The Carolina Panthers lost to the Arizona Cardinals 27-22 in Week 2, dropping their record to 0-2 for the season. The game featured several notable performances and changes in player participation.
Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow scored two touchdowns, marking his first scores since January 7, 2023. Renfrow did not play during the 2024 season and had not previously recorded a multi-touchdown game since the end of the 2021 season.
Quarterback Bryce Young achieved his second career 300-yard passing game, finishing with a personal best of 328 yards. He also set career highs with 35 completions and 55 attempts, matching his career high of three touchdown passes. Most of Young’s production came in the second half, where he completed 24 of 38 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns after throwing for just 111 yards and an interception in the first half.
Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan reached his first career 100-yard receiving game with six receptions for exactly that amount. McMillan’s performance stands out as it is the earliest in a season that a Panthers rookie has reached this milestone. Previous rookies Kelvin Benjamin and Christian McCaffrey achieved similar marks in Week 3 of their respective seasons. In two games, McMillan has accumulated 11 receptions and 168 receiving yards—both are new team records for a rookie’s first two games.
Panthers tight ends combined for eleven catches totaling eighty-three yards against Arizona. Ja’Tavion Sanders tied for the team lead with six catches for fifty-four yards, while Tommy Tremble added three receptions for twenty yards. Rookie Mitchell Evans caught his first NFL pass on a nine-yard reception during the third quarter.
On defense, rookie outside linebacker Princely Umanmielen registered his first career sack—and Carolina’s first sack of the season—by tackling Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray for a nine-yard loss in the second quarter. This was the earliest a Panthers rookie defender has recorded their first sack since Brian Burns did so in Week 2 of his rookie year (2019). Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum also secured his first career interception during Sunday’s game.
The Panthers successfully executed an onside kick late in the fourth quarter when punter Sam Martin delivered a squib kick recovered by safety Demani Richardson after contact from a Cardinals player. This was Carolina’s first successful onside kick since December 1, 2019. Since last season’s rule change requiring teams to declare onside kicks only when trailing, league-wide success rates have dropped significantly; there were only three successful onside kicks across all teams during the entire previous NFL season.
Regarding snap counts, Hunter Renfrow saw increased playing time at receiver, participating in eighty-one percent of offensive snaps—a jump from sixty-six percent last week and his highest count since his Pro Bowl year with Las Vegas before missing time due to health issues. Offensive linemen Damien Lewis, Ikem Ekwonu, Taylor Moton, and quarterback Bryce Young played every offensive snap.
The team is awaiting MRI results on center Austin Corbett (knee) and guard Robert Hunt (biceps), both of whom left late in Sunday’s game due to injuries.
Defensively, Mike Jackson, Jaycee Horn, Christian Rozeboom, and Tre’von Moehrig played every snap; Nick Scott missed only one play over two weeks. Derrick Brown maintained consistent playing time at seventy-one percent of defensive snaps as coaches aim to manage his workload compared to previous seasons.
Rookie pass rushers Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen saw increased action compared to last week but veterans Patrick Jones II and D.J. Wonnum received most reps at outside linebacker positions.
Special teams contributions remained steady from last week with Claudin Cherelus, Thomas Incoom, and Demani Richardson leading participation numbers.
