McMillan and Hubbard lead Panthers past Lions 32–26

Tetairoa McMillan caught 14 passes for 192 yards Sunday night, and Chuba Hubbard supplied 122 rushing yards as Carolina beat Detroit 32–26 at Bank of America Stadium. Two touchdown catches by McMillan and two scoring runs from Hubbard helped the Panthers build a second-half lead after a tied first half.

Bryce Young finished with 329 passing yards. Carolina entered the night with a depleted receiving room: Jalen Coker was inactive with a quadriceps injury and Xavier Legette had been placed on injured reserve, the Panthers announced. McMillan supplied the production at the center of their passing attack.

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.

The Panthers had spent the week emphasizing the need for a more consistent rushing attack, their team reporting explained before kickoff. Hubbard's 122-yard performance supplied that support alongside Young and McMillan. Both teams finished the night 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.