Personal Statistics Irrelevant To Galloway
Katherine Smith, The Tampa Tribune, published 28 November 2005

Joey Galloway didn't make a catch last week against Atlanta, and he was fine with that. On Sunday, Galloway led Tampa Bay with a game-high seven receptions for 138 yards, which put him over the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the fourth time in his career. But the 11th-year veteran receiver wasn't happy.

"[Last week] was OK because we won," Galloway said. "It's tough when you go through games and you don't get catches and you lose. I've been on those sides and that's tough. But it's not tough when you win games. Today, I feel worse than I did last week and I had some catches. I feel worse because we lost the game."

Somebody who might feel worse than Galloway is receiver Michael Clayton. Galloway had the hot hands Sunday, while Clayton is still searching for the form that helped him earn runner-up Rookie of the Year recognition last year. Clayton had only one opportunity to catch the ball Sunday. In the second quarter, on first-and-10 from the Bucs' 30-yard-line, Clayton dropped the pass Chris Simms threw his way.

"We had some drops. We had some key drops," Jon Gruden said. "We had four or five balls batted down. We struggled with the Bears' pass rush. They are very good. They are as advertised."

Tight end Dave Moore had more receptions than Clayton, one -- a 5-yarder in the fourth quarter. It was his first reception since last Dec. 26 against Carolina. Nine Tampa Bay players caught at least one pass on Sunday, including Simms, who caught one of his own passes that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Galloway picked up where he and Simms left off before the Atlanta game. Six of his seven receptions were for first downs. Midway through the first quarter, Simms connected with Galloway for a 39-yard reception on third down, which helped set up kicker Matt Bryant's 27-yard field goal.

In the fourth quarter, as the Bucs were driving, eventually lining up for the game-tying field goal attempt, Galloway helped sustain the drive with two first-down receptions, including one for 30 yards on the first play of the possession. "Joey was big today, he really was," Simms said. "I think he did a great job of just catching the ball and getting up field for some big yards early and, of course, in the second half."