Sunday Night Football in North Carolina! The Carolina Panthers (1-2) welcome the Detroit Lions (2-1) to town in Week 4 and to no ones surprise, the game total is 50.5, which ranks as the highest game total of the week!
Detroit is coming off a 31-24 win over New York that came down to the wire. The Lions forced a fumble on Geno Smith with 51 seconds remaining to seal the win after Jahmyr Gibbs capped off a four-play 65-yard touchdown drive to go ahead. Detroit has now had two games come down to the final drive and put up 31 points on Buffalo in a losing effort. The Lions offense has been humming with 31 points in all three games, but the defense has surrendered 30, 41, and 24. Detroit’s defense has allowed the fifth-highest completion percentage (69.4%), plus the second-most passing yards (979) and passing touchdowns (9). With rain incoming for this game, it will be interesting how much Carolina attacks the Detroit secondary — and vice versa.
Carolina enters this game beat up. The Panthers put both starting cornerbacks on the IR, Jaycee Horn (quads) and Mike Jackson (groin), plus wide receiver Xavier Legette (knee). Wide out Jalen Coker (quads) and NT Lee Hunter (foot) are also questionable, so Carolina could be down four to five starters. Bryce Young threw a season-high 48 times against Cleveland and ranks third in the NFL (121) for pass attempts entering the week. Young finished with 291 yards, but it wasn’t enough as Cleveland won 21-18. Chuba Hubbard went for 82 of Carolina’s 98 rushing yards and the Panthers held the Browns to 4.1 yards per play and only 259 yards of offense.
Let’s dive into the numbers and see if we can’t find an additional sweat or two.
NBC Sports has all the latest info and analysis you need, including how to tune in for kickoff, odds from DraftKings, player news and updates, and of course our predictions and best bets for the game from our staff of experts.
Game details and how to watch Lions at Panthers
· Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
· Time: 8:20 PM ET
· Site: Bank of American Stadium
· City: Charlotte, NC
· TV/Streaming: NBC | Peacock
NBC Sports is your home for all the latest updates on this matchup, featuring live odds, player news, expert analysis, and predictions.
Latest Game Odds for Panthers at Lions
The latest odds courtesy of DraftKings:
· Moneyline: Detroit Lions (-180), Carolina Panthers (+150)
· Spread: Lions -3.5
· Total: 50.5
The look ahead for this game was Detroit -3 with a game total of 47.5. Current form with Detroit’s offense mixed with Carolina’s injuries at cornerback likely moved these lines.
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Expert picks & predictions for Panthers at Lions
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes Bryce Young to go Under his completions prop:
“Bryce Young’s completions prop of 21.5 is something I think I will get involved with the Under. Most of the analytics are going to point toward the Over. Young has cleared this three times, Carolina is an underdog, and Detroit has bottom-five numbers defending the pass — all point toward an Over. However, the weather will impact this game and could these teams to go more conservative and rely on the run. If Carolina wants to rely on Young to throw 36-plus times a game, then they will lose a lot of games this year. I will likely be on Young’s Under 21.5 completions or Under 35.5 pass attempts if the line moves up from 34.5.”
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Lions at Panthers betting trends and stats
- Detroit is 0-2-1 ATS and 3-0 to the Over
- Carolina is 1-2 ATS and 2-1 to the Under
- Detroit is 2-0 to the Over as a favorite and 0-1-1 ATS
- Carolina is 1-0 to the Over as a underdog and 0-1 ATS
- The Panthers are 0-1 ATS at home and 10-8 ATS since 2024
- The Lions are 0-1 ATS on the road and 11-7 ATS since 2024
- Detroit is 4-6 ATS since the start of 2025 with equal rest
- Carolina is 8-6 ATS since the start of 2025 with equal rest
Quarterback matchup for Lions at Panthers
· Detroit: Jared Goff – Goff has an 8:0 TD to INT ratio to start the year and has led Detroit to 31 points in all three games, that’s consistency. The Lions offense is humming to the 10th-quickest pace of play and it’s resulted in the second-most red zone passes (23) for Goff and 2.58 seconds to throw (22nd). There’s certainly been some trade offs with not as much running back depth, but ranks top 10 in play action completion percentage (65.9%) thanks to the impact of Gibbs. Goff has top five ranks in the NFL when it comes to blitzing, pressure, deep ball, and clean pocket completion percentages this season. We’ll see how much pressure Carolina can get this season as Goff’s been sacked six times in the last two games.
· Carolina: Bryce Young – Bryce Young’s been asked to sling the rock this year. Young has 939 yards (2nd) through three games on the the third-most pass attempts (121) entering the week. Young has completed 59.5% of those passes with the fifth-worst catchable pass rate (61.2%). One area that has improved is the deep ball. Young is throwing deep more and ranks third in deep ball attempts (19), second in air yards (1,117), and eighth in deep ball completion percentage (52.6%). One are that’s a problem is no matter if he has a clean pocket, blitzed, or pressured, Young ranks bottom 10 in the NFL in completion percentage, so that may speak more on him than the line or receivers.
Lions at Panthers Injury Update
- Lions CB DJ Reed (ribs) is questionable
- Lions CB Avante Maddox (foot) was placed on IR
- Panthers CB Jaycee Horn (quads)
- Panthers CB Mike Jackson (groin) went on IR
- Carolina WR Xavier Legette (knee)
- Carolina WR Jalen Coker (quads) is questionable
- Caorlina NT Lee Hunter (foot) is questionable
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- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
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