PLAYER(S) OF THE GAME

This was a tale of two backs - DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Both are bruising runners and they bruised the Bucs badly in this one, combining for 301 yards and four touchdowns. They were fairly effective in the first half, running 14 times for a combined 84 yards and one TD. They turned it on in the second half, though, at one point running 15 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns in an 18-minute span that decided the outcome. Perhaps the most amazing thing about their performance is that they made most of their yards after contact, breaking tackle after tackle against one of the best tackling units in the league.

UNSUNG HERO

It's not very often that Panthers WR Steve Smith flies under the radar. He did in this game, though. As usual he flew successfully, catching nine passes for 117 yards and a touchdown, that coming on a 38-yard pass play that gave the Panthers a brief 17-10 third-quarter lead. Like Williams and Stewart, Smith broke a lot of tackles and made some key gains, including one of 10 yards and one of 11 yards on the touchdown drive that gave the Panthers a 24-17 lead and allowed them to begin pulling away from Tampa Bay in the fourth quarter.

KEY DECISION

It was made sometime last week, inside the Panthers meeting rooms, most likely by Panthers offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson. Ignoring the fact that the Bucs had held his runners to just 40 yards the last time they faced them, Davidson and his fellow Carolina coaches decided to attack the Bucs up the middle, where Jovan Haye was missing and Ryan Sims was filling in. It proved to be a master stroke. Sure, the Bucs lost this game largely because of their poor tackling, but it was the Panthers ability to penetrate the middle of the Bucs line with speed and power that got them started on those runs.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

The 52-yard pass to Antonio Bryant was the Bucs' longest pass play of the year. It was only the second pass play of more than 40 yards for the Bucs this year. ? Ronde Barber's second-quarter interception extended his streak of picks to three games. ? The Bucs are now 6-2 in games in which they've surrendered the first score. ? The Bucs have not scored an offensive touchdown in the first quarter since the Seattle game. ? The Panthers were 8-for-10 on third down.

TURNING POINT

The Bucs did what they didn't want to do Monday. They got into a shootout. They were hanging in there pretty well, though, until early in the fourth quarter. That's when Julius Peppers bull-rushed Bucs RT Jeremy Trueblood, pushing him back like he was on roller skates until he was able to break free and take down quarterback Jeff Garcia for a sack and 2-yard loss. Coming on a third-and-8 play from the Tampa Bay 45, that pretty much sealed the Bucs' fate. After all, Williams ran 41 yards on the first play of the Panthers' ensuing series, setting the stage for his 16-yard touchdown run that extended the Panthers' lead to 31-17.

INJURY UPDATE

Rookie OL Jeremy Zuttah left the game in the first half with a sore ankle but he returned.

OUR TAKE

Had the Bucs lost this game because they wasted a scoring chance or turned the ball over too many times or fell behind too much you could understand it a little better. To lose because the defense simply couldn't tackle is hard to accept, though. The Bucs preach basics and fundamentals and they just weren't there in this one. The thing you have to keep in mind is that the Bucs are better than this. You have to wonder how much better, though. A loss like this was coming. You could just sense it. Winning was masking a lot of problems. Unfortunately for the Bucs, losing exposed some more.

Roy Cummings

(CHART) Panthers 38, BUCS 23

1st Quarter

Score: Bucs 0, Panthers 3

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Bucs 31 31 10:32

Panthers 23 9 4:28 X

2nd Quarter

Score: Bucs 3, Panthers 10

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Bucs 71 14 6:37

Panthers 38 75 8:23 X

3rd Quarter

Score: Bucs 17, Panthers 17

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Bucs 100 19 5:28

Panthers 95 70 9:32 X

4th Quarter

Score: Bucs 23, Panthers 38

Passing Rushing Time of possession Momentum meter

Bucs 96 22 7:51

Panthers 9 145 7:09 X

Photo credit: Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Photo: Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia is sacked by the Panthers' Julius Peppers in the fourth quarter. Garcia was dropped five times in Monday night's game.

Photo credit: Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Photo: The Bucs defense was unable to slow down Panthers running backs Jonathan Stewart, left, and DeAngelo Williams. The duo combined for 301 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries.

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