Again, The Obvious Marty Strasen, The Tampa Tribune, published 27 December 2004 Anyone out to prove Simeon Rice wrong failed miserably. Rice said he was stating the obvious last week when he cited a lack of discipline and attention to detail as reasons for the Bucs' 2004 misery. Sunday's 37-20 loss to Carolina was built on exactly such deficiencies. The turning point came late in the first half. The Bucs recovered a Carolina fumble near midfield, seemingly giving themselves a chance to erase a 14-7 deficit just before intermission. Cue the yellow laundry. Chartric Darby had lined up in the neutral zone, a penalty that nullified the apparent turnover. Discipline. When the Bucs did get the ball back after a punt, Kenyatta Walker's holding infraction took them out of field goal range. Discipline. And on the subsequent punt, a dropped snap by Josh Bidwell allowed the Panthers to block the kick. Attention to detail. Carolina booted a field goal as the half expired, and what could have been a tie game was instead a 17-7 Panther cushion. Rice takes no satisfaction in being correct, mind you. He wants to win as badly as anyone in red and pewter. Having no one but themselves to blame hasn't made a 5-10 season easier on any of the Bucs. By the time the game resumed, many in the announced crowd of 65,000-plus decided heated residences were a better option than watching the hometown team finish the home portion of a bitter season on a blustery evening. The upper seats at Raymond James Stadium became particularly sparse. Many who stuck around did not stay for much longer. There was more misery to come, although it looked for a while like the Bucs might make a game of it. After surrendering a touchdown to Carolina on the second half's opening possession, the Bucs responded with one of their own, and appeared to be driving toward a tight finish when another in a season full of miscues devoured them. This time it was a botched handoff that left the ball on the ground. Carolina fell on the fumble, credited to QB Brian Griese, and stretched their lead to 30-14 early in the final quarter. More fans turned for home as a brilliant full moon climbed above the stadium's top level. Strange things are said to happen under such skies. The events of this night, however, were entirely predictable. The Bucs self- destructed, as they have for most of the season. Griese's second interception of the game was returned by Kindal Moorehead for a margin- stretching touchdown. Stadium thermometers dipped another degree or two. `I don't like where we are,` said Jon Gruden, who thanked those fans who did stay to the finish. `We've got a long way to go. - It's a good thing the electricity works at One Buc Place, because we're going to need it.` For 2004, it's lights out. The game, in a nutshell, was the Bucs' season in a nutshell. A poor start built on miscues, leaving no margin for error. Then, enough subsequent errors to keep Tampa Bay from sustaining a comeback. Rice was right. He was stating the obvious. The Bucs don't do the little things well enough to win football games. Much of the time they mess up the big things, too. A very small margin separates good clubs from bad ones in today's NFL. The Bucs, it can officially be said, are a bad one. It's not for a lack of talent. It's for their lack of an ability to get out of their own way. No one - Rice or otherwise - needs to expound on it, really. It's obvious. All too obvious.