Christian McCaffrey scored three touchdowns and the Carolina Panthers won their third game in a row by defeating the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars 34-27 on Sunday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

McCaffrey gained 176 yards on 19 carries before limping off with slightly more than five minutes to play. A few plays later, his replacement, Reggie Bonnafon ripped off a 59-yard touchdown run as Carolina stretched its one-point lead.

The Jaguars reached the Carolina 24 in the waning seconds before the game ended on an incomplete pass on an untimed down.

McCaffrey took off for an 84-yard touchdown run on Carolina's first snap of the second half for a 28-17 lead.

Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette's 1-yard run on the next possession tightened the score again.

Carolina reached the Jacksonville 5 early in the fourth quarter, but McCaffrey was stopped on a fourth-and-1 run.

The Jaguars then moved 73 yards, but settled for Josh Lambo's 38-yard field goal at the 5:57 mark to close the gap to 28-27.

Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen was 17 of 30 for 181 yards with a touchdown. Carolina (3-2) is 3-0 with Allen starting in place of injured Cam Newton, and Sunday's outcome marked the team's first home victory in three tries.

Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II was 26-for-44 for 374 yards and two touchdowns, but his fumble with 2:26 to play after the team moved into Carolina territory was costly.

Receiver DJ Chark scored two touchdowns for Jacksonville (2-3), which had a two-game winning streak snapped.

The Panthers scored on the game's opening possession, with McCaffrey leaping into the end zone to complete a 5-yard play. It was the first time this season that Carolina scored on its first possession.

The Jaguars responded on their first possession on Minshew's 37-yard scoring pass to Chark.

A pair of Jacksonville fumbles led to two quick Carolina touchdowns.

McCaffrey scored on an 18-yard pass play for another first-quarter touchdown. Early in the second quarter, Minshew was bumped in the pocket and lost the ball, with rookie defensive end Brian Burns collecting the ball and going 56 yards to the end zone.

Carolina rookie kicker Joey Slye had made 10 consecutive field goals until one was blocked in the second quarter, and then he missed wide right in the third quarter. He missed an extra-point try after the team's final touchdown.

--Field Level Media