Among Sunday's NFL matchups was a showdown between two of the NFC's top teams right now. The Detroit Lions hosted the Carolina Panthers at Ford Field with quite a game playing out. The game saw both quarterbacks stepping up for the teams, including Matthew Stafford trying to lead his team to the comeback win late. However, it was Cam Newton and the Panthers with the big play in the final moments to move to 4-1 for their season. Here's the latest Panthers vs. Lions game recap with top performers, game statistics, a standings update, and what's up next for these teams.

NFL game recap

Sunday's game started out knotted up at 3-3 after each team had field goals in the first quarter. Carolina would jump ahead in the second quarter after two touchdowns thrown by Newton. The Panthers too a 17-10 lead into the half before scoring another 10 points in the fourth quarter. Cam Newton continued to be the driving force in the game, but Matthew Stafford came alive in the fourth throwing two TDs despite hobbling around on the field. In the final minutes of the game, Cam Newton completed a huge first-down pass and the Panthers were able to run the clock out due to Detroit being out of timeouts.

While Carolina's ground game only came up with a total of 28 yards, Cam Newtown played another stellar game, throwing for over 350 yards today.

Newton ended up with 355 yards and three touchdowns on 26-for-33 passing He found several targets today, but it was Ed Dickson who had five catches for 175 yards. Three touchdowns were scattered amongst Devin Funchess, Kelvin Benjamin, and Panthers rookie Christian McCaffrey.

The Detroit Lions received a big game from their quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The Lions QB went 23-for-35 for 229 yards and two touchdowns but was also sacked six times for a loss of 37 yards. Stafford also came up limping during the second half of the game and had to have his foot taped up to finish the game out. However, he managed to help his team with the two late touchdown passes in the fourth which made it a 27-24 game.

What's up next?

Today's big win on the road makes it two-straight for the Carolina Panthers over top-notch opponents. The week prior it was Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, and now Cam's Panthers have taken down Matthew Stafford's Lions. This puts Carolina at 4-1 for the season so far and in the lead for the NFC South Division. It's going to be a short week for the Panthers as they're slated to play in Thursday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles starting at 8:25 p.m. Eastern Time in Charlotte.

Matt Stafford and the Detroit Lions fall to 3-2 for their season but still look like an NFL Playoff team from the NFC. They'll need to keep an eye on Stafford for potential injuries going forward. The team is just 1-2 on their home field this season. Next up for Detroit will be an away game against the New Orleans Saints next Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
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