TD caps record march
Stephen F Holder, The St.Petersburg Times, published 31 December 2007

Ninety-eight yards, 294 feet, 3,528 inches. Using just about any measurement, it seems impossibly long. In fact, the Bucs' final touchdown drive of Sunday's 31-23 loss to Carolina marked the longest in franchise history, culminating with Michael Bennett's 23-yard touchdown on a screen pass with 6:57 left in the third quarter.

This offensive performance wasn't without its flaws, with quarterback Luke McCown throwing an interception deep in Panthers territory and the red zone performance twice settling for field goals still leaving much to be desired. But for at least one possession, the possibilities seemed endless.

Every run play appeared executed to perfection. Each pass was on the money. And every play call seemed to achieve the desired result. Maybe it was the bold prediction that preceded it all. "I got in the huddle, and I said, 'Hey, guys, let's go 98 yards and score,'" McCown said.

The first order of business was getting out of the shadows of the goal posts. Backed up on their 2, the Bucs opted to run. First, Bennett weaved for 3 yards. But lining up at the 5 is only marginally better than the 2. On second down, Bennett broke free for 11 yards.

"It all started up front with the offensive line," McCown said. "You're backed up like that, and you have to get some breathing room. We had a couple of hard runs to get out of there. That's the hardest part."

Suddenly, with the ball at the Bucs 16, the rest of the playbook became available. There would be another run by Bennett and one by Kenneth Darby and short passes to Chad Lucas and Jerramy Stevens. Then the long-legged McCown, flushed out of the pocket by linebacker Thomas Davis, took advantage of some blocks to scramble 31 yards - the Bucs' longest run of the season.

On this drive, the unlikely became expected. "That doesn't happen often," Bennett said.

McCown completed all four of his passes during the drive, and the Bucs needed just a single third-down conversion among the 10 plays. It came courtesy of Stevens, who made a 7-yard reception, lunging forward for an extra couple of yards. "Getting out of third and longs is the key to sustaining drives," Stevens said. "We executed. That's the kind of thing we need going into the playoffs."

Said McCown: "Any time you can have big plays of 12, 15 yards a pop, that's going to keep you out of third-down situations. When you do that, you have a chance to have a high percentage of conversions."

McCown's run positioned the Bucs at the Panthers 25 against a defense that was growing weary. "Some plays were breaking down," Bennett said. "But Luke was making plays with his legs and with his arms."

After a 2-yard run by Darby on the next play, the Bucs went back to Bennett. McCown dropped back to pass as a wave of defenders stampeded toward him. He tossed a teardrop pass over their heads and into the waiting hands of Bennett, who ran behind a wall of blockers down the right sideline for a touchdown.

It was a group effort, and the combined efforts made the 98 yards seem a lot shorter. "Any time you can take a drive and sustain it for that long," McCown said, "the execution takes all 11 guys."