent is a Woodland Hills

high school graduate and played his college ball in at Toledo. Mathis saw significant time in the 4th quarter as he finished with 4 solo tackles.

“Man, it was a dream come true. I have always wanted to play for the home team, and I’m glad we got the W.” Said Mathis “I’m just glad to be out there, it was the first time in a while that I’ve been out there and I think I did pretty good. The coach put me in good situations to make good plays.” When asked about what it means to play at home, Mathis replied “Man, it means a lot. You’ve got the whole city behind you. It’s an honor and it gives you more to play for.”