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Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 8 January 2006
It was the exact same situation, same receiver, same route and the corner of the same end zone. Edell Shepherd squeezed as hard as he could, believing he had just caught a 35-yard touchdown from Chris Simms to tie Saturday's NFC wild-card game against the Redskins with 2:55 left. Like he had done almost two months earlier, the Bucs receiver leaped over the wall in the south end zone, hugging fans with a strong embrace, not wanting to let go of their grip. If only Shepherd had hung onto the football as tightly.
Officials ruled the pass incomplete because Shepherd lost control of the ball after he came down in the end zone. Tampa Bay used a replay challenge, but referee Mike Carey upheld the call. "I was waiting for him to put his hands up and say, "Touchdown,"' Shepherd said. "But it didn't go my way, and it happens sometimes. "I thought I had it, and I thought my rear end touched the ground. My knees touched the ground. My elbows touched the ground, and I thought I was good. But you know what? Somebody thought otherwise, and that's how it goes."
That's pretty much how it went for the Bucs in Saturday's 17-10 loss to the Redskins. A young Buc made a mistake, and Washington made him pay. LaVar Arrington returned an interception of a tipped pass 21 yards to set up Clinton Portis' 6-yard touchdown run, and Sean Taylor returned a fumble by Cadillac Williams 51 yards for another first-quarter score.
Those turnovers spoiled a record-setting performance by the Bucs defense, which allowed 120 yards, the fewest for a winning team in postseason history.
"They'll live, and they'll learn," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "At playoff time, it's all going to get magnified. There's so much more attention placed on each individual play. And they'll take it and hopefully, they'll learn from it. They've got bright futures ahead of them, and they can't let those plays they didn't make define them. They'll go out and be great from here on out, I believe."
The victory was the sixth straight for the Redskins (11-6) and first for Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs in the playoffs in 13 years. Washington advanced to the division game Saturday at Seattle (13-3).
The Redskins also avenged a 36-35 loss to Tampa Bay (11-6) on Nov.13, a game won on Shepherd's 30-yard touchdown and Mike Alstott's controversial two-point conversion run.
"(Alstott) didn't get in (on the two-point conversion earlier this year), and that wasn't a touchdown (to Shepherd). And we're going to Seattle," Redskins guard Ray Brown said. "But we respect those guys. I understand. They should think it was a touchdown, and they should think he got in because they're going to root for their guys like we're going to root for our guys."
Several Bucs players said they remembered benefitting from a similar play several weeks ago. Falcons receiver Roddy White had an apparent touchdown ruled incomplete when the ball squirted out after he hit the ground. Mike Periera, the NFL's senior director of officiating, told Bucs officials a receiver trying to gain possession of the ball must have control after he hits the ground at any point on the field, in the end zone or out of bounds. "It's unfortunate," Jon Gruden said. "He was open. He had his hands on the ball, and he was in the end zone."
The Bucs, who trailed 17-3 at halftime, blew several chances to tie the score. The Bucs made it 17-10 by driving 51 yards in seven plays on their first possession of the third quarter, capped by Simms' 2-yard touchdown run. Playing without injured cornerback Shawn Springs, the Redskins defense hung tough despite losing end Renaldo Wynn to a broken right forearm and Taylor, who was ejected after spitting in the face of Michael Pittman.
The Bucs were stopped on downs at the Washington 18 midway through the fourth. On third and 1, fullback Mike Alstott, playing in, perhaps, his last game, was stopped for no gain. On fourth down, Simms threw incomplete to Jameel Cook. The Bucs still weren't done. Cornerback Brian Kelly intercepted Mark Brunell's pass at the Washington 35. That put Shepherd in position to make another game-tying catch, but he failed to hang on.
One play after Shepherd's drop, Simms overthrew him on fourth and 10 after the receiver broke free in the end zone.
The Bucs' final shot came when they took over at their 46 after a 14-yard punt. But Simms' first-down pass was tipped by Cornelius Griffin and intercepted by Marcus Washington. "(Defensive linemen) just sit there and read eyes and try to look at the quarterback and see when he's getting ready to throw. And they get a finger up," said Simms, who passed for 198 yards and threw two interceptions. "That's what they did twice. Both interceptions were going to be 20-yard completions. It's just a heartbreaking thing that happened."
There could be more painful losses ahead. Defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin is poised to become the Vikings' defensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli is among several other top assistants whose contracts expire. And it's possible the Bucs will have salary cap problems on defense. "Right now, it's really tough," linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "I just never thought we'd be ending our season here. This is a first for me. I hope I don't get used to it."
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