– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
CHARLOTTE — The eleven-year gap in between the Carolina Panthers hosting a football game on a Sunday night that ended tonight is not too far off from the perception that the period before the primetime interregnum was also last time the franchise held national relevance … at least until the “M-V-P! M-V-P!” rained down Bank of America Stadium at the end of tonight’s game like Cam Newtown had just performed his latest “Superman” dive and touchdown celebration.
But those cheers were for Carolina’s Clark Kent, the 5-10 signal-caller named Bryce Young, who performed again like no amount of kryptonite could stop what is quickly becoming a breakout season that the Queen City has been waiting for.
Young, the NFL’s passing yards leader heading into Week 4, did nothing to hurt that standing with his 329 yards and two touchdowns, leading a suddenly-powerful Panthers’ offense to a 32-26 victory against the Detroit Lions under the lights in Charlotte. Second-year wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was the big beneficiary of Young’s aeril largesse, hauling in a career high 14 catches for 192 yards and both of those touchdowns.
Even with the Panthers coming into 2026 as a defending division champion who came up with head-turning victories along the way to that achievement (see: win at Green Bay, home vs. Los Angeles Rams), the 8-9 record last season and underwhelming stats at quarterback still left Young and the Panthers in a make-it-or-break-it mode to many observers to start the season, and tonight’s standalone game was expected to prove the believers or the many more doubting Thomases correct.
How does completing the first 11 passes of the game on Young’s to leading Carolina to scores on six consecutive possessions at one point in the game sound to you?
Young and McMillan was the dynamic quarterback-receiver duo the Panthers envisioned when the latter was drafted in the first round last year, and the reigning Rookie of the Year and fourth-year quarterback played pitch and catch just like they do in practice.
Actually, make that like they did not do in practice, at least during the week, according to their head coach. But Young and McMillan could have fooled us looking like Montana and Rice to keep the Panthers atop the NFC South heading into their bye week.
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