Carolina’s Bryce Young threw two touchdown passes to Tetairoa McMillan and the injury-riddled Panthers defense limited the Detroit Lions to two touchdowns in a 32-26 victory Sunday night in Charlotte.
Chuba Hubbard racked up 122 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Panthers (2-2) won at home for the first time in two tries this season.
Young completed 29 of 41 passes for 329 yards. McMillan’s 14 receptions accounted for 192 yards. Hubbard had 20 carries.
Jared Goff was 32-for-52 passing for 412 yards and one touchdown for the Lions (2-2). Jameson Williams made six receptions for 102 yards. Jake Bates kicked field goals from 54, 43, 41 and 26 yards.
Detroit didn’t attempt to produce much of a ground attack as only 15 of its 68 snaps were rushing attempts.
The Lions regained possession at their own 13 with 2:06 left, but they were out of timeouts and didn’t pick up a first down.
The Panthers began the second half with two long touchdown drives. The first was 11 plays, culminating in McMillan’s 10-yard touchdown grab and a 22-16 lead as the extra-point attempt failed.
Hubbard’s 2-yard touchdown run on a seven-play drive gave the Panthers their second third-quarter touchdown as their lead grew to 29-19. Ryan Fitzgerald’s 33-yard field goal tacked on three more points.
The Lions then drove to the Carolina 15-yard line before a pair of penalties contributed to a stalled drive and they turned the ball over on downs.
But Detroit got the ball back after a punt and drove 67 yards in 2:29, cutting the gap to 32-26 on Goff’s 8-yard pass to tight end Sam LaPorta with 3:38 remaining.
The score was tied 16-16 at halftime after field goals from Fitzgerald (47 yards) and Bates (41 yards) in the final 30 seconds of the first half.
Carolina’s Hubbard ran 15 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Young was 4-for-4 during the eight-play drive.
Young’s 32-yard touchdown pass to McMillan pushed the lead to 13-6. McMillan had 110 receiving yards on six catches less than 22 minutes into the game.
The Lions pulled even with 2:14 left in the first half on Jahmyr Gibbs’ 1-yard run which capped an 11-play march.
–Field Level Media
