Carolina tried to protect Matt Moore so he wouldn't make too many mistakes in his first start in two years.

It worked. Almost all the miscues were made by the other inexperienced quarterback.

The Panthers leaned on running back Jonathan Stewart, who rushed for 120 yards, and intercepted rookie Josh Freeman five times in a 16-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Panthers (5-7) were outgained 469-309 and Moore was hardly spectacular filling in for the injured and mistake-prone Jake Delhomme. The difference: Tampa Bay (1-11) was inside the Carolina 30 eight times and scored six points. Three of Freeman's picks came in or near the end zone.

It was another painful day for the rebuilding Buccaneers.

"Back to the lab for the young man," coach Raheem Morris said.

With Delhomme and his 18 interceptions sidelined by a broken finger, Moore made his fourth start and first since the end of the 2007 season. He was just 14 of 20 for 161 yards and one interception, but connected on a 66-yard pass to Steve Smith that set up John Kasay's third field goal with 7:12 left that put it away.

"I had to come into this thing and I had to be right," Moore said. "Not perfect, but I had to be right."

Freeman, in his fifth pro start, completed 23 of 44 passes for a career-high 321 yards. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams rushed for 92 yards, but poor throws at costly times cost the Bucs.

"That's just completely unacceptable," said Freeman, the first-round pick from Kansas State who took over as the starter a month ago. "I want to play in this league a long time. Guys that throw a lot of picks usually don't last."

His biggest error came on fourth-and-goal from the 2 with the Bucs trailing 13-6 early in the fourth quarter. Chris Harris picked him off in the end zone.

Freeman was twice intercepted by Beason in the third quarter, once in the end zone with Carolina leading 10-6, and again near the goal line after Carolina had taken a seven-point lead. That came one play after Chris Gamble fumbled a punt to give Tampa Bay the ball at the 20.

"Like Coach always says, it's a game of inches," Freeman said. "Today I was a few inches off."

With Connor Barth hitting the upright on a 36-yard field goal and missing a 42-yarder later, the Bucs spent the brisk day wasting opportunities and their second solid defensive performance after Morris took over the playcalling.

The Buccaneers rallied from an early 10-0 deficit behind receiver Antonio Bryant, who complained last week that he wanted a bigger role in the offense. He caught five passes for 116 yards, including catches of 40 and 20 yards that set up two field goals.