Panthers defense looks to slow down Jared Goff and the Lions while missing both starting cornerbacks

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers found themselves in a precarious position last November, facing a red hot Matthew Stafford without three defensive starters, including standout cornerback Jaycee Horn.

But the double-digit underdog Panthers defied odds that day, forcing three Stafford turnovers and getting three touchdown passes from Bryce Young to knock off the Los Angeles Rams 31-28.

The Panthers (1-2) will look to borrow a page from that playbook Sunday night when they host Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs and the rest of the high-powered Detroit Lions offense.

Carolina's defense is once again ravaged by injuries.

The Panthers placed starting cornerbacks Horn and Mike Jackson on injured reserve Wednesday. They'll both miss about eight weeks.

“People say next man up, and that’s really what it is,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “I go to the excitement for the opportunity for the guys that are going to play. These opportunities are few and far between, and so ... when guys have a chance to come in and contribute to the team, it changes them. It energizes them."

The Panthers will turn to Akayleb Evans and rookie Will Lee III to fill those spots, leaving them thin on experience in the secondary. Evans has started 15 games — but only two since 2024 — while Lee makes his first start.

The Lions (2-1) present a huge challenge for the Panthers defense with Gibbs.

He's averaging more than 100 yards per game on the ground with four touchdowns rushing. He also has 18 receptions for 165 yards with two more TDs.

The Panthers were able a slow down a similar high-profile running back in Week 2, limiting Atlanta's Bijan Robinson to 81 yards from scrimmage while keeping him out of the end zone in a 34-3 win. A similar game plan is expected Sunday night.

The difference is the Lions have Goff at quarterback, as opposed to Cooper Rush.

Carolina appears better equipped this season on offense should this game morph into a shootout, which is entirely possible given that the Lions offense has scored at least 31 points in all three games and their defense is surrendering a league-high 31.7 points per game.

Young is also off to the best start of his career.

He leads the NFL in yards passing and has seven TD passes. Under Young, the Panthers are in the top seven in the league in scoring and total offense.

Detroit (2-1) at Carolina (1-2).

When/where to watch: Sunday, 8:20 p.m., EDT, NBC.

Latest odds: Lions by 3 1/2.

Against the spread: Lions 0-2-1, Panthers 1-2.

Last week: Lions beat Jets 31-24; Panthers lost to Browns 21-18.

Last meeting: Lions beat Panthers 42-24 on Oct. 8, 2023, in Detroit.

Series record: Panthers lead 8-4.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta vs Panthers LB Devin Lloyd. LaPorta, who has 14 catches for 144 yards and one touchdown through three games, is facing a potentially favorable matchup. Carolina has struggled mightily against tight ends in recent seasons and Cleveland's Harold Fannin Jr. just burned the Panthers for seven receptions for 51 yards and two TDs last week, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. With the Panthers likely to shift coverage to help out their cornerbacks, that could leave more opportunities for LaPorta. The good news for the Panthers is Lloyd is expected back in the starting lineup after sitting out against the Browns with a calf injury. Lloyd could draw LaPorta in coverage for most of the game.

— Jared Goff is one of six quarterbacks in league history to have 800 yards passing, eight touchdowns, no interceptions while completing 70% of passes through the first three games of a season.

— Detroit has 12 sacks, trailing only Minnesota’s 14 entering Week 4. The Lions have four players with two sacks through three games for the first time in franchise history.

— Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown joined LaDainian Tomlinson and Keenan McCardell (2005 with Chargers) as the only running back-receiver combos in the NFL to score multiple touchdowns twice in the first three games of a season.

— Carolina is 6-1 at home against the Lions. Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard ran for 125 yards while averaging a career-best 10.4 yards per carry in the last meeting in Charlotte.

— Carolina's defense ranks second in the league in takeaways (7).

— Last year's AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan has 12 catches for 193 yards through three games, but is still looking for his first touchdown. A year ago, McMillan went six games before scoring his first TD.

— The Panthers have been penalized 27 times, third-most in the league.

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) runs against Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward (21) during the first half of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham (94) sacks Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) during the first half of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs celebrates his touchdown run during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Lions' Jared Goff throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts pulled up at the International Space Station on Thursday after launching on an eight-hour express that set a U.S. speed record.

The fresh arrivals include a Canadian whose wife will give birth while he’s away.

SpaceX launched commander Jessica Watkins and her crew for NASA after a three-week delay to fix their Dragon capsule’s leaking fuel system. Thick clouds threatened all morning to halt the countdown but in the end, the skies cleared enough to allow for a safe liftoff.

Although their stay at the International Space Station will last a long six months, the flight there was the quickest yet not only for Elon Musk’s company, but any American entity, including NASA. The space station's convenient location when the astronauts launched enabled the fast transit.

With the late morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. A geologist who worked with NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity a decade ago, Watkins is making her second trip to the space station following a lengthy stay in 2022.

“Thanks for an amazing ride,” Watkins radioed following liftoff.

The others are newcomers to space: NASA’s Luke Delaney, a retired Marine; Canada’s Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner. They will replace four astronauts who have been living at the orbiting laboratory since February.

This was the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for NASA, not counting 2020s test flight. All four embrace their Crew-13 designation that pays homage in their mission patch to Apollo 13. The harrowing 1970 moonshot ended with the astronauts’ safe return.

References to the number 13 abounded Thursday. Watkins and her crew rode to the launch pad in black Teslas bearing plates that read “Lucky 13.” What's more, they carried up a small crocheted golden dragon named Lucky with a four-leaf clover around its neck.

“We figured it wouldn't hurt to bring a little of our own luck just in case, but clearly we don't need it,” Watkins said from orbit, noting they were “four of the luckiest humans on or off planet Earth.”

Kutryk will become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth. Wife Heather is due to give birth to their third child in late November. The Canadian Space Agency promises plenty of support for the entire family when the big day comes.

“A lot of life-changing things can happen over six months,” NASA manager Dana Weigel said on the eve of liftoff, noting that the space agency will do its best to keep Kutryk looped in to his family.

In 2004, NASA provided a radio link between space station astronaut Mike Fincke and his wife’s delivery room during the birth of their daughter. Five years later, Randy Bresnik, commander of next year’s Artemis III mission, dialed in to his wife’s hospital from orbit.

The happy news traveled more slowly for Austrian astronaut Franz Viehbock. His daughter was born a few hours after he launched to the Soviet Union’s Mir space station in 1991. He was not informed until the next day.

SpaceX, meanwhile, is on a roll. Three hours after Crew-13 blasted off, SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket from California with more than 100 mini satellites. Another Falcon was set to soar late Thursday night from Florida, with a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. All this comes the same week that the company's massive Starship reached orbit for the first time.

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Astronaut Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The booster from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to pad 40 after launching the crew capsule at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia, greets family and friends as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Pilot Luke Delaney, left, and commander Jessica Watkins leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Commander Jessica Watkins greets family and friends as she leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Astronauts, from left, Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, pilot Luke Delaney, commander Jessica Watkins and Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Astronauts, from left, Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, pilot Luke Delaney, commander Jessica Watkins and Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)