Gulp.
The Carolina Panthers are riding high right now. They haven’t lost a game in nearly four weeks, and they’re currently on Bryce Young’s first professional streak of three games or more leading multiple touchdown drives. The team is 3-7. Everything is wonderful.
But now they face the vaunted Chiefs, who finally lost their first game of the season just last week. Unfortunately that means the Panthers can’t pull off one of the funniest upsets of all time, but that’s probably a pipe dream anyway.
The Chiefs are known for their usually high powered offense led by Patrick Mahomes and the innovative mind of Andy Reid. That offense hasn’t shown up this season. They’re averaging just 5.2 yards per play, 20th in the league, and Patrick Mahomes has played like a good not great quarterback that turns the ball over too much. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, the Chiefs defense has picked up the slack.
The Chiefs defense is limiting opponents to 5.1 yards per play, seventh best in the league, and allowing 19.1 points per game, eighth best in the league. They’re strong against both the run and the pass. If there’s one thing you can point to that’s been a struggle, it’s that they haven’t been able to generate splash plays like sacks or turnovers at a high rate, but they’ve been stout anyway.
The Panthers offense will have their work cut out for them as they seek a fourth straight multi-touchdown game for the first time since weeks seven through ten of the 2022 season. Here’s what needs to happen:
- Bryce Young needs to play well. The Chiefs defense allows an average of 3.6 yards per carry. Only the Ravens have a better mark across the league. Chuba Hubbard and Jonathon Brooks are going to find tough sledding on the ground, so it’s likely that Young is going to be asked to pick up some 3rd and long-ish conversions and otherwise move the ball through the air. He got help from efficient run games in the Panthers last two wins. He probably won’t have that luxury on Sunday.
- Put points on the board early. The Chiefs are allowing just 8.1 points per in the second half of games, tied for fourth best in the league. Steve Spagnuolo is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and clearly has a feel for how to shut down opposing offenses once he sees what they want to do. The Panthers don’t put many points up in either half, but they’re slightly better in the first. Getting a couple of touchdowns in the first half is probably necessary if they’re going to have any hope of pulling off the upset.
- Keep mistakes to a minimum. Everyone thinks the Chiefs are the luckiest team in the world, but that’s just because every mistake against them is magnified by their ability to take advantage of them. Penalties, turnovers, or drive killing mistakes are going to cost the Panthers more against the Chiefs than they would against just about any other team. They need to play as clean a game as they’re capable of.