EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Panthers are deeper than they've been in years, and they needed every bit of that depth Sunday.

Not only did they start their sixth different offensive line in seven games, and time-shared the running back job between Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle, but they also needed both quarterbacks.

It worked out anyway.

The Panthers beat the Jets 13-6, after Andy Dalton had to relieve an injured Bryce Young in the third quarter. Young left with an ankle injury, walking slowly to the locker room with two members of the medical staff. He did not return to the game.

But despite all that, and that's plenty, they won to improve to 4-3, behind a continued strong defense (which featured an end-zone interception by Jaycee Horn, and then another one late in the fourth) and just enough offense to escape with a win.

Dalton hit Xavier Legette for a 33-yard gain late (after he scored the early touchdown), allowing them to close out the game with the ball. Legette finished with nine catches for 92 yards and the score.

Young left after taking his first sack of the day in the third quarter, and midway through the fourth, it was announced that he would not come back.

It's a third straight win for the first time since the start of the 2022 season.

It's the latest in the season they've been over .500 since they were 5-4 entering Week 11 of the 2019 season.

Defense continues to stand up

The Panthers entered the game with a top-10 defense, and did nothing to change that.

They held the Jets to just 97 yards in the first half and sacked quarterback Justin Fields three times.

Tre'von Moehrig and A'Shawn Robinson had solos, and Nic Scourton and Derrick Brown shared one in the first half.

That was quite an improvement for a team that had a total of 5.0 sacks in the first six games.

They finished the game with 6.0 total sacks, with Scourton getting his first solo sack in the third quarter, and Brown getting another one in the fourth, before sharing another with Princely Umanmielen.

Running backs alternate series

Hubbard and Dowdle alternated possessions throughout the game, in Hubbard's first game back after missing two with a calf strain.

Dowdle had 473 yards from scrimmage in his absence, and had the better day of the two.

Dowdle finished with 79 rushing yards and a catch for 17 yards (96 total). Hubbard ran for 31, but had two catches for 24 yards as well (55).

The upshot is they had plenty of running backs.