Smart coaching by Carolina. They kicked away from Clifton Smith all night, and the great field position the Bucs had grown accustomed to all but disappeared.

Two quick thoughts as the pain of the Carolina loss sets in.

Bucs left tackle Donald Penn continued his drive for a fat new contract with a manly performance against Panthers DE Julius Peppers, the November Defensive Player of the Month in the NFL.

Penn largely contained Peppers, who picked up a sack only after moving to the right side of the offensive line and bull rushing right tackle Jeremy Trueblood on his rear. JoeBucsFan.com analyst Steve Campbell will have more in his weekly offensive line breakdown later in the week. But expect Campbell to give more good grades to Penn.

It sure seemed like Carolina was consistently kicking away from Clifton Smith. That was a great testament to the rookie, who has been an electrifying return man since getting his shot five weeks ago. Smith may have kicked his fumbling habit. Now he has to work on catching passes. Chucky called a play for him in the fouth quarter, and Smith dropped a ball in his hands on a 2nd-and-4 throw.