Chiefs Can Recalibrate vs. Panthers – Does It Matter if KC is 'Convincing?'

The Kansas City Chiefs lost their first game of the season last weekend in a 30-21 defeat to the Buffalo Bills. This isn’t the first time the Chiefs have lost to the Bills in the regular season; it’s happened three years in a row now. We all know how the past two seasons ended: with the Chiefs hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. 

Many want to make a big deal about a regular season loss, but as the Chiefs have proven in the past, one loss isn’t the end-all-be-all to a season. Yes, it could affect playoff seeding, but as things currently stand with the Chiefs being the only one-loss team in the AFC, Kansas City still controls their own destiny.

If the Chiefs win out, they will be the No. 1 seed. For every loss the Chiefs have the rest of the way, the Bills will also need to lose for the Chiefs to keep control of the AFC's top spot. Scoreboard watching is inevitable down the homestretch of the season.

The team has moved on, and so should the fans. It’s on to the Carolina Panthers. Before the season, everyone circled this game as an easy win for the Chiefs, but nothing comes easy in the NFL. While the Panthers have one of the worst records in the league, they have won two games in a row and are coming off a bye week. They’ll be well-rested and well-prepared to make a run at upsetting the back-to-back Super Bowl champs. The Chiefs should not overlook the Panthers and instead should be preparing for a fight. Head coach Andy Reid will surely have his guys ready for the punch in the mouth that the Panthers will try to send their way early in the game. 

On the flip side, the Chiefs are the better team and should be prepared to dominate from the opening whistle. The Chiefs are heavy favorites, but that generally hasn’t meant much in the past. The Chiefs have failed to cover the spread in their previous four games. Covering the spread doesn’t matter to the team, as winning the game is all that matters. Despite that, there is still a bit of pressure from the outside to “win convincingly” against an opponent that is supposedly inferior. People across the league see the Detroit Lions dominating teams and want to see the Chiefs do the same. Maybe that happens this week, maybe it doesn’t, but getting back in the win column is what is most important. 

The Chiefs will be playing on a short week after this game against the Panthers with a Black Friday matchup coming at home against the Las Vegas Raiders on November 29. That may be a good time to unleash the Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco duo on the league. No one knows exactly how those two running backs will be utilized when Pacheco returns, but Reid will tinker with things to make sure the offense is firing on all cylinders heading into the playoffs. 

Personally, I’m imagining the Chiefs being able to utilize Hunt and Pacheco similarly to how the Lions use running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. In Detroit, Montgomery generally starts the game and gets the entire first drive as the lead back. Gibbs will be brought in on the second series of the game. At that point, they’ll go back-and-forth with Montgomery typically out-touching Gibbs by a few carries, but this system has worked very well for the Lions. It has also created space for Jared Goff to thrive at the quarterback position. Anything the Chiefs can do to help Mahomes continue to get better as the season moves along is a positive, and having two running backs like Hunt and Pacheco could really open things up for Mahomes. 

It’s Week 12, and that makes for a perfect time for the Chiefs to recalibrate as the team heads toward a playoff push. At this point, it’s all about being healthy, getting the No. 1 seed, and making things as easy as possible for another run at a Super Bowl. There’s no need to overthink things with a possible three-peat on the horizon.