The Kansas City Chiefs are now 7-2 after defeating the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 20-17. At one point, this game seemed completely out of reach for the Chiefs. At one point in the third quarter, with a commanding 17-3 lead, the Panthers went on a 20 play drive that resulted in no points. The Chiefs put an end to the drive with back to back sacks, which ended up being the tipping point of the game.

Kansas City Chiefs Week Ten Takeaways

The Defense Has Faults but Comes Through When Needed

There are absolutely some issues on the defensive side of the ball, there is no denying it. The defense is currently ranked 27th in run defense and only 21st overall. But there is still something special about this defense. They came up huge today with multiple plays that altered the game. Dee Ford – who now has ten sacks on the season – and Chris Jones had back to back sacks to put an end to the Panthers 20 play drive and pushing Carolina out of field goal range. Eric Berry had a great interception followed by an even more incredible return that resulted in the Chiefs only touchdown of the game. Marcus Peters continued to make plays, this time literally stealing the ball from Kelvin Benjamin with less than a minute to play to set up the Chiefs game winning field goal.

The defense has carried the offense through a couple of games this season, and today was just the latest example. The defense can be better, but they still have come through when needed. There are reinforcements on the way; Jaye Howard missed today’s game with an injury and Justin Houston’s return is imminent.

The Offense Has Faults… And There Are No “Buts”

This was the second game of the season where the offense failed to score a touchdown. Alex Smith missed a couple of receivers today, including an open Chris Conley for what would have been a touchdown. Smith also did not see an even more open Travis Kelce in the end zone on the same drive.

Coming in to the game, the Chiefs had to prepare to play one of the best front sevens in the league. The offensive line allowed three sacks and, as a team, only rushed for 91 yards. Sometimes it is easy to overlook these discrepancies when the team wins, but at some point the offense is going to have to consistently get it together if they hope to win in the playoffs.

The Chiefs Are Division Leaders

At the end of the day, this is what matters the most. The Chiefs are 7-2 on the season and are the leading the AFC West thanks to a head-to-head tie breaker over the Oakland Raiders. The meat of the schedule is coming up after next week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the Atlanta Falcons, Raiders and two games against the Denver Broncos on the horizon. Fortunately for the Chiefs, three of the final four games are at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs have not lost in over a year.