DETROIT -- A decision to go for a two-point conversion may have cost the Panthers a chance for victory in Detroit Sunday. Carolina scored on a touchdown pass by Cam Newton to D.J. Moore with 1:07 left to pull the Panthers within a point. But instead of kicking the extra point that would have tied the game, Head Coach Ron Rivera elected to go for two and take the lead. Newton's pass to Jarius Wright sailed over the receiver's head in the endzone and fell incomplete. Detroit recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to preserve the win.

"Well, I think you go for two on the road to win the game. That's what I did," head coach Ron Rivera said. "What's to say the coin toss (in overtime) is gonna go in our favor, what's to say we're gonna stop them so why not go for two?"

Newton was 25-37 for 357 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception. But lamented the one play he didn't make Sunday.

"I got to make that play," said Newton. "Jarius (Wright) did a good job with kind of improvising. I just got to make the play."

The loss is the second in a row for the Panthers who's record is now 6-4. The team is just 1-4 on the road and are now three games back of NFC South Division leader New Orleans, who beat the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles 48-7.

Rookie receiver D.J. Moore had seven catches for 157 yards and a touchdown, including an 82-yard catch and run to the Lions 12-yard line in the second quarter. But kicker Graham Gano missed a 34-yard field goal that would have tied the game. Gano, who was the NFC Special Teams Player for the month of October, also missed an extra point that would have given Carolina the lead after a Curtis Samuel touchdown catch with 9:23 left in the fourth quarter.

"Oh it's very frustrating," said Rivera when asked about the loss. "We didn't tackle. You know at the end of the day you've got to give them (Detroit) credit, they did some good things, they made some things happen. Let's don't take anything away from them. But at the end of the day, we had our opportunities and we didn't capitalize."

The Panthers return home next Sunday to face 5-5 Seattle.