This might be closer than many think, but it won’t be close enough
Welcome to our weekly game pick series where I will attempt to guide you through picking every Carolina Panthers game of the 2024 season. At this point you know I’m not picking the Panthers and no amount of serious analysis of the team is going to change my mind or surprise any of us. They are who they are.
Fresh off a three-week winning streak (that included wins over the New Orleans Saints, the New York Giants, and a bye week), the Panthers are looking to conclude their run of success by sacrificing themselves to the NFL’s darling team led by Golden Boy quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Sure, the Chiefs have been disgustingly good at football for a long time under the leadership of Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid, but have they been as good as the Panthers have been bad? Arguably, yes.
There isn’t much to say here, even if these teams are technically trending in opposite directions they are still very much in opposite places. The 9-1 Chiefs are unlikely to stumble to a 3-7 Panthers team.
First, Mahomes does seem to get preferential treatment from refs and the Panthers already have an anemic pass rush. It’s not like he’s going to need the help.
Second, the one unit on the Chiefs that has not slid backwards from their 2023 Super Bowl run is their run defense. It is a stellar unit. The Panthers need to establish the run to slow down the game, keep things close, and keep Bryce Young comfortable. That is going to be tremendously difficult against this opponent, even with the much anticipated debut of running back Jonathon Brooks.
That’s why my FanDuel pick for Week 12 is the Kansas City Chiefs. This is a no-brainer week that is not expected to shift much in the emotional landscape of the Panthers fanbase. We’ll see.