OT Proves To Be Microcosm Of Bucs' Season

By KATHERINE SMITH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Dec 18, 2006

CHICAGO - The replay booth spent several minutes looking at Alex Smith's fumble on the Bucs' opening possession of overtime.

Bucs players wished officials had spent some time taking a look at a 28-yard reception that set up the Bears' winning field goal.

"The long ball at the end of the game, to me, didn't look like a catch," linebacker Ryan Nece said. "It could have been reviewed. But it's been that way all season - the could haves and the would haves."

Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman classified the 28-yard reception by receiver Rashied Davis as a "great catch."

"It was Cover 1 because it was man-to-man, so it was just [Davis] and Ronde Barber basically with the whole field," Grossman said. "I just wanted to put it to the outside where he could go up and make a play on it and he did that. It put us in a position for the field goal to win."

The Bears had an earlier opportunity to win in overtime when they lined up for a 37-yard field-goal attempt following Smith's fumble. But the kick was wide left.

"I was just fighting for that extra yard," Smith said. "That was just inexcusable on my part, to struggle for that extra yard. They made a good play.

"Fortunately, it didn't come down to that play and we gave ourselves another chance."

Playing in their first overtime since last season's 27-24 victory against Atlanta on Dec. 24, the Bucs thought Smith's fumble shouldn't have resulted in a turnover. Chicago free safety Danieal Manning appeared to have a foot out of bounds when he recovered Smith's fumble.

"As soon as a player touches the ball, regardless of who the player is, that ball is dead if he's out of bounds," Nece said. "Because they didn't have possession at the time, we would still have had possession."

After a booth review, officials upheld the ruling on the field that the Bears recovered the fumble. Chicago also was aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against rookie right tackle Jeremy Trueblood, who slammed his helmet into the ground in frustration after the turnover.

"It's inexcusable and I should never do that and I was not mad at Alex in any sense," Trueblood said. "I was just mad that at the beginning of the game we were piling and making sure people weren't stripping the ball and I get told by the referee if I do that again, I'll get ejected. So what am I supposed to do?

"I lay off a little bit and the defense stands him up and strips the ball. It's a lose-lose situation. I don't understand that I'm not allowed to hunt the pile, but they're allowed to hunt the pile. That's what I was frustrated about, that I couldn't go over there and knock somebody off of [Smith.]"

The Bucs managed to get the ball back after Chicago missed the first field-goal attempt. Tampa Bay went three-and-out on the next series and then, backed up at their 2-yard line, managed to get to third-and-1, but fullback Jerald Sowell was penalized 5 yards for a false start and quarterback Tim Rattay threw incomplete.

"The way the season's gone, we can't ask to be on the 30- or 40-yard line," right guard Davin Joseph said of the poor field position in overtime. "We always get it on the 10 or the 5. But if you want to win games, you've got to get through things like that.

"It's just the way the season's been."