Chiefs Overcome Tragedy To Beat The Panthers

Despite playing with heavy hearts after the murder-suicide of Jovan Belcher, the Chiefs were able to win their second game of the season yesterday, defeating the Carolina Panthers 27-21 at Arrowhead Stadium.

The team had one of its best offensive games we’ve seen in quite some time, and a lot of the credit has to go to Brady Quinn. Quinn threw his first touchdown pass in nearly three years on the last play of the second quarter, and added another in the third quarter to give Kansas City a 24-14 lead. Quinn finished the game with an impressive stat line: 19 of 23 for 201 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Kansas City’s banged-up offensive line did a good job protecting him as well, as Quinn was only sacked once on the day for a four yard loss.

Jamaal Charles also had another impressive game, carrying the ball 27 times for 127 yards. Not only were the Chiefs able to score points with their balanced attack, the long drives they sustained kept Carolina’s offense off of the field. Cam Newton and the Panthers had some success moving the ball, but Kansas City absolutely dominated time-of-possession, holding onto the football nearly 15 more minutes than Carolina.

The ball-control attack from the offense was crucial, because Kansas City struggled on defense. Newton had a good game running and passing, and the secondary had no answer for Steve Smith. To make matters worse, Brandon Flowers, Abram Elam and Derrick Johnson all left Sunday’s game with various leg injuries. The Chiefs’ offense will have to continue to protect the football and sustain long drives as a banged up defense struggles to get healthy and find some momentum.

Yesterday was an extremely difficult day for the fans, coaches and players, and all parties handled the situation admirably. Odds are the Chiefs will still end the season with the worst record in the league and many coaches and players will not be back next season, but that doesn’t change the fact that for one day, the organization bonded together to win a football game in the wake of a tragedy.

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Kansas City Chiefs - Carolina Panthers Preview

The Chiefs march towards the top overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft continues on Friday, when the team hosts the Carolina Panthers at home in Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff for the game is 12:00 p.m.

While the Chiefs have had an absolute disaster of a season, Carolina’s hasn’t gone much better. The Panthers currently have a 3-8 record, held back by a poor offense that is only averaging 19 points per game. Quarterback Cam Newton has struggled this season after a very impressive rookie year, struggling with inconsistency and turnovers. Newton is also the team’s leading rusher, and the team’s entire offense rests on his shoulders. If the young QB struggles in this one and commits some turnovers, the Chiefs are going to have a very good shot to pick up their second win of the year.

While the Panthers’ offense has struggled this year, it has been nowhere near as bad as the Chiefs’ anemic attack that is averaging 10 points per game in its last seven contests. Kansas City has 32 turnovers this year and only 94 red zone points, and both stats rank last in the NFL. After Matt Cassel’s poor play this season – he threw for six touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions – Chiefs fans demanded to have him benched. Unfortunately, his replacement, Brady, Quinn, has not been any better. Quinn has yet throw a touchdown pass this year, and has four interceptions of his own. It appears that neither quarterback is the long term answer, and the odds of the Chiefs selecting a QB with their first round pick in the 2013 draft are increasing.

The lone bright spot for the Chiefs this season on offense has been Jamaal Charles, who has rushed for 928 yards and boasts a healthy 4.8 yards-per-carry average. It is a shame that one of Charles’ prime seasons was wasted this year, but the back should be one of the few offensive players on this current team that is a part of Kansas City’s long term plans.

Despite how terrible the Chiefs have played lately, this is a winnable game. The Panthers played well and picked up a win last week, yet they have been inconsistent all year. If Newton plays well and can put some points on the board, the Chiefs won’t have a chance. However, if the Panthers’ young QB commits some turnovers, this might be a low-scoring affair that comes down to the wire.

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Carolina Panthers Select Cam Newton 1st NFL Draft Pick

Talented, and most likely criminal, Cam Newton was selected first by the Carolina Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Newton was caught stealing a laptop computer from a fellow student while at The University of Florida, accused of academic fraud, and his shady father Cecil Newton tried to extort money from several teams who were interested in Cam.  Through some smooth shimmy shimmy coco pop talking and some slippery lawyers, Cecil was able to avoid permanent damage to his son's career despite his ghetto street antics.

Cam Newton led Auburn University to the BCS Championship in 2011, and also won the 2010 Heisman Trophy.

Coaches and professors who were around Cam Newton claim that he is easily influenced by other people, and tended to "hang around the wrong crowd" and has an incredibly inflated ego.

Marty Hurney, GM of the Carolina Panthers has never taken a quarterback in the first round of the draft, but he's got his hands full now with Cam Newton.  There is no doubt that this kid has a lot of talent, but as we've seen time and time again in the NFL, a bad apple can definitely spoil the whole bunch.  Good luck Carolina.