This is the backstory to one of the great moments of Week 4, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' shocking last-minute win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Buccaneers' epic win, as well as Baltimore Ravens veteran wide receiver Steve Smith's performance against the team that released him this offseason and the San Francisco 49ers' edge-of-your-seat win over the Philadelphia Eagles are nominees for the GMC Never Say Never Moment of the week. Cast your vote for the GMC Never Say Never Moments of Week 4.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a massive thumping in a Thursday night primetime game against the Atlanta Falcons in front of a national television audience. The team spent the next nine days as a laughingstock for an entire nation of football fans. Few gave the Buccaneers much of a chance at sweet redemption when they traveled to Western Pennsylvania to take on the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are the key moments before the moment:
Bucs' top pick gets first TD
The play:Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Mike Evans makes a diving catch in the end zone for his first career NFL touchdown.
The aftermath: Evans -- Johnny Manziel's favorite target during their time together at Texas A&M -- was enjoying the best game of his young NFL career before a groin injury sidelined the receiver. Evans had four catches for a career-high 65 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers, but momentum from that promising performance was swiftly halted as Evans is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.
After last week's horrific start against the Falcons, the Buccaneers managed to build a 10-point lead on the Steelers despite gaining just 106 yards in the first half.
Steelers strike back
The play:Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown catches his second touchdown pass of the game.
The aftermath: After Brown's 11-yard touchdown reception late in the first quarter knotted up the score at 10 all, his 27-yard score gave Pittsburgh a seven-point advantage. Brown finished the game with seven receptions for 131 yards. Brown has now gone an NFL record 20 consecutive games with five or more receptions, passing Laverenues Coles' 19-game streak from 2002-03.
What can't Brown do for you?
The play: The Steelers dig deep into the ol' bag of tricks for a wide receiver-to-running back completion for a 17-yard gain.
The aftermath:Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a lateral across the field to Brown, who heaved a pass to Le'Veon Bell. The play set up tight end Heath Miller's 5-yard touchdown reception that put the Steelers up 24-17 midway through the third quarter.
The moment
The play:Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson makes a splendid diving catch in the end zone with seven seconds remaining in the game to put the Buccaneers up, 27-24.
The aftermath: The Buccaneers' hopes of snatching victory appeared lost after a lengthy drive that consumed five minutes of game clock ended on an incomplete pass from Glennon to Jackson with 1:49 left in the game. However, Tampa Bay still had all three of its time outs available when Pittsburgh resumed possession. The Steelers failed to gain a first down, the Buccaneers called time out after each play to stop the clock, and a 29-yard punt by Brad Wing gave the Buccaners an opportunity for one last chance at glory with 40 seconds left and 46 yards of field to maneuver to win.
A 41-yard pass play from Glennon to Louis Murphy put the Buccaneers into position for the Glennon-to-Jackson winner, which snapped a six-game losing streak that dates back to last season and a 10-game losing streak in games played in September.
After losing by six touchdowns in Week 3 to the Falcons (and only a couple of garbage-time touchdowns late vs. Atlanta saved Tampa Bay from its worst loss in franchise history), the Buccaneers responded by rallying from seven points down in the fourth quarter to give Lovie Smith his first victory at his second head coaching stop. It's the sort of one-week turnaround that could teams that were blown out in Week 4 (teams such as the Panthers, Bears, Titans, Jaguars, Saints and Patriots) hope for a better Week 5.
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
