By Associated Press

The Carolina Panthers are a big underdog to the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs entering Sunday’s home game.

The upset-minded Panthers will need to rely heavily upon running backs Chuba Hubbard and rookie Jonathon Brooks, the team’s second-round draft pick from Texas who is expected to make his NFL debut against the one-loss Chiefs. The Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season last week against Buffalo.

Preview

Kansas City (9-1) at Carolina (3-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM Odds: Chiefs by 11.

Against the spread: Chiefs 5-5, Panthers 3-7.

Series record: Chiefs lead 5-2.

Last meeting: Chiefs beat Panthers 33-31 on Nov. 8, 2020, at Kansas City.

Last week: Chiefs lost to Bills 30-21; Panthers had a bye after beating the Giants 20-17 in Germany in Week 10.

Chiefs offense: overall (16), rush (23), pass (11), scoring (11)

Chiefs defense: overall (5), rush (3), pass (17), scoring (8)

Panthers offense: overall (32), rush (24), pass (31), scoring (29)

Panthers defense: overall (29), rush (32), pass (24), scoring (32)

Turnover differential: Chiefs: minus-5; Panthers: minus-5.

Chiefs player to watch

RB Isiah Pacheco and DE Charles Omenihu, assuming they play. Pacheco has been out with an ankle injury that required surgery in Week 2, forcing the Chiefs to sign Kareem Hunt — and potentially creating a two-headed monster in the backfield if the all-energy Pacheco is back on the field. Omenihu would help a pass rush that failed to sack the Bills’ Josh Allen last week. Omenihu has been out since having surgery to repair a torn ACL sustained in the playoffs.

Panthers players to watch

RB Chuba Hubbard is coming off a career-high 153-yard rushing performance against the Giants prior to the bye and has been a big bright spot for Carolina. Hubbard has 818 yards and six touchdowns rushing on the season, while averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Hubbard also has 30 receptions, including one TD catch. If the Panthers hope to upset the Chiefs, they’ll need to rely on Hubbard — as well as rookie Jonathon Brooks — to have a big game in order to keep Patrick Mahomes off the field as much as possible. The problem is the Chiefs are third in the league against the run.

Key matchup

Mahomes vs. Panthers secondary. Mahomes is expected to be plenty motivated following the Chiefs’ loss to the Bills on Sunday. He’ll face a Carolina secondary that has allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 69% of their passes and 18 touchdown passes this season. Mahomes has thrown nine TD passes in the past four games.

Key injuries

Everybody on the Chiefs practiced this week, making them one of the rare teams getting healthier as the season progresses. … The Panthers expect to get LT Ickey Ekwonu (ankle) and WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) back from injuries. Also, rookie running back Jonathon Brooks is expected to make his NFL debut with RB Miles Sanders (ankle) out. Brooks tore his ACL during his final year of college football at Texas and hasn’t played in a game since. Carolina TE Ian Thomas (calf) was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with a calf injury.

Series notes

This will be Mahomes’ first game ever at Bank of America Stadium. The Chiefs have won the past three matchups and the Panthers haven’t defeated Kansas City since 2008.

Stats and stuff

Mahomes threw three touchdown passes last week against Buffalo, his 40th game with at least that many. He needs four more TD passes to pass Hall of Fame QB Len Dawson (237) for the most in Chiefs history. … Chiefs TE Noah Gray had two TD catches against the Bills. It was the first multi-TD game of his career. … TE Travis Kelce has 76 TD catches, tied with Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for the Chiefs record. He needs five TDs total to pass Priest Holmes for that franchise record. … Kelce needs 7 yards receiving to pass Antonio Gates (11,841) for the third-most yards receiving by a TE in NFL history. … Chiefs DT Chris Jones has 78 1/2 sacks, tied with Justin Houston for fourth in team history. … Chiefs K Spencer Shrader was 3 for 3 on PATs and did not attempt a FG against Buffalo in his first game since Harrison Butker when on IR with a knee injury. … QB Bryce Young will make his fourth straight start. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft is 4-17 overall as a starter, but enters the game having won back-to-back games. Young threw for 126 yards and one touchdown against the Giants in Week 10. … Panthers rookie WR Xavier Legette has been targeted 17 times by Young in the past three games and has 11 receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns. … LB Josey Jewell had an interception and a fumble recovery in Carolina’s win over the Giants. … After misses by Harrison Butker and Jason Tucker in recent weeks, Carolina K Eddy Pineiro has taken over as the NFL’s all-time most accurate field goal kicker. Pineiro has made 89.3% (101 of 113) of his career field goals. He is due to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Fantasy tip

Hunt’s production has decreased over the past two weeks with only 14 carries in each game. That comes after averaging 24.2 carries per game over the previous four games. So even with the return of Pacheco, Hunt could have a big game against a Panthers defense that is last in the league against the run, allowing 160.1 yards per game.

Source: wralsportsfan.com