Fresh off of the first loss of the season against the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs will head to Charlotte, North Carolina, to play the struggling Carolina Panthers.
In the loss to the Bills, both the offense and the defense had their struggles. To say they will be looking for revenge would be an understatement. Lucky for the Chiefs, the Panthers will be the perfect opponent for them to face. The Panthers are coming off of a bye week after their win against the Giants in Germany.
The Chiefs are 5-2 against the Panthers all-time. The Chiefs have scored 147 points compared to the Panther's 159 points. In this contest, the Chiefs must put as much pressure on the Panther's defense as possible. Playing against a weak defense should be easy, especially with how great the Chief's defense is when the offense is clicking. However, there aren't exactly easy wins in the NFL.
Game Info
Date: Sunday, November 24
Start Time: noon CT Location: Charlotte, NC
Stadium: Bank Of America Stadium
TV Info: CBS (Ian Eagle and Charles Davis on the call)
Chiefs Uniform Info: White Tops, Red Bottoms
Panthers 2024 Statistical Rankings
Points Per Game: 16.7 (30th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 31 (32nd)
Offensive Yards Per Game: 280.7 (32nd)
Passing/Rushing Yards Per Game: 170.7 (31st) and 110 (24th)
Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game: 386.9 (29th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 226.8 (24th) and 160.1 (32nd)
Third Down Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 33.33% (29th) and 48.12% (32nd)
Red Zone Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 64% (5th) 66.67% (27th)
Penalties: 72 (9th)
Penalty Yards: 600 (8th)
Players Already Ruled Out Before Sunday
Panthers: Miles Sanders (RB)
Chiefs: Isiah Pacheco (RB), Charles Omenihu (DL)
Carolina Panthers
Defense
The Panthers' defense has dealt with injuries and depth issues since the very beginning of the season. While the team has definitely been embracing the "next man up" mentality, the results aren't exactly there.
One part of the Carolina defense that is the weakest is their ability to guard against the run. The Panthers are dead last in the league with the amount of rushing yards they give up per game. While they do allow a good amount of passing yards per game as well, the numbers are starkly different.
In this contest, the Panthers need to find a way to control Kareem Hunt. While the run defense is the weakest part of the defense, they are going to have to find a way to keep the Chiefs from scoring as much as they can. Hopefully, the team can find a way to stop the Chiefs from scoring in the red zone.
Offense
The Panthers offense has been in the news quite frequently, and not exactly for good reason. The quarterback situation in Carolina has been pretty confusing, with head coach Dave Canales switching to Andy Dalton a few games into the season and then switching back to Young.
Just like the defense, the Panthers rank at the bottom of most offensive categories as well. However, they rank 5th in their red zone conversion rate. While this may be impressive, they don't make it to the red zone very often. Young has improved since returning to the position, but the statistics still aren't the greatest.
In this game, the offense needs to focus on creating plays against the Chiefs defense. It is going to be hard for the Panthers to generate offense against the Chiefs, but they might be able to get yards from running back Chuba Hubbard. It's safe to say that the Panthers will need to make it to the red zone in order to compete with the Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs
Defense
Against the Bills, the Chiefs had a few issues on defense. It was pretty clear that the defense was tired and worn out, and I really noticed that the offense was not on the field as much.
The defense has been the Chiefs' strongest asset throughout this season, so there is no doubt that they will be able to bounce back this week. Against a weak Panthers offense, they can get back to doing their normal moves.
In this contest, the defense needs to do whatever possible to keep the Panthers from scoring. The Chiefs defense shouldn't have too much trouble facing Young and the rest of the offense, so they should do everything possible to ensure that this game is a blowout, rather than another close nail biter.
Offense
Against the Bills, the offense had a few key mistakes. One of the biggest reasons why the Chiefs lost last week was that they did not have significant possession time. While they have led the league so far, that was evident in the tired nature of their defense last week. Turnovers have also been a key reason why the Chiefs are continuing to be in close games.
Looking ahead to this game and beyond, Mahomes needs to ensure that he is not turning the ball over. This problem has led to many points for the opposing team, that don't necessarily need to happen. In the coming weeks, Mahomes will be getting back his running back, Isiah Pacheco. In the meantime, Mahomes should utilize Hunt, especially in this game against the Panthers.
In this game, it is important that Hunt gets the ball as much as possible. From the jump, the Chiefs need to take advantage of the fact that the Panthers will basically have no shot at controlling Hunt with their run defense. Getting the offense on the board early will alleviate any stress for the defense.
Betting Info
Points Spread: CAR +10.5 (-108) | KC -10.5 (-112)
Moneyline: CAR +470 | KC -650
Over/Under: CAR U 43 (-112) | KC O 43 (-108)
Lines via DraftKings as of Saturday, November 23
Prediction
After last week, the Chiefs are going to be looking for a standout win. I feel like the Panthers will be the perfect team for them to face, especially with how weak their defense is. While I feel like Young will perform well, there's no chance he will outperform Mahomes.
Final Score: Chiefs 30, Panthers 14
(Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
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