CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The M-V-P! chants rained down in front of a raucous, rarely-seated, jam-packed Bank of America Stadium crowd early in the fourth quarter on Sunday night.

It was a fun wrinkle on an overwhelmingly fun day — one that saw a spectacular day from Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, a redemptive day from Tetairoa McMillan and a 32-26 Panthers win over the Detroit Lions that now puts the Panthers at 2-2 and in first place in the NFC South.

Still, that moment, as Panthers fans screamed those sacred three letters into the din, there was a question:

Who was the crowd anointing?

The obvious answer is Young, the Panthers’ fourth-year quarterback who played one of his best games as an NFL quarterback Sunday evening. His stat-line tells part of the story: 29 of 41 for 329 yards for a passer rating of 110.7. It added on to a season that was already special entering Sunday night, as Young led the league in passing yards at the time.

The rest of the story — the rest of why the crowd was chanting for him — could be explained by everything else, though. By the way Young stood strong in a regularly porous pocket. By the way he and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik brought to life a quick offense — replete with run-pass options and quick slants and Young improvisational magic. By the way the quarterback wrung the most out of John Metchie and a tight-end-by-committee crew with two of his three starting receivers out.

It must’ve been Young. Had to have been, right?

No way they could’ve been referring to Tetairoa McMillan, too, right?

It would be a home-crowd-favoritism thing to do, surely, as McMillan didn’t have the season-to-date that Young has had. But McMillan had the kind of game that demanded some special attention. The second-year wide receiver finished with 14 catches on 16 targets for 192 yards and two touchdowns. It was the connection that the Panthers saw a bunch of last year — in McMillan’s Offensive Rookie of the Year season — but it was one that they were waiting on in 2026.

That connection came up big in the largest moment. It was a third-and-14 with just over three minutes to go in the game. Young rolled to his right, evading pressure, and threw a perfect pass along the sideline in which McMillan stretched his arms and hauled in the catch using all 6-foot-4 of him, his toes to his fingertips. That looked like, at the moment, it would seal the offensively charged contest.

The Panthers ultimately punted the ball to the Lions with just over two minutes remaining in the contest only up six — 32-26 — but the Panthers held strong for the win.

Here are three takeaways from the Sunday night’s electric game:

McMillan’s redemptive day

You could describe McMillan’s night in a few different ways.

You could call it historic. McMillan, by early in the third quarter, had notched his 11th catch for 162 yards and two touchdowns. That stat-line alone made him the third player in franchise history — and first since Steve Smith in 2005 — with 10-plus catches, 150-plus yards and a touchdown in a game. (Muhsin Muhammad was the other player, according to Panthers communications.)

You could call McMillan’s day redemptive, too. The second-year wideout didn’t even need until halftime to notch 110 yards, his season-high to date. His three previous games in 2026: 75 reception yards, then 101, then 17.

Last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year was also speedy. Shifty. Creative. Most important? He was dynamic.

Canales told reporters earlier in the week, after an evening in Cleveland in which he didn’t get many opportunities, that it was on the coaching staff to get McMillan involved in different ways. And that’s what happened. He was a menace in the quick game — particularly on run-pass option plays that essentially served as the Panthers’ run game before the rushing offense opened up in the second half — and even hauled the kind of 32-yard go-route in man coverage the Panthers used their No. 8 overall pick for a year ago.

A bruised Panthers secondary

The over/under in this contest was 50.5 total points. And that was handled in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers scoring so many points might’ve been a bit surprising. Jalen Coker was ruled out right before game time. Xavier Legette was placed on injured reserve on Saturday. Young was having to throw to McMillan — and then Metchie, Brycen Tremayne and a motley crew of other receivers.

But the Lions scoring? That was expected. The Panthers learned this week that they’d be without starting cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson — just in time for them to face a Top 5 offense led by quarterback Jared Goff, running back extraordinaire Jahmyr Gibbs and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

And the Lions took advantage.

The Panthers tried to scheme around it. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero deployed a lot of three-safety personnel packages on Sunday, with safety and everything-playmaker Tre’von Moehrig essentially serving as the team’s big nickel, or essentially a third inside linebacker. Safety Zakee Wheatley started and made some plays. Lathan Ransom stunted one drive when he lowered the boom on Gibbs in a first-half drive.

The extra defensive back only went so far, though. After the Lions’ seventh drive of the night — or the second drive of the second half — fourth-string cornerback Akayleb Evans was had been targeted eight times for six receptions for 136 receiving yards. Goff’s final numbers were quite impressive: 32 of 52 for 412 yards and one touchdown.

It worked out fine Sunday for the Panthers. And it even held out in perhaps the game’s most pivotal moment. On what turned out to be the Lions’ final consequential drive of the contest — with 7:02 left in the game, with the Panthers leading 32-19 — the defensive backfield bent but didn’t break and forced a turnover on downs that gave the ball to Young and let him try to seal it from there.

(The Lions suffered back-to-back delay of game penalties to force a fourth-and-20, yes. And the loud crowd certainly helped with that, sure. But some credit should go to a bludgeoned defense that did enough to win Sunday.)

Another handful of Panthers injuries to monitor

The Panthers also have a few ailments to keep track of during the Week 5 bye.

The two important ones:

Veteran pass rusher Jaelan Phillips appeared to tweak his hamstring during the game Sunday. He limped to the sideline in the fourth quarter and was immediately deemed questionable and was later downgraded to out.

Rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling exited Sunday’s contest early, too, with a knee injury. Reserve right tackle Stone Forsythe finished the game in Freeling’s stead

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