Matchups That Will Decide Panthers vs. Lions in Week 4

I have no idea what to expect from the Panthers Sunday night. They've played three completely different games so far. They got embarrassed by Chicago, turned around and beat Atlanta 34-3, then probably should've beaten Cleveland.

Now they get Detroit at home in prime time. There are a bunch of things we could talk about with this game, but I keep coming back to these four matchups.

Panthers Secondary vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown

I don't like this one at all.

Carolina just put Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson on injured reserve, and now Amon-Ra St. Brown comes to town. Of course he does.

St. Brown has 228 yards and five touchdowns already, but the five touchdowns are what really jump out to me. You can live with him catching some passes because he's Amon-Ra St. Brown. He's going to catch passes.

What you can't have is him getting into the end zone two or three times. I really don't know how Carolina is going to handle him without Horn and Jackson. Will Lee III is going to have to play a much bigger role, and I'm sure Ejiro Evero has something planned.

Whatever it is, it better work.

If St. Brown gets going early, especially with Jahmyr Gibbs in the backfield, too, this could turn into a long night pretty quickly.

Panthers Run Defense vs. Jahmyr Gibbs

Here we go again with the run defense.

I know I've talked about it enough already. But after watching Chicago run for 291 yards in Week 1, I'm going to keep bringing it up until I'm convinced that game was the exception and not something we're going to see again.

To Carolina's credit, it's been a lot better the last two weeks. Now let's see what happens against Jahmyr Gibbs.

Gibbs had 164 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns last week. He had 99 on the ground and another 65 receiving, which is the part that worries me. Carolina can do a pretty good job against the run, and Gibbs can still hurt them catching the ball.

I'm not asking the Panthers to completely take him out of the game. That's probably not happening. Just don't let him turn Sunday night into his own personal highlight reel.

We've already watched that once this season with D'Andre Swift. I don't need to see it again.

Panthers Offensive Line vs. Aidan Hutchinson

Sep 13, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) clebrates with guard Damien Lewis (68) after scoring a touchdown in the second half at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This might be the worst possible week for Carolina's offensive line to be banged up.

Bryce Young was pressured on 51 percent of his dropbacks against Cleveland, and now here comes Aidan Hutchinson. Monroe Freeling is in concussion protocol, Damien Lewis has an elbow injury, and both missed Wednesday's practice.

Not exactly what I wanted to see.

Hutchinson already has 3.5 sacks through three games, so he's going to get to Bryce Young at some point. I'm not expecting Carolina to completely shut him down because not many teams do. But there's a difference between Hutchinson making a couple of plays and letting him ruin the entire game.

And I know I sound like a broken record with this, but help Young out. Run the ball and don't put him in third-and-long all night. Most importantly, don't make him throw it 48 times again if you don't have to, especially with Hutchinson coming after him.

Bryce Young vs. Detroit's Secondary

This is probably the matchup I feel best about, although I'm not sure that says much. Detroit has some issues in the secondary, too. Kerby Joseph is still on the PUP list, and Avonte Maddox is out for the season, so there should be some chances for Bryce to make plays.

He threw for 291 yards against Cleveland, and somehow Carolina still only scored one touchdown. That's the part I can't get past. I don't care if Bryce throws for 300 Sunday night if Carolina keeps kicking field goals, because I just don't think that's going to be enough against Detroit.

Maybe Tetairoa McMillan has a big game. Maybe Jalen Coker is healthy enough to go, or maybe somebody we haven't talked much about finally shows up. I don't really care how they do it, but somebody has to make some plays and get this offense into the end zone.

Out of all four matchups, St. Brown against this secondary still worries me the most. Maybe Carolina finds a way to slow him down, and maybe Evero comes up with something I haven't thought about. I just know if the Panthers can survive St. Brown, keep Gibbs from going crazy, and give Young enough time to throw the football, they've got a chance.

And right now, that's about as far as I'm willing to go with this team.

Add us as a preferred source on Google