Rookie replacement: When Daylen Everette replaced Dean at cornerback late in the first quarter, the Bucs went right at the Steelers rookie on their way to a 10-0 lead. But Everette found redemption in the fourth quarter when he intercepted Daniels on a 3rd-and-7 pass. The interception put the Steelers at the Tampa Bay 45 to set up a 39-yard Chris Boswell field goal that cut the Steelers' deficit to 16-13 with 8:08 left to play.
"That was part of the rotation," said McCarthy. "I don't wrestle with the play time as much, especially early in the year. Some people don't want to hear that. You've got to do whatever you need to do to win a game, don't get me wrong, but I prefer when everybody gets to play and contribute. ... If you can get everybody on the 48 contributing, there's a lot of energy that comes out, there's a lot of experience that comes out of that, and I do really feel it pays forward. It definitely pays forward when you win games like this."
Defensive slog: The Bucs entered the game with a 1-4 record and an undrafted rookie quarterback playing in place of injured starter Baker Mayfield, but McCarthy didn't take the rugged Tampa Bay defense for granted. He respected the Bucs entering the game.
"Tough defense. You don't see them all the time. The pressure is real," McCarthy said. "I thought our guys did a really good job running the ball. Could've probably used some more attempts at the plate there, but tough win. They're never easy. Most important, the crowd was phenomenal. Just seeing the Terrible Towels show up, especially at the key parts of the game in the fourth quarter and overtime, that is special. That's a special headwind."
On being 4-2: "You are what your record is. I believe that. I live that," McCarthy said. "And I pay close attention to that. We needed a win on the road; we got it done today. So, this is a big step for us. We needed to stack two wins in a row. That's another big step. Those are chunks of confidence that you gain as a football team.
"We've had two weeks of practice preparation where the head coach is watching everything and he feels that's the way it's supposed to look. Those are hurdles you get over in the first year of your program. We've had two good weeks of prep. We've won our first away game. We've stacked two in a row. And now we've got a very unique challenge going to Paris, and we're excited. We're excited for the personal part of it, for us to take our game and represent the Steelers over there in Paris. And we're excited to get three in a row, and stacking two road wins in a row would be huge for us. You've got the schedule challenge, like everybody does to go over there, so we feel like we've got a good plan."