Fess Up! There is No Roar Out of Carolina

Fess Up! There is No Roar Out of Carolina – This is the second of three teams that the Kansas City Chiefs face, with less than stellar records. I chalked these three games up in the win column and that is how it will end on Sunday. The Chiefs will be 8-1 on Sunday Night looking to a heal up during their Bye Week and that outlook improves as players are returning to active status. The Bye Week occurs just prior to facing the Raiders for the second time. The Panthers have a new QB, a new HC, and staff. but they’ll have to give it a year and see where it goes before we know if they can be a winner.

Still, they are facing the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Raiders and the Bye

Andy Reid’s team is tops when it is coming off a Bye, but I had the Chiefs projected to win 2 versus the Raiders and the Chiefs shot themselves in the foot several times vs. Vegas. So it goes in the NFL. I don’t think the Chiefs will suffer a similar fate coming off the Bye this time around, which should result in a projection of 9 wins and 1 loss prior to coming down the final stretch of the season. However, that’s looking too far ahead… which of course means that I don’t think the Chiefs will have a downturn at home this weekend.

Back to the Panthers Game: Chiefs Prep

When the Chiefs face the Panthers, they are likely still going to have, not ready for prime time players. The good news is that Clark’s knee appears to be okay, Watkins and Sherman have returned to practice and appear to be available this weekend. There was even more joyous news this week: L’Jarius Sneed is coming off the IR and it appears that OL Martinas Rankin will return to the roster after the break. My spirits are greatly buoyed by the return of Sneed whom I suspect will not see action until the Raiders game. I am very high on Rankin’s addition back into the mix for the offensive line as well. I wrote several times about his contribution in 2019 until his injury ended his season.

Laddie ran down the games that remain to finish out the schedule. I am not going to make light of any opponent so the team should look at each game sequentially and focus completely on the task at hand. I believe they will do so. Which means that there will be two tough customers in the final stretch: the Buccaneers and the Saints.

What’s Up With the Panthers?

The Panthers are coming off of 3 losses in their last four games. In that period, they split with the Falcons. Presently, they are in 3rd place in the NFC South. I think they are fixin’ to drop the next two games and become cellar dwellers as they face the Buccaneers following the contest this weekend in Arrowhead.

The upside for the Carolina team is that Christian McCaffrey, who has been out of football due to a high-ankle sprain that occurred in their 2nd game of the season, is back. His return provides the ground game dimension that the team has lacked in his absence. However, McCaffrey was activated for the October 29th game, but did not play. He should be ready to go this weekend. He is a dangerous threat both on the ground and as a receiver. That gets me to their QB.

The Bridgewater Effect

With the departure of Cam Newton for Boston environs, Teddy Bridgewater became the Panther’s man at the helm. He has faced a lot of criticism from fans because many of them were Newton bandwagon boosters. I hear things from friends in Carolina and thus far, Teddy has not won the fans over yet. The QB performance has not advanced nearly as far as the HC Rhule had hoped, remaining in the WIP type appraisal. I still don’t think they’re fully on board with the departure of Cam Newton either, or losing their HC to the DC team. Bridgewater struggled in his first shot as QB of a team… then had injury problems… and has struggled with the Panthers as well.

Offensive Tools

With McCaffrey back, Bridgewater now has some real talent in the arsenal. There’s also third year WR D.J. Moore, who is a constant threat through the air. His 2019 numbers were significant: nearly 1,200 yards receiving, 4TDs on 87 catches. To accompany Moore, the Panthers added 6-3 for Temple WR, Robby Anderson, who has the speed and length any QB would like running routes. Maybe that is his shortcoming with a new QB. He needs to build his targets to move up the chart as a WR. Last year he had 51 catches and 788 yards receiving. He is a tough competitor and always challenges his way to the ball. Curtis Samuel, now in his 5th season with the Panthers adds to the receiver group as their #3 WR.

Weak Point? The Offensive Line

Another factor for the offensive game is the problems they have had on the offensive line. This week, they get a boost with two players returning from the Covid-19 list.

The Panther’s Injury List Wednesday

Ouch, that’s taking it on the Chinn!

On the Defensive Side of the Ball

Safety Jeremy Chinn suffered a knee injury and did not practice on Wednesday, but he was listed as LP on Thursday. He is their best player in the secondary. With the Thursday status, it appears that Chinn will be ready to play when they face Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes with all the potential targets that Patrick can go to. At this point? It appears to me that Chinn will be ready to roll on Sunday.

Brian Burns (Edge), is the highest rated pass rusher in the NFL (according to PFF). This makes the defense solid and merging in it’s rating towards the top 10.

Compliment of Burns is Marquis Haynes so the team does sport two good players outside. Up front, the team has two pretty good DT’s in Derrick Brown (Rookie) and Zach Kerr. The Panthers, like the Chiefs, have struggled with their LB’s. Shaq Thomas ranked 59th of 82 LBs while his playing partner Tahir Whitehead was ranked at the very bottom of the 82 LB’s listed, at 80th. They do boast a couple of good cornerbacks in Rasul Douglas and Donte Jackson. This is an effective unit that is keeping opponent offenses under 350 yards per game — avg — and that will meet with the strength of the Chiefs, which is the offense led by QB Patrick Mahomes.

The Panthers are 3-5. I am not sure how DC Phil Snow will pick his poison or vanilla up or not. His comments this week indicated he would use multiple approaches during the game and try to keep OC Eric Bieniemy guessing and hopes that his pass rush can bother Mahomes enough to keep them in the game. I think you will see them line up in both the 3-4 and 4-3 type structures, but be aware Snow has used the 3-3-5 approach as well. I suspect he will try to disguise the latter and it will be up to Mahomes to get the read on how the defense is aligned, snap to snap.

My Projection?

I again believe the Chiefs will cover the point spread. Last week that 20 point spread was a tough nut to crack. This week the spread is 10.5 with the Over/Under at 52.5. I would take the under in this contest, were I making a wager. I’d also give the 10 1/2 and take the Chiefs. Projected score?

Chiefs 34 Panthers 17.

The Rest of the Story

One downside to report: Chris Jones was placed on the Covid-19 list on Thursday and the Chiefs practice facility was closed. Now, that is a downer right there. Let’s face it: are you really thinking the game is in doubt? Sure, on any given Sunday, and it’s true, the Chiefs have already lost a game they should have won, but the fact of the matter is this is, what the Panthers are facing:

I am anxious to get L’Jarius Sneed back as a starter. Then we are talkin’ some “Smack.” As well, I want to see Willie Gay get snaps as a 3-down starter. It’s the right time to get him that work and experience. The return of Martinas Rankin (OL) is immanent and Nate Taylor of the Athletic posted the following tweet:

Rankin appears to be ready to return after the Bye week. I look forward to that. The rest of the story? Play Chiefs Football!

David Bell – ArrowheadOne

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