CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A few thoughts on the Detroit Lions' 24-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.

What it means: Before Sunday's game started, this looked like a good opportunity for the Lions to take advantage of a team minus some big players with Greg Hardy and DeAngelo Williams out for Carolina. It didn't matter for Detroit anyway. The Lions had costly turnovers (two lost fumbles and a Matthew Stafford interception while forcing the ball to Calvin Johnson) and special teams issues with missed field goals. It turned into a massive opportunity lost for the Lions, who all too often reverted to the 2013 form that saw them struggle in big games and be wholly ineffective on offense against good defenses.

Stock watch: Rising -- Eric Ebron. The rookie tight end had his first career catch in the first half and caught three of his five targets for 38 yards. Rising -- Stephen Tulloch. The linebacker was everywhere Sunday with 10 tackles, including three for loss and a sack in which he had a wide-open shot at Cam Newton and wrapped him up athletically. Falling -- Nate Freese. I'll expand on this more below, but the rookie kicker is having some big problems so far this season. He missed two more field goals Sunday, bringing his misses on the year to three. Falling -- Nevin Lawson. The rookie corner suffered a foot injury that knocked him out of the game, but even before that, the Lions were at least experimenting with other players as Cassius Vaughn played some nickel in the first half.

Kicking issues: When the Lions decided to keep Freese as their kicker despite the fact Giorgio Tavecchio had the better training camp, one of the questions asked was how comfortable they felt with a rookie this season. Lions coach Jim Caldwell said he was good at the time, but he shouldn't be any more. Freese missed two 49-yard field goal attempts against Carolina, his second and third misses of the two-game season. Right now, the Lions have to at least think about investigating other kicking options.

Game ball: The Lions' defensive line as a whole. While a lot of attention was always going to be paid to Ndamukong Suh, the entirety of the line did a good job pressuring Newton. While the defense sacked him four times, the defensive line received credit for three of those sacks, including two from C.J. Mosley. They also had five tackles for loss as a unit. That is the type of performance Detroit needs from its line on a weekly basis.

What's next: The Lions play their first division game of the season on Sunday, facing rival Green Bay at Ford Field.