Published: Monday, Dec. 07, 2009 / Updated: Monday, Dec. 07, 2009 03:45 PM

Not pretty, but enough for Panthers

Defense snags five INTs, offense manages clock well

CHARLOTTE -- There wasn't a hint of irony in Carolina Panthers tight end Jeff King's voice when he enthusiastically described it as “Panther football.”

But Sunday, there was no better way to describe it.

The Panthers played rock-hard defense and did just enough when they had the ball to walk out of their own building with a 16-6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It wasn't much to look at. Granted, the loss dropped their division rivals to 1-11, so it's hard to attach too much significance to any aspect of it.

The Panthers are now 5-7 heading into a brutal December schedule (New England, Minnesota, New York Giants, New Orleans), making any discussion of playoffs an exercise in having faith in things unseen. In fact, it might have been their final real chance to celebrate a win until next year.

“I think it's easier to call it ‘Panther football,' when we win,” coach John Fox said. “We've won a lot of games around here, as many as most people in the NFC over the last seven-and-a-half years.

“I think it feels a lot better today because we won. It was a great effort on those players' part. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to enjoy it.”

Since 2002, only Philadelphia, Green Bay and Dallas in the NFC have better records than the Panthers' 68-56 mark. But it's worth noting that the Eagles were the only ones in that club at the beginning of this year, when things began falling apart in a hurry in Charlotte.

After all, there were aspects of Sunday's game which made it barely resemble a Panthers game at all.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme was on the sidelines in a sweatshirt, his broken finger keeping him inactive for the game. Running back DeAngelo Williams was out with an ankle sprain. Then there was the list of steady contributors on injured reserve, leaving the Panthers with a roster that had a preseason feel to it.

Fortunately for them, the Bucs brought an even worse roster north with them.

With a rookie head coach (Raheem Morris) who's already fired both coordinators and a rookie quarterback (Josh Freeman) still finding his way, they're can't start the rebuilding until they clear the rubble away.

All they did Sunday was add to the pile.

Freeman threw five interceptions, all of them coming at the wrong time and the wrong place, in a day of ridiculous red-zone circumstance. The Bucs were second in the league in red-zone efficiency entering the game (70.0 percent touchdowns), but could do no right this week.

Eight times Tampa Bay got inside the Panthers' 25-yard line. They got two field goals out of it, along with a missed field goal by Connor Barth (which plunked the left upright) and the five turnovers by Freeman.

Depending on your perspective, it was either brilliant defense or a comedy of errors.

“It is definitely painful,” Bucs running back Earnest Graham said. “The talent level is there, and we all know the type of player that Josh is and will be when he comes through. But we are all here to go through those things with him.”

The Panthers were there to collect.

“You never want to give up a lot of plays or yardage, but Freeman is going to be a really good player really soon,” linebacker Jon Beason said. “It's definitely the franchise for the Tampa Bay Bucs for years to come.

“He had some really big throws all the way down the field, but we had some big plays in the end zone and that's what defenses do.”

Since coordinator Ron Meeks walked in the door this offseason, he's been preaching bend-don't-break. Mostly, the Panthers have broken at the wrong times this year, as they were 19th in the league in red-zone defense.

But Sunday, they were flawless. It's not as if Meeks had schemed up some unique ways to mess with the Bucs rookie. The Panthers just stood up and made the plays that came to them, knowing they weren't going to get much out of the offense on this day.

“That's something we really needed was turnovers,” said safety Chris Harris, who had an interception in the end zone. “That's one thing we harp on every week. This week we were able to produce five, which is huge. Any time you get five turnovers, you should win.

“It was big to get our offense back the ball as many times as possible. Our goal was to get our offense extra possessions.”

The Panthers' success as the Bucs got close obscured the fact that Freeman actually moved them all over the field otherwise. The Bucs outgained the Panthers 469 yards to 309.

“That's what I've been talking about all year, about the way we played defense today,” defensive tackle Damione Lewis said. “You have to. You have to give the guys an opportunity to get rollin', and I think it makes us do better, makes us do better as a team.

“I think we, the defense played awesome out there. They had some drives going and we either made them kick a field goal or caused turnovers and that's what you want to do. If they get in the red zone you either want to hold them to three or get a turnover. I mean, that's playin' great ball up front and on the back end especially on defense. I thought we did a good job overall. Jon getting those two picks. We played a stellar game.”

Words like stellar —along with “phenomenal” as King described the defense — have been in short supply around here.

As the season's disintegrated amid the turnovers and the injuries, there's little left to hope for, little left for them to hang their hats on.

Fullback Brad Hoover insisted the team was still looking forward, but knows at the same time the biggest goals for the year aren't.

“We're not giving up. I don't think that's how this team responds. Granted, we still have a lot to play for, other than the playoffs. There's jobs on the line, there's pride, for everybody on this team and in this organization. So there's a lot of things that go into it. Bottom line, you have to motivate yourself to do those things.

“When these times get tough, you really find out what the character of this team is all about.”

Perhaps bouncing back, and winning this one the way they did makes it more frustrating. If this was a show of character, it was also a display of how far away they might be. The talent's here when players are well, but what's left of the Panthers had to work entirely too hard to beat a team thinking about 2010 already.

After all, if what we saw Sunday was “Panther football,” it came a little late.

“It's been a frustrating season for us with some injuries and things like that but I think the most frustrating thing is having the record we do and knowing how good of a team we really are,” center Ryan Kalil said. “I mean we've got some phenomenal players and some really good coaches so it's been frustrating how close some of these games have been and not being able to finish them.

“This win kind of gives us some breathing room. We're not going to let down. We've still got an opportunity in this whole race.”

Car—Stewart 3 run (Kasay kick), 9:49. Car—FG Kasay 23, 4:14.

SECOND QUARTER

TB—FG Barth 21, 13:30. TB—FG Barth 46, 10:01.

THIRD QUARTER

Car—FG Kasay 40, 6:14.

FOURTH QUARTER

Car—FG Kasay 23, 7:12.

Att.—72,455 (at Carolina).

RUSHING—Tampa Bay, Williams 17-92, Ward 5-32, Freeman 3-30, Pressley 1-0. Carolina, Stewart 26-120, Sutton 6-38, M.Moore 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Tampa Bay, Freeman 23-44-5-321. Carolina, M.Moore 14-20-1-161.

RECEIVING—Tampa Bay, Bryant 5-116, Winslow 4-69, Stovall 4-68, Stroughter 3-23, Ward 3-17, Williams 2-14, Stevens 1-9, Graham 1-5. Carolina, Muhammad 4-43, S.Smith 3-78, King 3-17, Rosario 2-11, C.Martin 1-6, Stewart 1-6.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—Tampa Bay, Barth 36, 42 (WR).