PewterReport.com was in Tampa Bay's locker room following the game and heard from several players about the 27-21 overtime victory over the Panthers after being down by eight with less than a minute remaining in the game. The Bucs move to 6-4 on the season and sweep Carolina for the third time since becoming members of the NFC South in 2002. 

Josh Freeman - from press conference:

(On where this ranks among thrilling comebacks)

“This was a team effort at the end. Just the guys laying it all on the line and making plays, finding ways to have the opportunity to win. When it came down to it, a lot of guys had to do a lot of things for me to connect with Vincent (Jackson) on the touchdown and two-point play. It was all the way from the coaching staff down to the players going out and executing at the end of the game that we were able to do that.”

(On how he overcame his mistakes to lead the team to a comeback)

“I think that having the right kind of mindset is a big part of playing quarterback. There are so many things that factor in, but ultimately you have to go out and play as well as you can. And yes, you are going to make some mistakes. And today, I made a few too many, but at the same time, as a team nobody lost faith or confidence. We just kept playing until the final whistle and it feels good to escape this one with a win.”

Ronde Barber:

(On the win)

“I’ll take the W. It was a hard fought win. I think it shows a lot about this team, the character of this team. Hopefully, we can build.”

(What is does do to the confidence with four straight wins)

“The confidence has been there. We just have to continue to go out and do our job and play for what we’ve worked so hard for. Coach Schiano puts a lot of emphasis on the things that we do right every single day and it will pay off for us at the end. Today was a great example of that.”

(On the 80 yard drive to tie it)

“There was no doubt. We do the same situations every single day. Like I’ve been saying, I said it on my radio show Monday, Schiano is the most prepared coach I’ve ever seen. We practice that situation for 50 seconds. We are like 50 seconds on our 20 [yard line] with no timeouts, how are we going to get down there? And we do it every time. We came up and executed.”

(On what changed)

“We just look at it like it’s the National Football League. That’s going to happen. We have our bad days. We aren’t going to be perfect every time. So, we are going to have our bad games. It’s just how we get back up. We are going to get knocked down sometimes and we just have to get back up from it and we sold it today.”

(On getting the victory after being down)

“It feels good. It was nerve racking, definitely, but getting a big win like that feels good.”

(On how he felt when things weren’t going the Bucs’ way)

“Things did get ugly but it’s just a testament of how we’ve been trained. Just trusting our training and fighting all the way to the end.”

(On how Coach Schiano has prepared the team for an overtime situation)

“We do a two-minute, a four-minute. We do that type of stuff every day just for situations like this and ironically, it’s crazy, Wednesday he (Coach Schiano) just mentioned our overtime procedures. It’s crazy and then we had to go out and do it. It worked out for us.”

(On the overtime win)

“You obviously just get to finish it and Josh (Freeman) threw a great throw. And then it’s weird, I’ve never done that before [game winning overtime touchdown]. So just looking at the sideline and seeing everyone rush on the field, it felt like basketball, I don’t know. You don’t practice that during the week, so that was fun.”

(On how big the win was for a young team)

“It’s a huge win because one, we get away with learning a lesson. And we better learn the lesson that we’re not just going to show up and win games. And I think it’s evident and I think guys will get it. We’re lucky it’s not a loss and guys just didn’t have it and go through the list where we lost it. I hope we show the true maturity that needs to be seen where we go back tomorrow, look at the film and say, ‘Wow, we didn’t play well,’ because we didn’t play well. I mean, that’s the bottom line. We played enough to make some plays at the end to win the game, but bottom line – where we want to go – that’s not good football. So, hopefully, we learned that lesson. But to come together, rally like that? You can’t do that throughout the week. That needs to be seen on Sunday and for our guys to not just bat and eye and to stay focused – that was special.”