Kansas City advances to 10-1 with a win in Charlotte.
In the NFL’s Week 12, the Kansas City Chiefs pushed their record to 10-1 after a 30-27 victory against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon, pushing their Week 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills into the background as they continue their quest for a third straight Super Bowl victory.
Kansas City running back Samaje Perine opened the game with a 56-yard kickoff return that started the Chiefs’ offense at the Carolina 41-yard line. On third down, quarterback Patrick Mahomes found tight end Noah Gray wide open on the left hash mark. He was unmolested on a 15-yard run into the end zone to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead just 1:25 into the game.
The Panthers crossed midfield with Bryce Young’s 15-yard pass to David Moore. Then Young found wideout Xavier Leggette deep down the sideline for a 34-yard catch-and-run that put the ball on the Kansas City 13-yard line — but the Chiefs’ defense managed to hold the Panthers to a field goal that made the score 7-3.
Carolina did the same on the next Kansas City drive, stiffening inside the red zone after the Chiefs drove down the field. Spencer Shrader’s 25-yard field goal extended Kansas City’s lead to 10-3. On the Panthers’ next possession, a third-and-1 pass went to a wide-open Adam Thielen, who ran down the left sideline to the Chiefs’ 25-yard line. But once again, Carolina couldn’t collect. A 32-yard field goal on the fourth play of the second quarter narrowed Kansas City’s lead to 10-6.
The Chiefs quickly moved downfield thanks to a 27-yard reception by tight end Travis Kelce. But multiple penalties kept the offense behind the sticks — and ultimately, Mahomes was sacked on a third-and-12 at the Panthers’ 13-yard line. Shrader collected a 41-yard field goal to give Kansas City a 13-6 lead.
The Chiefs’ defense forced the game’s first punt on a three-and-out with 5:25 left in the half. Starting at their 8-yard line after a penalty on the punt, Kansas City worked its way down the field. On the drive’s 14th play, Mahomes found Gray in the end zone, giving the Chiefs a 20-6 lead with 44 seconds left in the half.
The Panthers quickly moved downfield after the touchback, reaching the Kansas City 11-yard line with just three passes. Starting with 20 seconds left on the clock, Young made three incomplete passes to the end zone before Eddy Piñeiro’s 29-yard field goal sent the teams to the locker room with Kansas City a 20-9 halftime lead.
Carolina opened the second half with a long drive that nearly ended on a fourth-and-1 at the Kansas City 2-yard line. Chuba Hubbard still managed to move the pile enough to convert, giving the Panthers another set of downs. On the drive’s 16th play, Young hit Moore with a touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed, but the Chiefs’ Justin Reid was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Then the Panthers drew a false start penalty on the retry — and decided to kick an extra point to make the score 20-16.
Kansas City responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive featuring a 19-yard reception by Xavier Worthy and a 13-yard run by Kareem Hunt to convert a fourth-and-1. Mahomes hit DeAndre Hopkins with a touchdown pass that extended the Chiefs’ lead to 27-16. The next Panthers drive got a big boost from an unnecessary roughness penalty on Mike Pennel — but in the end, the Chiefs’ defense held again. Carolina had to settle for a 33-yard field goal to narrow Kansas City’s lead to 27-19 with 12:41 left in the game.
On the next Chiefs drive, back-to-back penalties on right tackle Jawaan Taylor put Kansas City into a third-and-22 — when Mahomes was sacked for a 12-yard loss. Matt Araiza’s first punt of the day gave the Panthers the ball at their own 14-yard line with just over seven minutes left. The Chiefs got a stop, getting the ball at their own 25-yard line after the punt — and then the Panthers’ defense got a three-and-out with back-to-back sacks.
Getting the ball at midfield with 3:21 (and one timeout) remaining, Carolina had to convert a fourth-and-4 to get the drive going. But on the next play, Chamarri Conner was called for pass interference in the end zone, giving the Panthers first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Hubbard ran it in for a touchdown. The first two-point conversion failed — but Trent McDuffies was called for pass interference. The retry was successful, tying the game 27-27 with 1:46 left.
After a touchback, the Chiefs got the ball with 1:46 (and three timeouts) left. On third-and-2 from the 38-yard line, Mahomes scrambled, juking out defenders as he hugged the sideline for a 33-yard gain to the Panthers’ 22-yard line with 39 seconds left. Hunt ran it to the 13-yard line — and with two seconds left, Shrader gave the Chiefs a 30-27 win with a 31-yard field goal.