Chiefs vs Panthers: Delivering game balls from a scary win in Week 12

When people say "a win is a win," they are most likely referencing a victory much like the Chiefs had against the Panthers in Charlotte in Week 12.

A last-second field goal by Kansas City put them over the top of one of the laughingstocks of the NFL, which is not how many people might have seen Sunday going. However, a few key players truly helped put another victory in the win/loss column and they deserve their game balls.

While the Chiefs' defense played terribly for 90 percent of the ball game, the offense looked as solid as they have in weeks. In addition, the special teams of Kansas City made huge impacts that needed to be made if Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid wanted to get their tenth win of the season.

Luckily for both, as well as for all of Chiefs Kingdom, there were a few players who outperformed the rest of the team and the opponents on the field as well. Here are the three game balls that deserve to be handed out before the team returns home for their Black Friday game against Las Vegas.

Game Ball #1: Noah Gray - TE

For the second week in a row, the Chiefs' TE2 has looked like TE1. That's because, for the second week in a row, Noah Gray had two celebrations in the end zone between the opening kick and the final seconds. And for the second week in a row, Gray has earned the game ball for his efforts on the field.

Sunday's close-knit affair in Charlotte saw Gray catch four more passes on four targets (100%) for 66 yards (16.5 yards/catch) and 2 touchdowns, including a 35-yarder that looked so easy a middle schooler could have run it in.

Over the past eight quarters of football, Gray has 8 catches on 9 targets (88% catch rate) for 89 yards (11.1 ypc) and 4 touchdowns (0.5 TD per reception). That in itself is an insane string of statistics over the past two weeks.

And much like last week, when the Chiefs' opponents believed Patrick Mahomes would look to his trustworthy tight end Travis Kelce or the sure-handed DeAndre Hopkins, he instead looked to the recently-extended tight end out of Duke for another score in traffic to help put the Chiefs up big late in the first half:

In 11 games this season, since signing his three-year/$19.5 million extension, Gray has 27 receptions on 30 targets for 315 (11.7 ypc) for 4 touchdowns, all of which came in the past 120 minutes on the field. If it weren't for Gray and his connection with Mahomes, something that has earned him the trust that was previously reserved only for Kelce, the Chiefs very likely could have been upset by a team that was previously ranked last in the league before the beginning of November.

Gray's rise to TE1 is happening right in front of our eyes, just like Kelce's promotion after Tony Gonzalez left for Atlanta over a decade ago. It's likely going to continue but days like Sunday—catching two touchdowns in one game—don't come often, so it's important to reward them when they do.

Game Ball #2: Samaje Perine - RB / KR

Once the Chiefs picked up Samaje Perine after he was dropped by Denver, everybody knew he'd be the perfect replacement for Jerick McKinnon—one of the better pass-catching backs that Mahomes has ever played with. It took some time but Perine proved he can be that reliable guy out of the backfield when Mahomes needs him, showing it by catching both his targets for 11 yards and adding 13 more yards on the ground.

"That's not that impressive, why does he deserve a game ball?"

Well, it wasn't just the backfield that showed why Kansas City took a chance on the 29-year-old back who has been on five teams in seven seasons now. It was Perine who started the Chiefs off hot with a 56-yard kick return to begin the game. If it weren't for Carolina's fourth-year cornerback Caleb Farley barely grazing Perine's ankle, he might have taken the opening kickoff to the house.

Instead, Perine's huge return set Mahomes and the offense up at Carolina's 41-yard line that allowed for a quick-strike drive that ended with Gray's 35-yard touchdown catch (above) just three plays later.

On the next kickoff, after Carolina kicked a field goal to get the score to 7-3, Perine showed off once again with a 23-yard return from the Chiefs' 2-yard line to help set up a 68-yard drive that also ended up in a field goal. He didn't stop there though, shortly after the 70-yard drive that Carolina took to the house after halftime Perine had another big return--this time for 25 yards to set up a 75-yard drive for a touchdown to put the Chiefs up 27-16.

Overall, Perine had 104 return yards on three kickoffs (34.7 ypa) to go along with a few 13-yard plays on offense. He quietly yet impactfully made his mark on the game in Carolina, and without his big returns, there may have been another week before Kansas City reached double-digit victories for the 10th straight season under Coach Reid.

Game Ball #3: Spencer Shrader

While this one might be more obvious, Shrader truly proved he was worthy of replacing Harrison Butker during his recovery. Shrader did so by going 3-for-3 on extra points and 3-for-3 on field goal,s including the most important one with two seconds left in the game.

The 25-year-old out of South Florida and Notre Dame has only been a Chief for two weeks, and he's already notched a game-winning field goal—the first of his NFL career—and he handled the moment with pure professionalism and poise.

"I knew that I'd be getting an opportunity, so I just tried to stay calm, understand that it was going to come at some point and when it did come, I was ready," Shrader said after the game. "...it was a combination of just kind of staying calm, continuing to pray in that instance and then just simplifying everything and understanding that it's just snap, hold, kick."

Thankfully, Shrader has been as good as advertised while waiting for Butker to eventually return. Without him wearing red-and-white on Sunday it likely would have ended in yet another overtime game for Kansas City, and who knows what could have happened if that had had occurred.

Honorable Mentions:

Nazeeh Johnson, CB - After a truly abysmal game against Buffalo last week, Johnson showed up and answered the criticism by leading the team in tackles for the third straight week, this time with eight total (five solo) to go along with a pass deflection early in the third quarter.

Patrick Mahomes, QB - This season has not been Mahomes' best by any stretch of the imagination but his 3 touchdown game in Carolina came without an interception for the third time in the last four weeks. A 73% completion percentage—his second-highest of the season—and a QB rating of 120.2 (his best of the year) silenced plenty of people who were concerned that Mahomes has hit a lull in his career after back-to-back Super Bowl MVPs and championships.