CHARLOTTE — Derrick Brown is a man of few words.

But by the end of the night, the Carolina Panthers were a defense of few people.

And somehow, it still worked, and they held on for a 32-26 win over the Lions.

Despite putting one of the best pairs of cornerbacks in the NFL on injured reserve on Wednesday (where they joined starting pass rusher Nic Scourton), and despite their highest-paid defensive free agent Jaelan Phillips being unable to finish the game with a hamstring injury, and despite the fact they were playing a bunch of kids who have literally never been in a spot like this, it worked.

"It's a resilient group, man," Brown said simply. "It's a next man up attitude."

That's far easier to say than to pull off, especially the way the Panthers did it Sunday night.

Without Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson, they entered the game with four cornerbacks, including rookie Will Lee III, who is quickly becoming known for his timeliness and confidence.

So naturally, with the Lions trying to drive for a game-winning touchdown (with the margin that close thanks to a couple of missed extra points earlier in the game), the guy who stopped them a yard short of converting that fourth-and-13 was Will Lee.

"It just says we're a confident group, and you know we can step up for each other," Lee said. "When one man goes down, we're not going to flinch, and we're able to step up and help each other out. We all got each other's back, we're a brotherly people, and we're just here to play ball and operate together as a family."

Again, that's easier to say, but when you're out there with some second and third cousins, twice removed, it makes it harder to do.

Even within the context of that final Detroit series (when NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was repeatedly saying he expected the Lions to score and win), the Panthers showed a flair for drama. Quarterback Jared Goff found wideout Isaac TeSlaa with space to operate on fourth-and-13, and Lee and Lathan Ransom had to work to get him down before momentum carried him forward to keep the game moving.

"It was exciting," Lee laughed. "I feel like that's how the defense wants to end the game. They want to be on the field. They want to end the game, get that stop. It brings the energy; it shows that the defense is built to play fourth quarters.

"I kind of hesitated a little bit when I saw him go in; I kind of stopped and hesitated my feet a little bit. And then I saw Jared throw the check down, so I was like, 'Oh, I've got to drive on this.' And then when I looked up, I saw he was behind the sticks. I was like, we're off the field. We won."

And while he was confident, he's learned enough to make sure.

"Yeah, I double-checked. If you peep, I look at the sideline twice. So yeah. We got him."

Two plays before that, the Panthers showed more resilience, but also the depth they've built over the years. Princely Umanmielen was going to play pass-rush snaps anyway this year, but when Scourton was lost for the year on the first day of training camp, he was forced into a bigger role.

But then with Phillips on the sideline getting medical attention, he was suddenly the guy they needed to make a play. And on that final drive, getting his third sack of the season to keep the clock rolling (the Lions were out of timeouts) was critical.

And while being willing to come back from adversity is good, making plays when you get there is the important part.

"It's a testament to how resilient we are and how prepared the guys who are in there, the backups, are and how prepared they are and ready to go," Umanmielen said. "I'm a very optimistic person; I think of everything in a positive light. I've seen the way the guys work, so yeah, I have trust in everybody on this defense."

Of course, it helps when you still have stars that are making plays.

That includes Brown batting down a pair of passes and maintaining pressure from the front.

"I don't know how long his arms are; that's ridiculous," Umanmielen said.

That includes Devin Lloyd chasing down a fourth-down hook-and-lateral earlier to erase another scoring chance.

There were so many little plays along the way that added up to a greater whole.

Head coach Dave Canales talked about the "discipline" his defense showed Sunday night, so even though the Lions gained 452 yards, they only converted a third of their third downs (4-of-12) and their fourth downs (1-of-3).

"Of course, I got nothing but confidence in my guys," Lloyd replied when asked if he thought this result was possible with so many missing pieces on defense, saluting his offensive teammates for making it easier. "Bryce and TMac and Chuba showed up in a big way for this team, put a lot of points on the board, kept us in it defensively.

"Guys stepped up, made plays, and you know we want to play cleaner, but we still found a way to get a win."

Thematically, it was so much like last year's win over the Rams, when Horn was out with a concussion, and Tre'von Moehrig was suspended, among other absences. But that team was so different than this one, and Brown and safety Nick Scott are the only two Panthers who started Sunday night who also started that game.

"I think it just shows kind of what this defense is capable of in big moments," Scott said. "In this league, it takes a lot to win, and it takes multiple stops. So I'm just really proud of how we were able to keep going back out there and putting it on us at the end of the game. Obviously we want to close it out a little bit sooner, but we did our job at the end of the day getting, getting them down and closing the game."

When asked what he learned about this team Sunday night, Scott used the same word as Brown — "resilient."

"Nothing that we didn't know already," Scott said. "Extremely resilient, extremely talented. And yeah, we got the win, but we know that there's more in the tank."