Bucs throw it away in loss to Carolina Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 7 December 2009 Call it the great aberration, if you will, but going into Sunday there was only one team in the NFL that was better at scoring touchdowns inside their opponent's 20-yard line than the Bucs. With 14 touchdowns in 20 chances, the Bucs had become absolute money inside the red zone. They were until they met the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium, anyway. Whether it was a result of their rookie quarterback forcing throws to receivers who weren't open, the wrong fullback getting the ball or the wrong play being called, the Bucs blacked out inside the red zone Sunday. They were 0-for-4 in that critical area of the field, which is bad enough, but the fact they mustered just two field goals in eight trips inside the Panthers' 30 pretty much tells the tale of the 16-6 loss. "One thing we haven't done this year is leave a lot of points on the field," Bucs running back Earnest Graham said. "Today I think we must have left about 27 out there. I mean, if we turn those opportunities into points, I think we win handily. You absolutely have to capitalize on your field position in this league, and we just didn't do that." Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman was perhaps the biggest reason for that. On a day in which he was often spectacular between the 20s, he was horrid inside that notable yard marker. Of his five interceptions, two were thrown from inside the Panthers' 5-yard line, one from the Panthers' 20 and another from the Panthers' 24. "It was a tough day for the young man," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said of Freeman, who had his first 300-yard passing day as a pro, completing 23 of 44 throws for 321 yards. "He just made some bad decisions. Maybe he tried squeezing some balls into Antonio Bryant or Kellen Winslow. He's just got to make better decisions there and generate more points." Freeman acknowledged trying to squeeze the ball into a covered receiver on a couple of his picks, but said he was equally guilty of not throwing the ball high enough on a couple as well. His receivers didn't absolve themselves of blame in the matter, either. Bryant, for instance, said he could have done a better job of selling a run fake on at least one of the interceptions. "I could have done a better job of helping him out," said Bryant, whose cry last week for more opportunities was clearly heard. Bryant was targeted 11 times by Freeman on Sunday. The result: five catches for 116 yards. The larger result saw the Bucs rack up a season-best 469 yards, but with Connor Barth making only two of four field goal attempts - he hit the upright from 36 yards and missed wide right from 42 - Tampa Bay seldom turned its production into points. "It was just a bad day at the office," said Barth, who made field goals of 21 and 46 yards, but struggled on kickoffs as well. Another miscue: Offensive coordinator Greg Olson failed to realize that he had rookie Chris Pressley in at fullback on a play in which the Bucs called for a fullback run on third-and-1 from the Carolina 3. "We would have rather had Earnest in there on that," Olson said of the second-quarter play in which Pressley was stopped for no gain, forcing the Bucs to kick a field goal. The Bucs also were forced to kick a field goal one possession later, largely as a result of a personal-foul penalty that right tackle Jeremy Trueblood earned for hitting cornerback Richard Marshall after the whistle. "That's just unacceptable," said Morris, who temporarily pulled Trueblood from the game and replaced him with rookie Demar Dotson. "And it's happened week after week (with him)." Losing is something the Bucs have done week after week as well. They stand at 1-11. Despite the mistakes made on offense, Morris saw signs of improvement, most of them from his defense. The Bucs forced a takeaway by intercepting quarterback Matt Moore, and got a fumble recovery from their special teams units, but the offense was never able to fully capitalize on the chances. "We matched them physically today," Morris said. "And we got better today. We got closer. We were able to man up and play with this team. We just didn't finish against them." Not in the red zone, they couldn't. How odd.