Tetairoa McMillan piled up 192 receiving yards on 14 catches and scored twice, and the Carolina Panthers held on for a 32–26 win over the Detroit Lions at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday night, October 4, after stopping Detroit on fourth-and-13 in the final two minutes.
The result evened both teams at 2–2. Carolina built a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, saw it shrink to six, and then denied Jared Goff a single first down on the Lions’ last possession.
McMillan nearly rewrites the Carolina record book
McMillan, in his second season, was targeted 16 times and had 147 receiving yards by halftime. His first score was a 32-yard catch from Bryce Young in the second quarter; the second, from 10 yards, finished the opening drive of the third quarter and put Carolina ahead 22–16. His previous career bests had been eight catches and 130 yards.
He finished one reception short of Christian McCaffrey’s franchise mark of 15 and nine yards short of Steve Smith Sr.’s single-game record of 201. Only Smith and Patrick Jeffers had previously combined at least 10 catches, 150 yards and two touchdowns in a game for the Panthers. “Everything just clicked tonight,” McMillan said afterward.
Young threw for 329 yards on 29-of-41 passing with two scores and no interceptions, and opened the night with 11 straight completions. He now has nine touchdown passes through four games, a club record for that stretch, and the home crowd chanted his name late in the game. Chuba Hubbard added a season-high 122 rushing yards on 20 carries, scoring from 15 yards in the first quarter and from 2 yards late in the third.
How Carolina closed it out
After punting on its first possession, Carolina scored on six consecutive drives, although two missed extra points kept Detroit within reach. Ryan Fitzgerald’s 33-yard field goal with 8:59 left made it 32–19. Detroit then turned the ball over on downs inside Panthers territory before Goff found Sam LaPorta for an 8-yard touchdown with 3:38 remaining.
McMillan’s toe-tap catch along the right sideline for 18 yards on third-and-14 kept the clock moving, and although that drive later stalled on a sack, the Lions took over at their own 13 with a little over two minutes left. A sack set up fourth-and-13 at the Detroit 10. Goff completed a pass to Isaac TeSlaa, but Will Lee III and Lathan Ransom stopped him a yard short. Young knelt twice to end it. Neither team committed a turnover.
Goff threw for 412 yards on 32-of-52 passing. Jameson Williams had six catches for 102 yards, Isaac TeSlaa four for 95 and LaPorta eight for 84. Jake Bates made all four of his field-goal attempts, from 54, 43, 41 and 26 yards, including the kick on the final play of the half that tied it 16–16. Jahmyr Gibbs scored on a 1-yard run but was held to 46 yards on 15 carries.
“We got ourselves in a hole there, which is frustrating,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game, noting his team still had the ball with about two minutes left to win it.
Injuries
Carolina lost rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling to a third-quarter knee injury, and Jaelan Phillips left in the fourth with a hamstring problem. Coach Dave Canales did not give an update on either player after the game. Detroit cornerback Rock Ya-Sin hurt a hamstring after halftime and was unable to come back. Carolina was already without receiver Jalen Coker, inactive with a quad injury, and Xavier Legette, who is on injured reserve. Updates will appear on our NFL injury report.
What comes next
The Panthers have their bye in Week 5 and return on Sunday, October 18, at the Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions visit the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, October 11, at 4:25 p.m. EDT. The full box score and play-by-play are in the Lions at Panthers Game Center; follow both clubs on the Panthers and Lions team pages.
Correction, October 8, 2026: Detroit’s final pass was completed short of the first down, not incomplete.
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