The Kansas City Chiefs suffered their first loss of the year in Week 11, dropping a winnable game to the Buffalo Bills. They'll now have what many would consider to be a gift in the form of the Carolina Panthers as their opponent in Week 12.
While most would see this match-up between a 9-1 Chiefs team and a 3-7 Panthers team as an easy win for K.C., Chiefs fans know better. This team doesn't blow their opponents out no matter what the difference in records is. The Panthers are also coming off of their bye week and hoping to pull off one of the most stunning wins of the season from any team.
With the Chiefs playing one of the less-exciting teams in the league, no one should be surprised that they don't have one of the marquee broadcasting teams for this game.
Announcers for Chiefs vs. Panthers
- Lead Play-by-Play Announcer: Ian Eagle
- Color Commentator: Charles Davis
- Sideline Reporter: Evan Washburn
Chiefs fans are used to getting CBS' number one team for their games but this week, they'll have a broadcast crew further down the rankings. Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, and Evan Washburn are no slouches by any means but these days they don't call many Chiefs games so this will feel a little different for Kansas City as their team faces a weaker NFC foe.
Referees for Chiefs vs. Panthers
Head Referee: Shawn Smith
The referee announcing the calls for Chiefs vs. Panthers will be Shawn Smith, who got his start in the NFL as an umpire in 2015. He was promoted to referee in 2018 and was the main ref in the Chiefs' wild card win over the Steelers in the 2022 playoffs and more recently, the ref in the Chiefs' AFC title game victory over Baltimore in late January of this year. He was the head referee for Kansas City's win over the Chargers earlier this season as well, so this is good news for Chiefs fans but bad news for the "refs rig games for the Chiefs" crowd (or good news depending on how you look at it, I guess).
Chiefs fans are hoping that Smith's "favorable calls" toward K.C. will continue this weekend as they hope to move to 10-1 and inch closer to another division title and the top seed in the AFC playoffs.
Time & Channel for Chiefs vs. Panthers
- Date: Sunday, November 24th
- Time: 12:00 p.m. CST
- Location: Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)
- Channel: CBS