This Time, Pivotal Call Favors The Opposition Joey Knight, The Tampa Tribune, published 8 January 2006 In a soft, adamant tone, Edell Shepherd insisted to a huddle of reporters the Washington Redskins secondary couldn't catch up to him. Unfortunately for him, the law of averages did. A Bucs season rife with favorable bounces was finally trumped by a wicked hop that essentially knocked Shepherd from the wall of the south end zone Saturday night. That's where the Bucs' third-year wideout stood triumphantly after believing he had hauled in a potential game-tying 35-yard touchdown pass with 3:03 to play. Only after hopping off - and coming back down to Earth - did Shepherd learn a nuance in NFL interpretation. The ground may not be able to cause a fumble, but it can cause an incompletion. "I thought I had it," Shepherd said after the Bucs' 17-10 loss to the 'Skins. "My rear end touched the ground, my knees touched the ground, my elbows touched the ground and I thought I was good. But somebody thought otherwise, and that's how it goes." Indeed, replays showed Shepherd's knee and hip on the end zone turf after his over-the-shoulder catch from Chris Simms on a third-and-10 corner-and-go route that beat 'Skins cornerback Carlos Rogers in single coverage. But the ball popped out of his grasp as his arms hit the ground. According to NFL senior director of officials Mike Pereira, a receiver must hold on to the ball when hitting the ground because he's trying to gain possession. A running back, by contrast, already has possession if he fumbles when hitting the ground. Call it Tuck Rule II. "I got several different explanations, but the bottom line is, it was all for naught," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "I thought we had a chance on the following play as well. We just didn't convert it, and we weren't able to get it done tonight." Ironically, Shepherd's would-be TD was a near replicate of the 30-yard scoring grab he made in the regular-season encounter against the Redskins, which set up Mike Alstott's winning 2-point conversion. Alstott's controversial score, you may recount, was among the handful of pivotal calls that helped perpetuate this improbable 11-6 season. Another came Christmas Eve against Atlanta, when Falcons rookie receiver Roddy White - like Shepherd - had an apparent TD catch disallowed by the ground. "I thought [Shepherd] scored, but it's been falling our way the whole year, and it just didn't fall our way this game," offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker said. "If you live and die by those rulings," cornerback Ronde Barber added, "eventually it's going to come back and bite you." The bite marks were apparent on the psyche of Shepherd, who briefly celebrated the play with a Lambeau Leap into the south end zone bleachers. "I was waiting for [the official] to put his hands up and say touchdown," said Shepherd, who got behind his coverage on the ensuing play, but couldn't catch up with Simms' overthrow. "But it didn't go my way, and that happens sometimes."