Converted Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 14 November 2005 The decision to go for the victory came quickly to Jon Gruden. It was his choice of weapon that took considerably more time. The Bucs coach didn't hesitate making a gutsy call to go for a two-point conversion Sunday against the Redskins. The surprising aspect of the Bucs' 36-35 victory at Raymond James Stadium is Gruden put the ball, the game and the season in the hands of the forgotten man in Tampa Bay's offense. Mike Alstott barrelled into the end zone for the winning conversion with 58 seconds remaining, one play after the Redskins blocked an extra point but were penalized for offside. Given another chance, Gruden made things right. Ignored for most of the first half of the season, entering the game with 11 carries for 32 yards, the 248-pound Alstott hurdled into the end zone for touchdowns of 2 and 1 yards. But with linebacker LaVar Arrington 6 yards deep in the end zone trying to time the jump on the two-point conversion, Alstott remained on his feet and twisted onto the goal line. The play was upheld after a review by referee Bill Vinovich, and the Bucs defense made the lead stand up, stopping the Redskins on downs at their 44. "It's amazing the emotions that take place in a minute's span," Bucs receiver Joey Galloway said. "I heard the blocked extra point. Everybody teared up, and it was like the end of the world just happened. Then we see the flag, and you start to hear the whispers. "Let's go for it. Let's go for it.' He made the call, and it's surprising. Your initial reaction is, "Really?' Then you get all excited. "Let's Go!' When you have a guy like Alstott who played the way he did (Sunday), you take your chances." The dramatic victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bucs (6-3), who moved into a second-place tie in the NFC South with the Falcons (6-3), who were upset 33-25 by the Packers, and one game behind the Panthers. Tampa Bay visits Atlanta next. While the Bucs rediscovered an old weapon, 25-year-old quarterback Chris Simms came of age Sunday. Simms passed for 279 yards and three touchdowns, including a perfectly lofted 30-yarder to Edell Shepherd to set up the wild finish. Once again, Simms' favorite target was Galloway, who finished with seven catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Simms' touchdown to Ike Hilliard tied the score at 28 with 1:53 left in the third quarter before the Redskins (5-4) took the lead on an 8-yard run by Clinton Portis with 8:19 left. "Those are games that you dream about as a quarterback," Gruden said of Simms, the son of Giants Super Bowl quarterback Phil Simms. "His dad won many games like that, bringing those Giants from behind, and this is a great start for Chris Simms. It's good to know as a football player if we get the ball back to our quarterback, he can do something with it. He made a great statement in front of a lot of people." Simms and the Bucs had a chance to tie the score one possession earlier, but they failed on four tries after a one-handed catch by Galloway helped Tampa Bay get to the Redskins 7. But Shepherd ran a slant-and-go that Redskins cornerback Walt Harris bit on for his first touchdown. All the Bucs needed was an extra point to likely send the game into overtime. But reminiscent of Sept.14, 2003, against the Panthers, the Redskins blocked the kick. Fortunately for the Bucs, long snapper Dave Moore held the ball a little longer to slow the Redskins' rush and drew them offside. "It wasn't really the intent," Moore said. "I was just trying to get them on their heels so it would be a nice, clean look for (kicker Matt Bryant). In a roundabout way, it worked." What would happen if Gruden's decision didn't work? "We all cry, and (the media) want to fire him," Galloway said. "Heck, there might be a couple guys in here who want to fire him. But ... when you make those kind of calls, from a team standpoint, if you don't make it, we gather together because each man believed that was the right call to make." Moore, who played his 200th game, said he was glad to see Alstott front and center again. "I admire the guy because he's a guy who's made a lot of big plays in a lot of big situations and this year he's kind of been on the back burner," Moore said. "We have a lot of young guys coming in. When a running back starts to get older, especially his style, like a bruiser-type guy, they don't usually hang with him too long. They say, "Okay, let's get our fresh legs in there.' So I was happy to see him go out there and kind of do his thing. Mike went over the top twice, and I was hoping he would stay down on the last play. He saw it as well as I did. He kept his feet down and made a good decision." So did Gruden. Going for two wasn't a bad idea, either. "It crossed my mind," Gruden said of kicking the extra point. "But after the (offside) penalty, I wouldn't have been able to wake up (today) not knowing what we would have done with Alstott."