Kansas City Chiefs @ Carolina Panthers preview

Chiefs play @ Panthers on Sunday at 1 pm

The Arrowhead faithful left the Kansas City Chiefs 33-19 win over archival Denver with a new sense of hope. Going into the game it appeared a beat down was in order for the high flying Broncos, who have one of the best offenses in the game.

However, the legs of Larry Johnson and an inspired defense shut the door on Mike Shanahan’s squad, giving Kansas City its first win of the season. But can the momentum carry over to a tough match-up in Carolina Sunday?

The Panthers feature one of the best running tandems in the entire league, with speedster DeAngelo Williams and rookie sensation Jonathan Stewart sharing duties in the backfield. Quarterback Jake Delhomme has already bounced back from a miserable and injury ridden 2007, while veteran wide out Muhsin Muhammad has provided a nice complement to the always dangerous Steve Smith.

The Broncos, in their loss last week, couldn’t seem to get tailback Selvin Young going against Kansas City, which allowed a young and exciting secondary to pick off forced passes. Carolina must establish the run, which shouldn’t be too difficult with that backfield, if they want to win week five.

The Chiefs, while scoring 33 points on a contending team, still looked rather anemic on offense last week. With the exception of some long bursts by Larry Johnson, the passing game couldn’t get going until sometime late in the third quarter, which won’t win you many games in the National Football League.

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Journeyman Damon Huard will more than likely start the contest, and run Head Coach Herm Edwards’ so-called “ball control” offense, which means handing the ball off nearly every play early in the game.

This sort of play calling will hold the Chiefs back, especially against a team of Carolina’s caliber. If they even have a shot Sunday, it will be due to a big day by Larry Johnson, along with a balanced passing game opened up by the run.

Look for this one to be closer than you would think, but Carolina improves to 4-1 in a low scoring and hardnosed affair.

By Matt McMullen
ProFootball-fans.com Kansas City Chiefs Correspondent