Clayton's Season: From Bad To Worse Ira Kaufman, The Tampa Tribune, published 4 December 2006 Michael Clayton figured things couldn't get any worse, and then came Sunday. Tampa Bay's struggling third-year receiver entered Heinz Field with only one touchdown catch in his past 25 games. He led the Bucs with 57 yards on four receptions against the Steelers, but it's the one that got away that haunts him. "I had the perfect opportunity," Clayton said of the potential scoring pass he dropped along the right sideline late in the third quarter with the Bucs trailing 10-0. "We all make mistakes, and I definitely made a big one tonight." Clayton was running free when Bruce Gradkowski's pass bounced off his hands at the Pittsburgh 12. A 24-yard strike to Joey Galloway and Clayton's 11-yard reception eventually gave Tampa Bay a first down at the 3, but Gradkowski was intercepted two plays later. "I feel bad for Mike," LB Derrick Brooks said. "He made the tough catches today." Adding injury to insult, Clayton sprained his left knee on the 11-yard catch and will undergo further examination today in Tampa. "At the last second, the lights hit it and the ball disappeared for a second," said Clayton, who has endured two disappointing years after an outstanding rookie season in 2004. "That's just how it's been - when I get the opportunities, I haven't been able to come through." Kicking themselves The Bucs were in danger of being shut out for the third time in their past 15 regular-season games when Coach Jon Gruden ordered the field goal unit on the field with four seconds remaining. Matt Bryant's 27-yard kick made the final score 20-3, but the Bucs still fell behind the Raiders as the NFL's lowest-scoring team with 145 points in 12 games. "A field goal isn't ideal, but it's a lot better than walking out of here with a goose egg," rookie T Jeremy Trueblood said. Veteran WR Ike Hilliard had a chance to catch a TD pass, but he bobbled Gradkowski's second-down pass from the 9. On third down, Gruden waved Bryant onto the field instead of taking another crack at the end zone. "He [Gruden] did it," said LB Joey Porter, who registered two of Pittsburgh's five sacks. "I thought it was an unwritten rule not to do it, but he did it. I'm not mad at him for doing it. A shutout is tough on a team. He did it to avoid the shutout." Steelers coach Bill Cowher had several chances to kick a late field goal in last week's 27-0 loss at Baltimore, but he declined. "No one wants to be shut out in this league," Cowher said. "It crossed my mind for a very, very brief second last week, but not to the extent of making that decision." Reversal of fortune One season after winning the NFC South with an 11-5 mark, the Bucs are off to their worst start since the 1994 club coached by Sam Wyche. "If any one of us said we'd be 3-9 right now, coming off a pretty good offseason, I think we would have laughed it off," CB Ronde Barber said. "I laugh to hide the pain. We're 3-9 and we're not playing very well. It is what it is." The Bucs fell to 0-6 on the road and have been outscored 137-50 away from Raymond James Stadium. "We're used to playing for championships around here," Barber said. "I think the character of this team will show up in the next month … it better." Turning point The Bucs had a chance to make a game of it before that late third-quarter sequence doomed them. After Clayton's drop and Bryant McFadden's interception in the end zone, the Steelers needed only five plays to go ahead 17-0. "We had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line and if we score there, who knows?" Tampa Bay TE Anthony Becht said. "You have to seize your chances in this league. The defense did a job for us and that was the game right there." Pittsburgh then needed only 128 seconds to cover 80 yards as Ben Roethlisberger found Nate Washington behind Juran Bolden for 36 yards on third down and fired a 16-yard TD pass to TE Heath Miller on the first snap of the fourth quarter. "Nate stepped up big," said Roethlisberger, who overcame the absence of injured WR Hines Ward. "When guys go down, we've always had guys who step up and play big." Buc notes Rookie CB Alan Zemaitis was inactive for Tampa Bay, along with WR Paris Warren, QB Luke McCown, T Donald Penn, C Nick Mihlhauser, S Donte Nicholson, DE Charles Bennett and DT Jon Bradley. MLB Shelton Quarles returned to the starting lineup after missing three games with knee and ankle injuries. He led the Bucs with 10 tackles and a sack. Pittsburgh played without injured Pro Bowl S Troy Polamalu. The Steelers were last in the league with a minus-12 turnover ratio before posting four takeaways and finishing plus-3 Sunday. Anthony Becht made his 100th consecutive appearance and start on Sunday. The streak dates back to his rookie season with the New York Jets in 2000. Ronde Barber made his 132nd career start on Sunday, tying John Lynch for the fifth-most in franchise history. Also, LB Shelton Quarles debuted on the top 10 of that list with his 109th start, equaling Chidi Ahanotu’s total as a Buccaneer. DE Greg Spires had the wind knocked out of him in the second quarter but was able to return. WR Michael Clayton left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee sprain and did not return. S Kalvin Pearson sustained a thigh bruise in the fourth quarter but was available to return.