After the Panthers had ended the 2011 season in a tie for the sixth-most penalized team in the NFL, Ron Rivera's clubs were better behaved his following four seasons. From 2012-2015, Carolina was among the top-10 fewest penalized teams in the NFL.

That discipline's disappeared during this year's 1-4 start.

Flagged seven times in Monday night's loss to the Bucs, the Panthers' have now been penalized 39 times, a total that ties them with the Colts for fifth-most through Week Five.

"Last year we had penalties and won football games," Rivera said. "This year we have penalties and it's costing us."

The Panthers picked up 103 penalties last year, but those were the 10th-fewest in the league and averaged out to 6.4 per game. This season, the average is 7.8.

That may not seem like a big difference, but think about it this way:

Rivera's teams totaled 477 penalties his first five seasons. That's an average of 95.4 per year. But if the Panthers keep up their current pace, they'll finish this season somewhere around 125 penalties.

No flag was more costly Monday night than a 15-yard face mask penalty against defensive end Kony Ealy on the Bucs' final drive. Replays show running back Jacquizz Rodgers's face mask twisted enough to warrant the call, but Rivera wasn't convinced.

"(Ealy) hits the guy's face mask, OK. But he didn't grab it," Rivera said. "I don't get it. It's the referee's call, so that was a costly one right there.

"It moved that ball a little bit closer, and (Bucs kicker Roberto Aguayo) was a little bit shaky. He hit one that was kind of shaky, and if he hadn't gotten the 15 yards, I don't know if that ball would have made it."

Ealy's opinion?

"I just line up and play hard, man. I can't worry about the calls. That's not my job. Just work hard as hell."

Right, but did you feel like you got too much of the face mask?

"I felt like I tackled the dude. They called a face mask. Can't argue with the call."

And you can't argue that penalties aren't a big reason why the Panthers are arguably the league's most disappointing team.