Bryce Young throws for 2 TDs and leads Panthers to 25-14 win over injury-riddled Eagles

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Young hit Tommy Tremble for a touchdown and Carolina's tight end went into full Rocky Balboa mode.

Tremble feigned two rights and then delivered an uppercut with his left hand for a pantomime knockout of a Panthers teammate in an end-zone celebration.

The once-mighty Philadelphia Eagles — two seasons removed from a Super Bowl championship — have suddenly turned into an NFL punching bag.

Young threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns to Tremble, and Chuba Hubbard ran for 120 yards and a score to lead the Panthers past the injury-riddled Eagles 25-14 on Sunday.

Tremble did everything but run the Rocky steps.

“Great fight in the guys,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said.

The Panthers (3-2) had little trouble in the second half picking apart the Eagles (2-4), who have lost four straight games for the first time since 2020 and were missing quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley.

Hurts is on injured reserve and will miss at least four games with a blood clot in his calf. Barkley missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury and Will Shipley and Tank Bigsby, his two backups, were also sidelined by injuries.

The quarterback showdown between Young and Eagles backup Tanner McKee seemed like a mismatch entering the day. McKee, in his fourth season, made his third career start and first one without the Eagles having already clinched a playoff berth.

McKee was sacked for an 11-yard loss on the Eagles’ first play from scrimmage and he nearly had a pass intercepted on second down. The 26-year-old’s outing never got much better, and he finished 26 of 45 for 215 yards and a touchdown. He hit DeVonta Smith — who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury — for a 19-yard TD that pulled the Eagles within 19-14 early in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles forced a three-and-out and then wasted their drive when McKee lost 12 yards on a fumble. It was one of several examples of miscommunication affecting the offense.

“Whether it was guys in the wrong spot, I’ve got to get them fixed or a missed call, I’ve got to get it fixed,” McKee said.

Young was happy to take advantage of the Eagles' miscues. He sealed the win with his second TD pass to Tremble, a 19-yarder for a 25-14 lead.

Young even heard “MVP!” chants for a small group of Panthers fans there were about the only ones left inside the stadium at the end.

“All the Panthers fans being able to be out here all the way in Philly and feeling the support,” Young said. “We all show that. We all feed off of that. Whether it’s here or there, the support for all of us is huge.”

Young — who threw a 12-yard TD pass to Tremble in the second quarter — bailed out the Panthers late in the third on third-and-8 at their own 10 when he connected with Jalen Coker for a 32-yard gain. Young extended the drive with a 15-yard completion, and the Panthers converted a fourth-and-1 when Hubbard found a hole for a 19-yard run.

Hubbard finished the drive in the fourth with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 19-7 lead. Carolina’s 2-point attempt failed.

A week after the Eagles lost by a field goal on the final play against Jacksonville in London, Ryan Fitzgerald made kicks of 47 and 52 yards for the Panthers. The latter made it 13-7 and was his 11th straight successful attempt to open the season. He did miss an extra point.

The Eagles are in a world of hurt without Hurts and were forced to turn to McKee, who had lost his grip on the No. 2 spot in training camp. He regained the backup job after the Eagles cut Andy Dalton, but he looked out of place all game. Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion did him no favors by calling a series of failed screen and swing passes.

McKee threw a third-and-14 sideline pass for Smith in the third quarter that sailed out of bounds against one of the worst defenses in the NFL and was greeted by boos.

The struggling offense isn’t all on McKee. The Eagles were shut out in the third quarter and have scored only six points in that quarter all season. Philadelphia had only 37 total yards in the first quarter and punted on its first five drives.

Dameon Pierce scored on a 2-yard run to cut Carolina’s lead to 10-7 at halftime.

The Panthers were penalized 13 times for 149 yards.

“A lot of times these are effort penalties, and guys are trying too hard in different situations,” Canales said.

Panthers: OLB Jaelan Phillips aggravated a hamstring injury. ... OLB Thomas Incoom suffered a calf injury.

Eagles: Edge rusher Nolan Smith left in the first half with a concussion after he absorbed helmet-to-helmet contact with Hubbard. ... RB Carson Steele suffered a shoulder injury. ... DT Jordan Davis injured an ankle.

Panthers: Host Tampa Bay next Sunday.

Eagles: Host Dallas on Monday, Oct. 26.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard scores a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) is brought down by Philadelphia Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba (24) as Eagles linebacker Zack Baun leaps during the second half of an NFL football game in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Carolina Panthers safety Zakee Wheatley breaks up a pass intended for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith, right, during the second half of an NFL football game in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble scores a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee, right, attempts a pass under pressure from Carolina Panthers inside linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) during the second half of an NFL football game in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Carolina Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd sacks Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee during the second half of an NFL football game in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard, left, is tackled by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. during the second half of an NFL football game in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young looks to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young reacts to his touchdown pass to Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Drew Rasmussen allowed one run over seven innings for his second postseason win, Tampa Bay’s offense kept on constant pressure and the Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 Sunday night to take a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series.

