After that one long drive ... nothing Joanne Korth, The St.Petersburg Times, published 5 November 2007 It would have been the longest touchdown drive in Bucs history by almost a minute. For nearly 12 minutes, the offense was on the field. One problem. The Bucs' textbook drive was missing the final page. Tight end Alex Smith, open in the end zone, dropped what would have been an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Garcia. Then kicker Matt Bryant missed a 26-yard field goal. Time of possession: 11:59. Points: Zero. Jon Gruden, who calls the plays, said the 19-play, 86-yard drive was as good as any he has been associated with, up to the point where it didn't produce any points. "You've got to make the plays and finish the drive," Gruden said. "That's ridiculous." Leading 17-3, the Bucs got the ball at their 6-yard line with 8:46 left in the third quarter. Running backs Earnest Graham and Michael Bennett combined for 11 runs, the longest 5 yards. Garcia completed 5 of 6 passes to three receivers, the longest 13 yards to Ike Hilliard. The drive's longest play was a 14-yard scramble by Garcia. Unable to hit a big play, the Bucs needed three downs each time they moved the chains but made steady progress in converting five straight third-down plays. But not the sixth. "You just shake your head," guard Davin Joseph said. "It was one of those drives it seemed like we got 4 yards, 5 yards, first down. Four yards, 5 yards, first down. You have to like those types of drives, especially when you have the lead. But you want to get something." On third and 3 at the Cardinals 8, Garcia rolled to his right on a run-pass option and saw Smith open in the back of the end zone. Although he had only one defender to beat and Joseph leading the way, Garcia opted to throw rather than run. "I felt like that was as good as a run," Garcia said. "I felt very confident I could give him a throw he would be able to handle, and it's unfortunate it didn't turn out that way. I'm not going to second-guess my decision. It's a reaction on the field. As a quarterback, your mentality, just naturally, is more often to throw it than to run it." The team record for most time-consuming touchdown drive is 10 minutes, 59 seconds, set against the Saints in 1994 when the offense went 80 yards in 15 plays to score on Craig Erickson's 10-yard pass to tight end Jackie Harris. Had Smith held the pass Sunday, the Bucs would have eclipsed the record by 55 seconds. "That's going to stay with me for a while," he said. "It's one of those freak things. I had it in my hands, and as soon as I hit the ground, it jarred loose. It was a big play. ... We could have put them away right there. It's a crying shame not to come away with any points. I take full responsibility for that. I told Garcia I owe him one." So, three points are better than nothing, right? A field goal would have given the Bucs a 17-point lead, making it a three-score game with less than 12 minutes left. But Bryant's 26-yard attempt was wide left. "You can't miss those at any point in time, any point in a game, any point in your life," Bryant said. "It happened. Everybody did their jobs except for me. It was just one of those days where it seemed like you were having to fight every swing."