CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales was a little worried after Bryce Young and Tetairoa McMillan had some issues connecting on passes in practice.
You'd never know it by the way they played Sunday night.
Young completed 29 of 41 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns to McMillan, who had 14 catches for a career-high 192 yards, and the Panthers overcame an injury-filled week to beat the Detroit Lions 32-26.
“Everything just clicked
tonight,” McMillan said. “There were some plays throughout the week that we may not have hit on, but (offensive coordinator) Brad Idzik called the plays and Bryce trusted it. He made good throws and we converted. I can't tell you what happened tonight. Maybe it was just the Charlotte air.”
Young, who was serenaded with “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants by fans in the fourth quarter, said he never second-guessed throwing McMillan's way because he has so much confidence in him.
“I know what kind of player he is. He's special,” Young said. “I always trust him. I have confidence in him and I know one (bad) practice isn't going to change that."
Also, Young didn't have a lot of other experienced options.
With two of Carolina's top three wide receivers in Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette out with injuries, Young was forced to heavily on McMillan, and the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year.
And he responded in a big way early on for the Panthers (2-2).
McMillan had nine catches for 147 yards in the first half, including a 32-yard touchdown.
He joined Steve Smith Sr. and Patrick Jeffers as the only Carolina players with at least 10 receptions, 150 yards receiving and two touchdowns in a game. And he came close to breaking the franchise records for receptions (15) set by Christian McCaffrey and yards receiving (201) held by Smith.
Young entered Week 4 leading the league in yards passing and the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 opened the game by completing his first 11 passes.
Chuba Hubbard gave the running game a needed spark carrying 20 times for a season-high 122 yards and two touchdowns as Carolina scored on six straight possessions after punting on its opening drive.
Jared Goff threw for 412 yards and a touchdown to Sam LaPorta for Detroit (2-2) and Jahmyr Gibbs added 77 yards from scrimmage and scored his seventh touchdown of the year, but the Lions didn't look as explosive as they had been the first three games of the season.
Detroit was able to overcome McMillan's big first half and tie the game before the break.
Jameson Williams hauled in a 49-yard reception down the middle against an injury-depleted Carolina secondary that lost starting cornerback Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson to eight-week-long injuries last week.
That set up Jake Bates' field goal to make it 16-all.
But Detroit's defense couldn't get off the field in the second half as Young repeatedly found an open McMillan.
Even after the Lions cut the lead to 32-26 with 3:38 left in the game on LaPorta's TD catch, McMillan responded with a toe-tapping reception along the right sideline for a first down that kept the clock moving.
Still, drive ended in a sack and the Panthers were forced to punt.
The Lions had a chance to win the game on their final drive, which started at their own 13 with 2:12 remaining. But Goff couldn't pick up a first down and Young knelt down twice to end it.
“We got ourselves in a hole there, which is frustrating,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “At the end of the day, we had our opportunities. Our defense came up with a stop and we had the ball with about with two minutes left to go win the game. And we just couldn’t get it done.”
Lions: Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin left in the second half with a hamstring injury.
Panthers: Rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling, the team's first-round draft pick, injured a knee in the third quarter and did not return. Coker was inactive with a quadriceps injury. Linebacker Jaelan Phillips left in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury. Canales had no update on either player after the game.
Lions: At Arizona next Sunday.
Panthers: Will have a chance to heal up with a bye next week before visiting Philadelphia on Oct. 18.
___
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
