Two maligned defenses and two high-octane offenses were on display in the Week 4 clash between the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers. That formula delivered a thrilling shootout that came down to the wire, and as they did all night, the Panthers did just enough on defense in the closing minutes to hang on for a 32-26 win on "Sunday Night Football."
Carolina had a chance to run out the clock and ice the game with just over three minutes remaining, but ended up having to punt it away to the Lions, who were then in position to stage what would have been their fifth 10-plus-point fourth-quarter comeback since 2022. Instead, Princely Umanmielen came up with a huge sack of Jared Goff, which set up third- and fourth-and-long opportunities, and the Carolina defense bowed up on those two plays to stop Detroit's last-ditch drive before it even got started.
It wasn't the only defensive success the Panthers had on the night, even while they surrendered 26 points. The Panthers entered the night ranked last in the NFL in run defense by a significant margin, yet they allowed just 46 yards on the ground to Jahmyr Gibbs and the typically uncontainable Detroit running game.
Instead, it was the Panthers' injured secondary -- which was without both starting cornerbacks, who each went on injured reserve earlier this week -- that was the most penetrable. Lions quarterback Jared Goff posted the seventh 400-yard game of his career by carving up that unit on his 52 passes attempts.
There were two things that worked in Carolina's favor, though.
The first was that the defense, for all its struggles to contain the aerial attack, stiffened up on its own side of the field. On four different occasions, Ejiro Evero's unit limited the Lions to field goals by executing a "bend, but don't break" script. The second was a career night from wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who set personal bests with 14 catches and 192 yards and scored two touchdowns in the absence of No. 2 wideout Jalen Coker.
Carolina quarterback Bryce Young opened play as the NFL's leading passer, and he had his way with a Lions defensive backfield that remains banged up, too. He was as efficient as ever in a 29-for-41 night that saw him throw for another 329 yards and two scores. He got plenty of help from Chuba Hubbard in the running game as well, as the ballcarrier amassed 122 yards and a pair of scores on the ground.
In the end, Carolina walked away with a hard-fought victory and improved its record to 2-2, taking over first place in the NFC South -- at least for now. The Lions dropped to a matching 2-2 record, but sit just third place in the NFC North.
T-Mac goes H.A.M.
McMillan was absolutely unguardable on Sunday night. He turned in the best game of his career, reeling in 14 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns. He and Bryce Young repeatedly connected on passes at all three levels of the defense, from RPO glance routes to intermediate completions to a deep ball over the top on a slot fade.
McMillan was particularly dominant from the slot, from where he scored both of his touchdowns. The Lions' defensive backs were helpless when trying to box him out and keep him away from the ball when lined up inside. He kept getting leverage and creating space for himself to catch and run or catch and score.
He also came up with arguably the biggest play of the game, an 18-yard catch on third-and-14 with just over three minutes left, showing off both his hands and his fancy footwork to keep the ball inbounds and extend the drive, allowing Carolina to run another minute or so off the clock before punting the ball away.
It was a huge game for McMillan after he was quiet last week (two catches for 17 yards), and the Panthers definitely needed it with Jalen Coker sidelined due to injury.
Lions scoring position failures
Detroit actually moved the ball pretty well in this game. The Lions gained 452 yards and averaged 6.6 yards per play, which would be the best mark in the league in basically any season. They got the ball into Panthers territory on eight of their 10 drives and they got into the red zone four times. They just... couldn't punch the ball into the end zone consistently.
They settled for four field goals from either inside or just outside the red zone. They failed on a fourth down inside the red zone as well. For a team that is usually very efficient with its scoring opportunities (the Lions came into this game sixth in red-zone touchdown rate), it was an uncharacteristic performance that cost the Lions a chance to win.
Panthers bottle up Gibbs
Gibbs entered this game averaging 154.3 total yards per game -- just over 102 on the ground and 52 through the air. Carolina's defense shut down the run from the very beginning of the game and held Gibbs to just 46 yards on his 15 carries. (They forced Detroit into a very pass-happy game plan with both their run defense and their offense getting out to a multi-score lead.) Gibbs did catch four more passes for 31 yards, but that only brought him to 77 on the evening -- half of the total he had been averaging coming into the night.
Chuba Hubbard runs wild
By contrast, the Panthers' running back found room to roam all night long. Hubbard carried 20 times for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns, ripping off multiple long runs in the process.
In the absence of Jonathon Brooks over the last two weeks, Hubbard has piled up 239 yards and two touchdowns on 43 total touches while carrying a significant snap load ahead of backup A.J. Dillon, who has scarcely been involved. It's been the Chuba show in the backfield, and he has delivered what the Panthers needed.
