CHARLOTTE. N.C. -- — Panthers coach Dave Canales preached to his players this past week about not allowing things to spiral out of control following a 29-point road loss to New England.

They apparently listened.

Bryce Young threw a go-ahead, 4-yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Mitchell Evans with 1:59 remaining, Rico Dowdle ran for 206 yards and a score, and Carolina overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to beat the Miami Dolphins 27-24 on Sunday.

The Panthers (2-3) remained unbeaten at home and equaled a franchise record with their 17-point comeback. Carolina improved to 4-117 (including playoffs) when trailing by 17 or more.

“I think it was a great message that carried over,” Young said. “Obviously not the start that we want, but for us to be able to refocus. (Canales) talks about that all the time, about being able to refocus from the good from the bad, whatever it may be, and you saw that in all phases. Regardless of what was going on with the scoreboard, just to able to refocus on go on to the next play."

Young completed 19 of 30 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns after turning the ball over on Carolina’s first two possessions, leading to two touchdown passes by Tua Tagovailoa and a 17-0 Miami lead.

Making his first start for the Panthers in place of the injured Chuba Hubbard, Dowdle matched the second-highest rushing total in franchise history despite having to leave the game on multiple occasions in the second half because of cramping.

Dowdle had runs of 53 and 43 yards in the second half and Carolina, playing without three injured offensive linemen, outgained Miami 237 yards to 19 on the ground.

“Explosive, dynamic,” Young said when asked what he learned about Dowdle. “On every down he can do everything in the running game, the pass game, the screen game. Again, nothing surprising.”

Dowdle, a free-agent pickup from Dallas, came within 5 yards of breaking the franchise single-game rushing record held by DeAngelo Williams.

Said Miami coach Mike McDaniel: “I think we were outgained by 200 yards in the run game. That is not good enough. You’ll rarely win — if ever.”

Tagovailoa finished 27 of 36 for 256 yards with TD passes to De’Von Achane, Darren Waller and Jaylen Waddle in Miami’s first game since Tyreek Hill sustained a season-ending knee injury.

The Panthers finally took the lead midway through the fourth quarter on a 1-yard TD run by Dowdle, but Tagovailoa answered quickly with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Waddle to put the Dolphins ahead 24-20 with 4:50 left.

The Panthers responded with an impressive drive sparked by Young's 17-yard pass to rookie Jimmy Horn on fourth-and-5. Evans' TD catch was his second score in two games. Horn made his debut after being inactive the first four weeks.

The Dolphins (1-4) had a chance to retake the lead, but Patrick Jones II sacked Tagovailoa for a 7-yard loss on third-and-10. McDaniel elected to punt with 1:10 left.

On Carolina's ensuing drive, Miami's Jack Jones was flagged for pass interference on Hunter Renfrow on a third-down play, giving Carolina a game-sealing first down.

“No one wants to start the season 1-4,” said Tagovailoa, who was sacked three times. “There’s just so many things that go into it. And we’ve got to figure this out. And we’ve got to figure this out now. This feeling sucks.”

The momentum changed late in the second quarter when Young found struggling wide receiver Xavier Legette for a 7-yard touchdown strike to cut the lead to 17-7 on a play where he threw to a spot in the end zone, hoping and expecting that Legette would be there to make the catch.

“We call them trust throws,” Legette said. “For him to throw me that to me right there showed that he believed in me.”

Legette had come into the game with just 8 yards receiving on four catches this season and had sat out the last two games with a hamstring injury.

Canales said he was in tears as Legette came to the sideline after the score.

“I'm very proud of the work he has put in,” Canales said of Legette, the team's first-round pick in 2024. “I see him grinding and attacking the things he needs to work on in practice. He's not shying away from it. He looked in the mirror and these are the things I need to improve on.”

Canales praised his team for responding to adversity.

“I saw us take a step in terms of just staying together,” Canales said.

Up next

Dolphins: Host the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday.

Panthers: Host Dallas next Sunday.

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