With loss, Buccaneers will finish last in NFC South If you thought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had already exhausted all the whacky ways there are to lose a football game this year, you thought wrong. After losing because an injured player couldn’t get off the field, because they had too many men on the field, because they lost a fumble in overtime — the Bucs found a new way Sunday. And this one, folks, was one for the rule book. A sack of quarterback Josh McCown that resulted in what replay officials ruled was a 25-yard fumble forward set the stage for what proved to be the winning field goal in a 19-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. To be sure, there were other factors that contributed to Tampa Bay’s latest loss, its 12th against just two wins this year. Included in that morass was a defense that failed to get off the field in a timely manner throughout the day, a failure to secure takeaways when the opportunity was presented and McCown’s ongoing struggles under center, where he was responsible for all three of the Bucs’ giveaways. But it was McCown’s lost “fumble’’ on the first play of the fourth quarter that proved to be the turning point, and for as long as McCown lives he might never understand why. “No, I didn’t understand it,’’ McCown said of the explanation he was given by on-field officials. “I thought my arm was going forward. Again, I don’t understand how a ball goes that far downfield that way.’’ Lovie Smith couldn’t understand it either. Panthers coach Ron Rivera did, though, and after he challenged the original ruling of an incomplete pass, so did the game’s replay officials. The ruling of a sack-fumble was the ultimate outcome of a third-and-8 play that started at the Bucs 45-yard line and quickly fell apart when safety Roman Harper came barreling in on McCown off the left edge. Harper came around McCown’s left side and hit his right forearm before McCown brought his arm forward in a throwing motion, causing the ball to separate from McCown’s hand. Replay officials ruled that the subsequent forward motion of McCown’s hand pushed the ball forward, allowing it to wobble 19 yards downfield before it landed and rolled to where cornerback Bene’ Benwikere recovered it at the Carolina 27. “The (officials) said the ball, you know, was moving before his arm came through, so it’s a fumble,’’ Smith said. “That’s really the only explanation we got. That was the explanation and that was the call.’’ That was the game, too. But it wasn’t like the Bucs didn’t have chances during the Panthers’ ensuing 12-play, six-minute possession to either get the ball back or stop their game-winning drive. Two plays after the change of possession, an interception by linebacker Orie Lemon was wiped out when defensive end Larry English was called for roughing the passer when his hand grazed the helmet of quarterback Derek Anderson. Then, on the penultimate play of the drive, cornerback Alterraun Verner dropped what he considered a sure interception. On the next play, Graham Gano made good on the fourth of his five field goal attempts, this one a 45-yarder that gave Carolina a 19-10 lead with 8:31 to play. “It was 16-10 at that point and I had a chance to take three points off the board and give our offense a chance,’’ Verner said. “That was huge. That’s why I’m here. I’m supposed to make those plays. There’s no excuse for that. I have to make that play. That was probably one of the most disheartening picks I’ve dropped in my life. I knew how big of a momentum swing that would have been. That one’s going to hurt for a while, I’m not going to lie about that.’’ The Bucs’ first season under Smith has been filled with hurtful moments like that. This game, for instance, marked the seventh time they’ve lost while allowing 22 points or fewer. And they did it this time despite not getting much of a contribution from two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. McCoy, who missed a few snaps last week at Detroit after suffering what the Bucs said was a right knee bruise, went down late in the first quarter and never returned after suffering what Smith said was a hyperextended right knee that is not related to his previous bruise. “We did OK (without McCoy),’’ Smith said. “We hung in there. But that’s one of the best players in the league. So, we’re different without him, it’s as simple as that.’’ The difference Sunday showed up in the time of possession. With the Panthers putting together four drives of 10 plays or more, Carolina held the ball for 37:31 compared to 22:29 for the Bucs. “When the other team has the ball for about a quarter more than you do, it’s pretty hard to overcome,’’ Smith said. “Most times that’s about third downs and getting off the field and we didn’t do that as much as we needed to.’’ They did it more than the Panthers did. Carolina converted only five of 13 third downs, while the Bucs converted five of 12. It was that one at the start of the fourth quarter they needed most, though. “Their guy, he certainly didn’t push that ball forward,’’ McCown said of the game’s pivotal play. “But that ball went forward somehow. Again, I don’t know, I just felt like I threw it. We’ll see it on the tape, but I thought I threw it forward.’’