By admin 
TAMPA, Fla. – There are more than a few areas where Mike McCarthy’s influence can be noticed in the Steelers’ 4-2 start. His coaching in Sunday’s overtime win against the Buccaneers, however, did not contain many.
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After pushing most of the right buttons over the past few weeks, McCarthy made a handful of questionable decisions, and the Steelers nearly lost to an inferior opponent. In the end, McCarthy’s players stepped up and bailed him out.
“We needed to win on the road,” McCarthy said after their 26-19 overtime victory at Raymond James Stadium. “We got it done today. This is a big step for us.”
After tallying at least 27 points in each of their previous three games, the Steelers came out completely flat against a tough Buccaneers defense.
Jaylen Warren, the reigning AFC Offensive Player of the Week, was hardly involved early. Aaron Rodgers’ passes were wild, and the ones on target were mostly ineffective. In the first half, the Steelers went three-and-out three times, turned the ball over on downs, threw an interception and missed a field goal.
Their lone points of the first half came on a 52-yard kick from Chris Boswell as time expired.
McCarthy spent all of halftime in a blue medical tent, receiving attention from the medical staff after his foot was stepped on.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham must have done most of the talking in the locker room, because the adjustments he made on that side of the ball were what allowed the Steelers to hang around.
“I gotta give credit to the defense,” Rodgers said. “They kept us in it. There were a lot of opportunities for that game to get out of hand. … We sputtered along there for a little bit.”
After a dreadful first three quarters, McCarthy’s offense finally got going in the fourth.
McCarthy finally figured out how to get Rodgers in rhythm on the first drive of the final quarter, and the Steelers scored a touchdown. DK Metcalf became more involved, which resulted in consistent yards through the air.
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A pair of interceptions and a forced punt from the Steelers’ defense created more opportunities, but all three drives stalled before the end zone could be reached.
The final one of those was completely on McCarthy.
Cornerback Jamel Dean returned an interception to the Buccaneers’ 3-yard-line and the game was tied with 1:38 remaining. Tampa Bay had only two timeouts. The smart decision would have been to run the ball on all three downs.
Even if the Steelers got stuffed on first and second down, it would have forced Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles to burn his timeouts, thus making the following drive far more difficult for his rookie quarterback, Jalon Daniels.
But instead, McCarthy elected to throw the ball twice. Both passes were incomplete. Only one timeout was used. By the time Boswell kicked a 20-yard field goal to put the Steelers ahead, only 17 seconds had come off the clock.
The Buccaneers marched down the field and tied it up, 19-19, with eight seconds left – making the most of an opportunity that should have never existed.
“I was definitely aware of the clock there,” McCarthy said after.
To McCarthy’s credit, his play-calling was excellent in overtime.
The Steelers got the ball at the start of OT and went on a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that left only 3:15 on the clock. Their defense closed the door not long after that, ending the game with a sack by Jalen Ramsey.
Now, the Steelers are 4-2 – something that every player, coach and fan should be happy with.
McCarthy has been a net positive since being hired to replace Mike Tomlin last January. But Sunday was his worst performance as Steelers coach.
The fact that his team managed to win in spite of him is a testament to the culture he is building.
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This story was originally published October 18, 2026 at 4:32 PM.