"It had been an eternity, it seems, since he had visited the neighborhood. It had been centuries, more or less, since he took in the sights.

Finally, Kellen Winslow was in the end zone again.

And if you think it was about time, you probably noticed Winslow looking at his left wrist, as if checking some sort of invisible watch. Yeah, it felt as if it was about time for him, too.

"It had been forever," Winslow said softly. "It feels like it had been … years. I don't even remember the last time I scored."

How long had it been? Going by the schedule, it had been 65 quarters over 16 games. Going by the stat sheet, it had been 77 catches. Going by the calendar, it had been 372 days. Going by the game clocks, it had been 1,000 minutes and 54 seconds of playing time (16.67 hours).

Going by the clock in Wins­low's competitive soul, it had been since, oh, the invention of the scoreboard.

Not that anyone had been counting or anything.

At last, however, Winslow had given his team a reason to kick an extra point again.

As the Bucs strolled along their merry way to a 6-3 record Sunday, this was one of the keeper moments. Once again, he was in rhythm, and once again, he was a dangerous receiver. In a season that has been measured by frustration instead of catches, Winslow was once again a weapon.

For weeks, it seemed he had mattered less than he did a year ago. Oh, his catches weren't off by much — he had 35 after eight games last year and 33 this year. But Winslow's moments were down. He had scored five times in the first half of last season and none at all through eight games this year.

Last year, when the Bucs were playing pedestrian wide receivers, Winslow seemed like the only threat. He caught 27.6 percent of the Bucs' receptions; this year, it's down to 22.4 percent. This year, with rookies Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn, there have been other threats. In some ways, Winslow has been on the back burner."