The Pittsburgh Steelers Week 6 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers represents game 2.5 of the Kenny Pickett Era. Unfortunately for the young QB, he’ll see the legend Tom Brady on the other sideline of the Steelers-Buccaneers game. For this young vs. old face-off, we’ll be making a few bold Steelers Week 6 predictions.

The Steelers saw some flashes of a bright future when Pickett replaced Mitchell Trubisky at halftime in Week 4. However, the rookie QB’s first start was marred by a trip to face the buzzsaw that is Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.

As for the Buccaneers, they haven’t looked like a Super Bowl team yet. But Brady’s team is getting healthier and looking better every week, which is bad news for the home team in Week 6.

There is a path for the Steelers to win if everything breaks right, but the more realistic best outcome is a moral victory where Pickett holds his own against Brady and gives Pittsburgh fans hope for the future in a losing effort. With that in mind, let’s make some bold Steelers Week 6 predictions.

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4. Tom Brady looks like the old Tom Brady vs. the Steelers defense

After retiring, un-retiring, and taking a long leave of absence during training camp, Tom Brady is slowly working his way back to form this season. He’s thrown for over 350 yards in his last two games as his favorite receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, finally got back on the field together.

Without T.J. Watt, the Pittsburgh defense isn’t where many people thought it would be by the Steelers Week 6 contest. The unit has given up the third-most yards in the NFL this season (2,084) and is in the bottom half of the league with just 10 sacks.

Last week, Josh Allen torched the Steel Curtain for 424 yards and four touchdowns in just a smidge over three quarters, including 98- and 62-yard TD passes to Gabriel Davis.

The bold Steelers Week 6 prediction, in this case, is that Tom Brady does more of the same to the Steelers D and has a big game with splash plays to Evans and Godwin to rack up the yards and points.

3. Najee Harris is the key to the Steelers' success

The Buccaneers bring the No, 6-ranked defense in the NFL into the Steelers Week 6 matchup, so the Pittsburgh offense is again up against a formidable unit. However, while the Bucs D is sixth in passing yards allowed, it's 18th in rushing yards allowed.

Despite its stout defensive line and run-stuffer extraordinaire Vita Vea up front, the Buccaneers D has allowed teams to run more this season than in past campaigns. They’ve given up over 100 yards rushing in three of their five games this season, and in two of those games (vs. Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons) opponents have gone for over 150 yards.

If the Steelers hope to have any chance of winning this game, Najee Harris is the key.

When you have a rookie quarterback and a suspect defense, the only path to winning is to run the ball, keep possession, and milk the clock with the hope of keeping it close into the fourth quarter.

This means Harris all day.

This also means Harris (and more importantly the Steelers offensive line) will have to do something they haven’t done all year and rush for over 100 yards. The second-year runner’s season high is 18 carries and 74 yards. That won’t get it done in the Steelers-Buccaneers game.

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Jaylen Warren will continue to be a nice change of pace, and the Steelers will need that, too, but Harris is the bell cow and he needs to play like it to give Pittsburgh a chance on Sunday.

The bold Steelers Week 6 prediction here is that unless Harris’ stat line reads 20-plus carries for 100-plus yards and multiple TDs, Pittsburgh has no chance.

2. Kenny Pickett shows flashes

Will Tom Brady be the star QB in this game? Yes. Will the Steelers running attack be the focus on offense? Yes. However, it’s not that bold of a Steelers Week 6 prediction to say that Kenny Pickett will have enough moments in this game to keep fans enthused about the rookie’s long-term prospects.

In his first NFL action, Pickett impressed with his feet, scoring two rushing touchdowns to kick off his career. In his second game, he did throw for 357 yards against the Bills and went from three interceptions to one.

This week, maybe it will be his arm or his legs, or maybe he will craft a poised two-minute drive at the end of the first half that shows his coolness under pressure.

Whatever it is, win or lose, Pickett will have enough success in some aspect of the game to keep Steelers fans enthused about their QB of the future.

1. Steelers 13, Buccaneers 31

Steelers fans will come away optimistic about their quarterback and the future of the franchise, but they will also officially throw in the Terrible Towel on the 2022 season after this Steelers-Buccaneers beat-down.

Every Steelers fan over 40 needs to find a younger fan to explain the word “rebuilding” to. After two decades of Ben Roethlisberger, this is what happens during a QB transition, and that’s OK.

Yes, the bold Steelers Week 6 prediction here calls for another blowout, but that’s just part of the growing pains teams go through after a legend retires. Now is a time to look for silver linings for the future and start scouting top five draft prospects for 2023.