CHARLOTTE — The Panthers made it clear how they felt about Jaycee Horn this offseason when they gave him a contract extension to make him one of the foundational pieces of this team.

The league now shares that opinion — he is established now.

For the second straight season, Horn has been named to the Pro Bowl team, the first Panthers player to go in back-to-back years since Brian Burns in 2021 and 2022.

Horn's tied for second in the NFL with five interceptions. That number's a career high, and in fact, matches his career total from his first four seasons.

But opponents generally don't throw his way for a reason.

Other than a defensive pass interference call against Mike Evans in last week's win, he wasn't targeted once in 29 coverage snaps Sunday, as the Panthers won to pull into first place in the NFC South with two games to play.

"I didn't really get a lot of work," Horn said with a laugh.

It's unusual for a team to completely ignore one side of the field, but that's the kind of impact Horn has on a game plan.

"For Jaycee, I saw him just, really just challenging things on a down-in and down-out basis," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said Monday. "He should feel that confidence; he's long, he's fast, he's aggressive, he's got a great mind, a competitive mind where he understands concepts and things that are happening, and I loved watching him in the aggressive style that he played with yesterday."

Horn also creates opportunities for others by virtue of his lockdown ability.

With fellow starting cornerback Mike Jackson getting more traffic, he's making more plays, and is tied for the league lead with 17 passes defensed.

But that's just part of the impact Horn makes. He made a critical run-stop in Sunday's win as well, shaking off a block from Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield to save a touchdown by dropping running back Sean Tucker and forcing the Bucs to settle for a field goal.

That was a four-point swing in a three-point game, indicative of the kind of impact Horn is capable of having.

"Just standing up when we need to stand up, that's big," he said Sunday. "When you get down there, you want to hold them to three any time you can. It's a four-point play, so I was just able to. Glad I was able to get off the field and hold them to three points."