If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted an opening to get Jameis Winston back in the starting lineup upon his return from suspension, Ryan Fitzpatrick gave it to them in the first half on Monday night. We don’t know that’s what the Buccaneers want. We have no idea what the Bucs plan to do because they have put the question off at every turn during Winston’s three-game suspension. But Winston’s suspension ends Tuesday, and the Buccaneers will have to choose a quarterback. Ryan Fitzpatrick celebrates a touchdown during Monday night’s game against the Steelers. (AP) Fitzpatrick was incredible through the first two games of the season, but he wasn’t as great on Monday night. Fitzpatrick’s three first-half interceptions put the Buccaneers in a big hole. Fitzpatrick rallied in the second half, becoming the first player in NFL history to throw for more than 400 yards in three straight games. The Buccaneers put a scare into the Pittsburgh Steelers late, but Fitzpatrick couldn’t finish the job. The Steelers hung on for a much-needed 30-27 win. Fitzpatrick was 30-of-50 for 411 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. He shrugged off a bad first half to get his team back in the game. It was a decent performance but there were too many mistakes from Fitzpatrick for the Bucs to beat a desperate Steelers team. Now what happens next for the Buccaneers at quarterback? Ryan Fitzpatrick rallied the Bucs late Fitzpatrick’s first throw of the night fell at the feet of Mike Evans, incomplete. He seemed a little off after that, at least until he heated up in the fourth quarter. Fitzpatrick wasn’t terrible. He made some plays, like a jump-ball touchdown pass to Chris Godwin or a deep score to Evans in the fourth quarter. The throw to Evans cut a big deficit to a 30-27 Steelers lead. Fitzpatrick didn’t get a lot of protection, though as a veteran he should have known better than to throw with a defender in his face when he fired a pick-six to Bud Dupree. Fitzpatrick had a chance to give the Bucs a lead when they got the ball back with a little more than three minutes remaining, but he misfired on three straight throws. The first two were almost picked off — Fitzpatrick had plenty of passes that were almost picked off on Monday night. After a punt, Ben Roethlisberger made an incredible escape and throw to get one first down, James Conner ran for another first down, and that was it. Story continues Fitzpatrick was fine, it just wasn’t the same “Fitzmagic” from the first two weeks. The issue with Fitzpatrick has never been what he does when he’s at his best. Amazingly enough, he has seven NFL player of the week awards, including NFC offensive player of the week in the first two weeks of this season. It’s that he can never sustain that high level of play. That’s why he has been on seven teams. What will the Buccaneers do? The easy play for the Buccaneers might be to give Fitzpatrick the Week 4 start. The team has a Week 5 bye. It would give Winston time to get acclimate himself after three weeks off. It would also buy the Bucs some time. Tampa Bay’s 2-1 start was a best-case scenario during Winston’s suspension. It put the Bucs in a bit of a dilemma. The 35-year-old journeyman Fitzpatrick isn’t the future of the franchise. That’s Winston, the 2015 No. 1 overall pick. But teams don’t like to make a change when things are going well, and Fitzpatrick has played well enough over all three games to get more starts. After Monday night, the decision at quarterback got tougher. More from Yahoo Sports: • Tiger’s win is the greatest comeback in sports history • White Sox star says what many think about umpire • Charles Robinson: Latest flag on Packers’ Matthews may be worst yet • Rams’ Gurley really isn’t a fan of Thursday games – – – – – – – Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Subscribe to The Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast Apple Podcasts• Stitcher • Google Podcasts<doc-sep>Buccaneers backup Ryan Fitzpatrick has been arguably the best quarterback in the NFC thus far and is very likely to remain in that role in Week 4, when Jameis Winston returns from suspension, sources said. Team officials have not met to make a formal decision on the matter, however, it is not lost on any of them how well the veteran has performed and for various reasons they expect to continue with him at least in the short term. Tampa hosts Pittsburgh Monday night – which already would cut into Winston's preparation time, needing to get ramped up after spending this month suspended for his misconduct with an Uber driver in 2016 (he is now being sued over that alleged groping). It is a less-than-ideal time to make a quarterback change ahead of a visit to Chicago. That, coupled with the near-flawless play of Fitzpatrick and the energy and cohesion he has brought to the offense – seemingly