Chiefs: Getting Ready for the Panthers

Laddie Morse

FanSided.com has a great site to check out in preparation for the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Carolina Panthers. I’m not sure why the Panthers are named after the state of Carolina instead of the city they are housed in: Charlotte. What may be more confusing is… there is no Carolina. There’s only North Carolina and/or South Carolina. The one were talking about here is, the city of Charlotte in North Carolina. Here’s a map.

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Bank of America Stadium, where the game between the Chiefs and the Panthers will be played on Sunday, is smack dab in the middle of downtown Charlotte.

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From Axios.com – Photo Credit

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Bank of America Stadium is an open air stadium so I will give the Weather report to you on Sunday morning. For now, it looks like the forecast is for 64° (degrees) and Sunny. It should be idyllic for football.

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Panthers QB Situation

The Charlotte Observer has an article called, “Panthers coach Dave Canales had no choice but to go with QB Bryce Young vs. Chiefs” by Mike Kaye and he says,

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“2nd-year QB Bryce Young will be under center

on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium as the

Panthers host the Kansas City Chiefs. While [Dave]

Canales took the… Bye… to make the announcement

public, and still acknowledged that the QB spot

would be evaluated weekly, the head coach ultimately

went with the young signal-caller over the veteran

journeyman in Andy Dalton.”

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Apparently, the Panthers are not so sure they will be sticking with Bryce Young at QB when the next offseason arrives. FanSided.com has a piece called, “Dave Canales sure sounds like he’s buttering up 31 other teams on Bryce Young” written by Wynston Wilcox and he shares a video of HC Dave Canales,

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Canales was hired in late January of 2023, so there are some that think he was forced into drafting Bryce Young — out of Alabama — with the first overall selection that year. Why should any of that matter for Chiefs fans? Because if the head coach doesn’t 100% back his own QB, that can be problematic. Not believing in your QB can mean you doubt that QB’s ability to perform well. It can also mean you question their skill level, their decision-making, and their overall potential to be a leader.

For a team to consistently succeed, the HC needs to back their QB 100%. As the year goes by, that belief is often based on recent performances, and since Bryce Young has helped them win their last two games, that belief in him should be there. Although the Saints (4-7) and the Giants (2-8) are two of the lesser teams in the league this year, anytime you can help your team beat any NFL team, you should be recognized for doing that.

Bryce Young was sacked 3.9 times per game in the 2023 season but… he has only been sacked 1.6 times per game in 2024.

The Panthers record this year — so far– looks like this:

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That five game losing streak in the middle of their season is what’s most concerning. Bryce Young didn’t play in all the Panther’s game this year. Veteran Andy Dalton played in five game and Bryce Yung has played in 7. The problem for Bryce Young is that his Rating is 66.9 for the year, and 72.2 for his career, 1 and a half years worth.

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Running Backs

Chuba Hubbard is having a very good year in 2024 (he averages 81.8 YPG). He’s currently 4th in league for rushing yards and averaging 5.08 YPC. Here’s Hubbard scoring a TD against the Giants close to the Goal Line:

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The Chiefs Defense will have their hands full, again, with the Panther’s running game.

Many thought that rookie RB out of Texas, Jonathan Brooks (yes, he played with WB Xavier Worthy), would be the starter, but an ACL injury he sustained last November has kept him on ice. Although he’s ready to go now, we’ll see if the 4.45 Brooks can take some snaps away from Hubbard. The Panthers also have Miles Sanders as their third RB, but he is on the shelf for now and is listed as Doubtful.

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Adapted from Nick Jacobs – Photo Credit

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Panthers Wide Receivers

Adam Thielen is listed as having a Hamstring issue but he had a Light Practice on Thursday and I’d expect him to play. Thielen was a UDFA for the Vikings in 2013. Since that was the state he grew up in cheering for the Vikings, it was a natural fit. However, he didn’t start producing until year four when he had 967 yards receiving. He’s had 3 – 1,000+ yards season (one of which was his first year for the Panthers in 2023) and in year 6, 2018, he had 1,373 yards for 9th in the NFL. Thielen is now 34 years old (which is ancient in NFL terms) and if he is able to play on Sunday, he should not make much of a difference.

Xavier Leggett will play in this game. Many Kingdom fans wanted the Chiefs to take Xavier Leggette. He’s had 29 catches so far this year for 284 yards receiving. Xavier Worthy has had 24 catches for 307 yards. Worthy may have set the Combine record with a 4.21 40 yard dash but Leggette ran a 4.39 and he did that at 6-foot-3, and 227 lbs.. Leggette will offer a solid target for the Panthers but should be no big problem for the Chiefs DBs.

Jalen Coker was a UDFA WR who was cut earlier this season then re-signed a day later. He is out of Holy Cross and presents no big threat to the Chiefs defensive backfield.

David Moore is the other WR for the Panthers. Moore was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the 7^th round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He played for them for four season and has also played for the:

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⚫ Panthers

⚫ Raiders

⚫ Broncos

⚫ Packers

⚫ Bears

⚫ and Bucs.

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Now David Moore is back with the Panthers. However, he doesn’t appear to present a major threat to the Chiefs defense.

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If the Chiefs can limit the Panthers running game, they should come away with another win, as it appears to me that the Panthers have no weapons who are threats at Wide Receiver.

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What do you think?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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