Panthers turn tied half into win as Lions settle for field goals

Detroit and Carolina reached halftime tied at 16 Sunday night. The Panthers finished the job by turning second-half drives into touchdowns while the Lions repeatedly settled for field goals, winning 32–26 at Bank of America Stadium.

Tetairoa McMillan caught 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Chuba Hubbard ran for 122 yards and two scores. Carolina's offense produced those performances despite missing Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette, whose absences the team confirmed before kickoff.

Carolina led 7–3 after Chuba Hubbard's 15-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Bryce Young then found Tetairoa McMillan for a 32-yard touchdown with 8:08 left in the second. Ryan Fitzgerald missed the extra point, leaving the Panthers ahead 13–6.

Detroit answered with an 11-play drive ending in Jahmyr Gibbs' 1-yard touchdown. Fitzgerald and Jake Bates traded late field goals, and the teams went to halftime tied 16–16. Jameson Williams' 49-yard catch helped put Detroit in range for Bates' tying kick as the half expired.

The Panthers immediately took control of the second half. An 11-play, 76-yard drive ended in Young's 10-yard touchdown pass to McMillan with 9:33 left in the third. Another missed extra point made it 22–16.

Detroit generated another explosive completion, this time a 57-yard catch by Isaac TeSlaa, but had to settle for Bates' 26-yard field goal. Carolina then drove 85 yards, with Hubbard's 25-yard run setting up his 2-yard touchdown at 2:47. The Panthers entered the fourth quarter ahead 29–19.

Fitzgerald added a 33-yard field goal with 8:59 remaining after Carolina consumed 5:44 on a 13-play drive. A fourth-down completion from Young to Darren Waller kept that possession alive.

Detroit later drove into the red zone, but delay-of-game and false-start penalties backed it up. A fourth-and-20 completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown followed by a lateral to Gibbs ended short of the first down.

Jared Goff kept Detroit alive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta at 3:38, cutting the margin to six. Carolina then punted after a D.J. Wonnum sack, giving the Lions one more possession from their own 13.

Princely Umanmielen sacked Goff on the final Detroit drive. On fourth-and-13, a 12-yard completion to TeSlaa came up one yard short. Carolina took possession with 1:22 remaining and ended the game with kneeldowns.

Bates made four field goals, but Detroit scored just one touchdown before its late rally. Carolina scored touchdowns on its first two possessions after halftime, creating the advantage the Lions spent the rest of the night chasing. Both teams are 2–2.

Carolina finished without right tackle Monroe Freeling (knee) and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (hamstring), the Panthers' postgame report confirmed. Freeling left in the third quarter and was replaced by Stone Forsythe; Phillips went to the injury tent in the fourth and did not return. Detroit cornerback Rock Ya-Sin also did not return with a hamstring injury, according to NFL.com's injury roundup. Neither report gave a recovery timetable or next-game status.