Ron Martz With all the subtlety of a fist in the face Pittsburgh's ground-gobbling offense and pointless defense clubbed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into submission 42-0 Sunday in Riverfront Stadium and kept their frozen feet running toward a possible berth in the playoffs. In a game in which the only thing in doubt for the 43,385 who watched was the coin toss, the Steelers limited the 0-13 Bucs to 105 total yards and eight first downs while becoming team No. 5 to shutout the expansion club this season. While the Bucs now face the prospect of becoming the first team in National Football League history to lose 14 games in a single season with a season-ender against the New England Patriots next Sunday the Steelers won their eighth game in a row. THE STEELERS can still get into the playoffs after a near-disastrous 1-4 start, provided the Raiders beat Cincinnati in Oakland tonight and Pittsburgh wins its season finale against the Oilers in Houston next Saturday. A Cincinnati loss tonight would give the Bengals and the Steelers 9-4 records, but if they finish the season tied for the lead in the American Football Conference West Division the Steelers would get into the playoffs by virtue of having beaten the Bengals twice this season. "This is the eighth week in a row we had to win and I'm proud of the fact these guys could do it," said Steelers' Head Coach Chuck Noll, who must now depend on the Raiders to provide his club with a chance to defend its back-to-back Super Bowl victories. "The thing that is disappointing is that they measure only what you do for a whole season and not just part of your season. If you don't stay on top of your form and play the kind of football you're capable of playing — which we didn't do early in the season it will come back to haunt you." It was the Pittsburgh ground game that provided the impetus for its less-than spectacular, less-than-inspired win over the Bucs, whose deepest foray into enemy real estate was to the 23 with 33 seconds to play. ROCKY BLEIER LUGGED the ball 29 times for 118 yards and touchdown runs of seven, one and three yards. Franco Harris, playing only the first half, got 55 yards on 14 carries but went over the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Bleier's yardage puts him within 71 yards of 1,000 yards for the season. If he achieves it against the Oilers on Saturday it will be only the second time in NFL history that two runners in the same backfield gained more than 1,000 yards each in a single season. Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris did it for the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Wide receiver Lynn Swann, who led the league in touchdown receptions last year with 11, caught his first two of the 1976 season against the Bucs, pulling in Terry Bradshaw passes of 35 and 23 yards for scores. Bradshaw replaced rookie Mike Kruczek in the second half and hit six of his eight passes for 79 yards. Kruczek was six of seven in his two-quarter performance and scored the Steelers' other touchdown on a one-yard plunge in the second period. Asked if he was embarrassed by his team's performance in the game, McKay said: 'I was embarrassed before we came here. Terry Hanratty started at quarterback for the Bucs against his former teammates but managed only one completion in four attempts, and that was for minus one yard. Steve Spurrier came on in the second half and got the Bucs in the black with a four of 10 performance for 58 yards. Both suffered interceptions, Spurrier's stopping a late Tampa Bay drive and Hanratty's coming early in the game. Mel Blount, who swiped Hanratty's toss, fumbled the ball near the goal line and Hanratty adroitly kicked it out the back of the end zone to prevent another score and give the Bucs the ball back. "I WAS HOPING they would throw more," said Steeler safety Glen Edwards, "so I could get a few more interceptions. But all they did was run the ball and they didn't have much success doing that." The Steelers' defense, which played with Steve Furness replacing L. C. Greenwood in the front four, sacked Spurrier and Hanratty five times for 57 yards in losses for a net passing total of 11 yards. That defense has given up just 28 points in its last eight games, all victories. "It's not a laugher game by any means," said Swann, a former McKay football pupil at Southern Cal. "But Tampa Bay obviously is not a very good ball club right now."