Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young threw for three touchdowns on Sunday after having two TD passes in his first three NFL games. Young also increased his passing yardage for the third game in row, helmed three touchdown drives of 75 yards each, had his longest completion of the season and took only one sack.

But the Panthers lost to the Detroit Lions 42-24 to fall to 0-5 as the NFL’s only winless team in the 2023 season.

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“No one wants to be here, but it’s where we’re at,” Young said after the game, “so we’re talking about, obviously, we have to clean this stuff up and then we have to turn the page. We’re going to get back to work tomorrow, look at this stuff, see the stuff we need to correct, see the stuff we can build off of. No matter how bad anyone feels, no matter how bad we all feel, we own it in the locker room and there’s nothing that can get us to get the game back. All we can do is look towards next week. We all feel it, but we have to try to be as constructive as we can.”

Carolina coach Frank Reich reached for the Panthers’ long-time motto for direction and inspiration.

“Keep pounding,” Reich said. “You get to this position, and no one envisioned this. This is the embodiment of keep pounding. The only way you do that is if you believe, if you believe it’s going to make a difference. Otherwise, you just check out. And so, that’s the essence of keep pounding. It’s a mental toughness that even when things aren’t going your way, we go back in and try to have our best week of work ever this week because I think it will make a difference in me. I think it makes a difference in everybody who does that. And I believe our players will do that.

“It’s hard when you’re 0-5. But, shoot, there’s people in life it’s hard. Football is everything to us, but there’s people out there that that’s the essence and message of keep pounding. It applies to us; it applies to life. That’s all there is. Keep fighting to get better and know it’s going to make an impact. This year, tomorrow, in future days, but you keep pounding to get better.”

The No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft on April 27, Young completed 25-of-41 passes for 247 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

The two interceptions loomed large in the Panthers’ defeat.

“I own that,” Young said. “That’s on me. Two throws – the first one you wish you could just dirt on the screen and then the corner made a good play, but I have to do a better job of seeing that in Cover-2. Again, obviously, stuff you wish you could have back. It’s tough. You put your defense in a tough situation. They’re a really good team. They’re really good on offense as well, so it’s not like they need any handouts and you’ve already set them up. Those are on me, and I have to do a better job of eliminating those.”

Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson snagged the former Alabama All-American’s toss toward tight end Ian Thomas to put the Lions at the Carolina 20-yard line with 7:28 left in the first quarter. Detroit cashed in a touchdown for 14-0 lead.

Then came the sequence that doomed the Panthers.

With Carolina trailing 14-7, running back Miles Sanders lost a fumble at the Panthers 37-yard line with 10:07 left in the first half. The Lions capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown.

On Carolina’s next snap, cornerback Jerry Jacobs intercepted Young and ran to the Panthers 31-yard line.

The next play, Detroit quarterback Jared Goff threw a touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta as the Lions took a 28-7 lead with 3:21 left in the first half.

“There was no point where I was considering any change,” Reich said when asked if he thought about pulling Young for backup Andy Dalton.

Young threw two interceptions in his NFL debut – a 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 10 – and had played the intervening two games without one.

“You play the quarterback position and you touch the ball every play and throw it enough times, you’re going to make some,” Reich said when asked about the turnovers. “Been too many. We’ve had too many turnovers. They’re not all on Bryce. We had a couple of games there where he didn’t throw an interception, but we still got to look at every one and try to eliminate all of them. And I know he’s trying to do that, and I feel today, the one on the tight-end screen, that’s just kind of a fluke thing. A good play by them. And then the second one, he probably tried to force one in there that we probably shouldn’t have forced in there.”

The Panthers will play the Miami Dolphins at noon CDT Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Dolphins have a 4-1 record.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.