bringing the best out of every skill player – lends itself to maintaining Fitzpatrick at least for Week 4. Fitzpatrick has strong support among teammates – especially the offensive line, sources said – and after a shocking 2-0 start despite paying a very difficult schedule (New Orleans nearly reached the NFC Championship Game and Philadelphia won the Super Bowl) – the staff and front office realize the need to keep harmony and chemistry going. The multitude of players speaking out in favor of keeping this offense humming as-is has also not gone unnoticed. One source said it would be a "week to week" proposition once Winston comes back, and the organization made it clear to Winston before he left for his suspension how much faith they have in him after a strong preseason. He remains in line to start the bulk of this season as things stand now, but precisely when that return begins is unknown. Winston is particularly close with Mike Evans – who became among the highest-paid receivers in the NFL in the offseason – and the organization wants to see what he can do with these same pieces. But that is highly unlikely to begin prior to Week 5 at this point.<doc-sep>Jameis Winston Is A Better Quarterback Than Ryan Fitzpatrick | FiveThirtyEight Though Fitzmagic is tearing up the league right now, Tampa Bay should send him back to the sidelines for Week 4. Father Dungy Sees 1997 In 2018 Bucs - JoeBucsFan.com Talks Fitzpatrick, camp impressions, team construction and more. Derrick Brooks & Ira Kaufman Talk Steelers-Bucs, Playing A 3-4 Team, Learning From The Patriots Loss & More; It's TAMPA TWO! - JoeBucsFan.com Nothing better than Derrick Brooks dissecting the keys to the Bucs-Steelers game. FitzMagic is everywhere, even in Cleveland - The Local Paper It feels like there's FitzMagic in the air everywhere these days, even in Cleveland. Expert Picks: Who the experts are picking to win Steelers vs Buccaneers - Behind the Steel Curtain Time to check in on who the experts like in this Monday night showdown. Week Three Expert Picks: Steelers vs. Buccaneers Despite the jump in rankings and beating the defending champs last week, a majority of the experts still pick Pittsburgh to come out on top on Monday night.<doc-sep>
TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) The Steelers need a win at Tampa Bay in the worst way. Unfortunately, their defense can’t stop Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Buccaneers. There are plenty of NFL quarterbacks more talented than Ryan Fitzpatrick, but few are hotter than the Buccaneers signal caller at the moment. Unfortunately for the Steelers, they’re taking on FitzMagic at the absolute worst time. Remember, Mike Tomlin’s team stumbles into this matchup with an ugly record of 0-1-1. They had chances to win against both the Browns and Chiefs, but they easily could be 0-2 as well. The mood around the Steelers’ locker room is tense, at best. If Steelers fans are harboring any hope of their defense shutting down the Buccaneers offense they should dismiss it at once. When you watch the Pittsburgh secondary on film it’s clear they are really disorganized at the moment. They’re not going to suddenly get it all together against the offense that’s arguably been the NFL’s top unit through two weeks. That means from a fantasy perspective, feel free to load up on Tampa Bay skill players. Fitzpatrick is an obvious starter at quarterback. Mike Evans, Desean Jackson and O.J. Howard are all good bets as well. The Buccaneers are going to score a lot of points in this game. It’s not a hopeless game for the Steelers though. As bad as their defense has looked, Ben Roethlisberger and the team’s offense have performed pretty well. The Buccaneers happen to have defensive issues of their own. They’ve given up 69 points in two weeks. Fitzpatrick and the offense have quietly covered up their team’s defensive deficiencies. The Steelers are going to score plenty of points in this game too. Antonio Brown may not have shown up for work on Monday, but he’s still going to be ready to go when the game kicks off. Neither Ryan Smith or Brent Grimes has the talent and/or speed to contain him. Expect a big day for Brown. The key for the Buccaneers will be whether or not they can keep James Conner under wraps. He isn’t nearly as explosive as Le’Veon Bell, but he might be more efficient. Conner can hurt Tampa Bay on the ground and in the passing game. Lavonte David is going to need to have a massive game if they are going to stop Conner form running wild. What this game is going to lack on defense, it should make up for in pure entertainment value. The Buccaneers are coming into this game on a real high and the home crowd should give them a massive boost. They probably aren’t better than the Steelers, but expect Fitzpatrick and company to ride the wave of momentum into another improbable win.