The Rays have won the last two games and will try to capture their third AL pennant and first since 2020 on Monday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“Momentum is big in this sport and we have it -- and we’re going to keep it," outfielder Jonny DeLuca said.

Since the ALCS expanded to seven games in 1985, road teams winning Game 5 for a 3-2 lead have won the series four of five times.

Game 7 if needed would be Tuesday, and the World Series starts Friday at NL champion Milwaukee.

Rasmussen gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six.

“The way he limited anything was really, really impressive," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He got in rhythm with the fastball. A lot of power to everything. Then the depth on the changeup throughout the outing was a big pitch for him.”

Tampa Bay scored single runs in each of the first three innings, the first two off Parker Messick and the third against Tim Herrin. The Guardians scored in the seventh but stranded runners in the eighth and ninth innings.

Cleveland has not won an ALCS when trailing 3-2 while the Rays are 58-27 at home this year, including the postseason.

The Guardians are seeking their first World Series title since 1948.

“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s a really good team and a really good team when they play at home, especially," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "@e know this is going to be tough but if there’s a group I’m betting on to get this done, it’s our guys.”

Rasmussen had given up two runs over six innings in the opener. After Chase DeLauter’s two-out single in the first, the 31-year-old right-hander retired nine straight batters and allowed only one other baserunner through the sixth.

“Ras has done it all year, shutting them down like he did tonight," shortstop Taylor Walls said. "Sometimes it’s a little boring when he’s mowing guys down, but it was fun tonight because Cleveland was putting the ball in play. Credit to them for doing that and giving us the chance to make plays.”

Rasmussen said the biggest change was he was able to command his changeup better. He used it only 12 times in Game 1, but threw it 27 times on Sunday, includng 21 for strikes.

“We were able to attack with the change-up a lot more tonight than we did, like I said, in Game 1. The ability to drive the cutter to the top I thought was also another strength,” said Rasmussen, who is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three postseason starts, striking out 23 and walking three.

Cam Booser and Tyler Wells worked the eighth, with Wells striking out José Ramírez to strand a runner.

Bryan Baker came in for the ninth and converted his 35th straight save chance, his fifth of this postseason. Jo Adell was on second base when Travis Bazzana hit a game-ending groundout.

Tampa Bay’s leadoff hitter reached base in the first four innings — scoring in the first three frames — and six times overall. Rays' leadoff batters have reached in 10 of 14 innings dating to Saturday.

Yandy Díaz had three hits while Aranda and Liam Hicks both had two hits and drove in a run.

Díaz scored on a bases-loaded walk by Messick to Jonny DeLuca in the first inning. Díaz led off with a line-drive double over center fielder Petey Halpin that rolled to the wall.

Aranda’s single drove in Ben Williamson for a 2-0 lead in the second, and Hicks looped a curveball from Herrin to center to score Chandler Simpson in the third.

“I think we took advantage of getting ourselves in some favorable counts and getting some big hits,” Cash said. “We probably left some opportunities out there, and then they go to the bullpen, and it’s really challenging to piece together big innings when they’re mixing and matching from the third or fourth inning, whatever it was, on.”

Steven Kwan had two of Cleveland’s five hits and made two fine defensive plays: He threw out Walls trying to score from second base on Jonathan Aranda’s fourth-inning single to left and made a leaping catch at the center-field wall on Victor Mesa Jr.’s eighth-inning drive, saving a run.

Cleveland finally threatened in the seventh when Kwan and Ramírez singled to put runners at the corners and DeLauter grounded an RBI single between first and second.

Messick had the shortest outing of his big league career and didn’t make it past the third inning for the second time in four postseason starts. The 25-year-old left-hander went two innings and allowed two runs, five hits and three walks over two innings, throwing just 34 of 57 pitches for strikes.

Tampa Bay will go with right-hander Freddy Peralta (1-0, 0.79 ERA), who will make his third appearance of the series. He started Game 2 and threw six scoreless innings before pitching two-thirds of an inning on Saturday. Cleveland has not named a starter, but Vogt ruled out using right-hander Gavin Williams.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez throws out Tampa Bay Rays' Chandler Simpson at first during the eighth inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tampa Bay Rays' Liam Hicks watches his RBI-single against the Cleveland Guardians during the third inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Parker Messick reacts after walking in a run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tampa Bay Rays' Ben Williamson scores past Cleveland Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey during the second inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen celebrates the end of the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)