The Carolina Panthers came out of the bye week with a big road win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The victory improves Carolina to 3-2 and moves the team above .500 for the first time this season.

A shorthanded Eagles team didn’t mean it was going to be an easy afternoon. The Panthers had to tough this one out in Philadelphia, but head coach Dave Canales’ team found a way to get the job done and keep the momentum rolling.

Still, there are plenty of areas for improvement after what we saw Sunday. So, here are the biggest winners and losers from Carolina’s win.

Winner: Bryce Young continued to put up really strong stats despite a slow start

Quarterback Bryce Young didn’t have a statement game compared to his last one we saw in Week 4, but he still had a good one. He threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, which will keep him statistically among the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Young was already leading the league in passing yards per game going into Sunday. Another near-300-yard performance keeps him in the mix for the MVP race as the season approaches the end of its first third.

Winner: Chuba Hubbard continues to be a workhorse for this offense

Chuba Hubbard continues to take the workhorse role seriously. Carolina dealt with plenty of issues in the backfield this week. Jonathon Brooks is on IR, and AJ Dillon was out for this game. The Panthers had to bring up Tre Tyus and activate Trevor Etienne for the first time this season.

Even with all of the roster shifting, Hubbard still dominated as the main back on Sunday. He finished with 28 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. Etienne was the only other running back to get a carry, and it went for a loss of one yard.

That formula is working for now. However, you don’t want Hubbard handling close to 30 carries every week, especially this early in the season. We’ll see how the backfield share changes going forward, but the Panthers didn’t lean away from him Sunday, and he continued to make the most of every opportunity.

Winner: Jalen Coker picked up right where he left off

Jalen Coker made a welcome return after missing the last game with a quad injury. He led the team with 13 targets and turned them into six receptions for 97 yards, including a 32-yard completion that stood as the big play of the game.

Coker has turned into more than a big-play threat for this offense. He’s really been a standout player all year long and developing into a trusted playmaker for Young. Combined with Tetairoa McMillan, who also topped 80 yards on six receptions, Carolina has a two-man receiver room that can carry this offense as long as both stay healthy.

Winner: Don’t sleep on Tommy Tremble

Few people expected Tommy Tremble to be the tight end making noise in this game. Most of the hype in the tight end room has surrounded Darren Waller and how he looked in this offense, but Waller finished with zero receptions on two targets.

Tremble stepped up instead with four catches for 46 yards and two touchdowns. Having multiple tight ends who can threaten defenses alongside the top two receivers gives Young weapons all around him, even after the injuries Carolina has dealt with this season.

Winner: Defense came to play

Defensively, the Panthers were going into this game with a favorable matchup with no Jalen Hurts and no Saquon Barkley for the Eagles’ offense. Carolina held Philadelphia to 14 points and 35 yards rushing. The latter is a big improvement for this unit.

In the passing game, Bobby Okereke, Devin Lloyd, Tre’von Moehrig, and Jaelan Phillips all got to the quarterback throughout the afternoon. It was enough to get the job done, but it comes with a slight asterisk considering who they were going up against.

Loser: End-of-half clock management

Several manageable issues in this game fall on Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik. The biggest came at the end of the first half.

The Panthers had around 30 seconds left, all three timeouts, and were knocking on the door of field goal range. Instead of pushing for points, Carolina let the clock run out and went into halftime with nothing to show for the drive.

Later in the second half, the Panthers had another situational issue after the offense took a delay of game penalty on fourth-and-1. That backed them up and forced a punt.

Those are strange decisions you don’t want to see. Winning helps cover them up, but if the Panthers were on the losing end, those mistakes would be magnified on the coaching staff.

Loser: Something is going on with Robert Hunt, and it’s something to watch

Robert Hunt is a situation Carolina has brewing long term on the offensive line. He’s one of the team’s highest-paid players, and the Panthers have a lot of money invested in him. He hasn’t looked like his usual self this season, to say the least.

Sunday brought two more illegal man downfield penalties, and Hunt looked lost at times in pass protection. That came in a game where Taylor Moton was back beside him at right tackle and Damien Lewis returned at left guard after missing the last game.

Carolina hoped to finally get close to full strength up front for the first time this season. Yet, Hunt remains a concerning player to watch. If this level of play continues, he could be a player the Panthers end up moving on from after the 2026 season.