Around the AFC West: Key division games await Raiders, Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Arrowhead. The Panthers saw the return of Christian McCaffrey from a six-week ankle injury, and this was something that I thought might be problematic. The Chiefs haven’t been particularly effective against opposing offense’s run game and McCaffrey is almost the entire Panthers offense. That proved to be a correct prediction. McCaffrey was incredibly effective against the Chiefs run defense.

However, despite the Panthers throwing the kitchen sink at the Chiefs, the Chiefs came out on top. I really expect this to be the theme for all teams facing the Chiefs for the rest of the year. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. The Chiefs are the best, so every team is going to look at this as their Super Bowl. The Panthers went for it on fourth down and ran a fake punt—all showing they knew they had to play their best game to beat K.C.

While I take issue with the idea that the Panthers are the best fake punt team in the NFL, it helped drag them to a 67-yard game winning field goal—which they missed. The best play of the game, came from our resident magician and new play designer, Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs succeeded and entered their bye week 8-1. Unfortunately it did come at a cost. Taco Charlton fractured a bone in his ankle. We will see how long this keeps him out, but I am not optimistic we see him again. That is unfortunate because he was having a great season. With some other soft tissue injuries, the bye came at a good time. The Chiefs now have a chance to get healthy before an important divisional revenge game against the Raiders.

Enjoy the bye Chiefs Kingdom. Go outside, and enjoy a relaxing weekend.