Inside The Numbers: Panthers vs Chiefs in Week 12

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CHARLOTTE — A look inside the stats from the Carolina Panthers 30-27 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12.

Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 1 — Photo Panthers.com

Quarterback Bryce Young threw his fifth touchdown of the season, a one-yard pass to wide receiver David Moore, capping a 15-play, 70-yard drive (8:34) in the second quarter. This marked his fourth consecutive week with a touchdown pass. Young finished the day completing 21-of-35 passes for a season-high 263 yards and one touchdown, earning him a 92.9 passer rating, also a season-high. Running back Chuba Hubbard found the end zone on a one-yard rush to finish a five-play, 49-yard drive (1:35) in the fourth quarter. He also converted the Panthers two-point attempt from a yard out following the touchdown. Hubbard finished the day with 16 carries for 58 yards and one touchdown. This marked his third game in a row with a rushing touchdown and fifth in a row with 50+ scrimmage yards. For the second-consecutive season, he eclipsed 1,000 scrimmage yards. Hubbard has now recorded 24 games with 50+ scrimmage yards since 2023, tied for second-most in NFL, including 14 straight at home. Hubbard has never had less than 50 scrimmage yards in a home game in his career.

With three catches for 57 yards, wide receiver Adam Thielen passed Drew Pearson for the fourth most receiving yards by undrafted free agent in NFL history (7,862). Moore recorded his first touchdown in a Panthers uniform (15th of his career) in the second quarter, reeling in a one-yard touchdown pass from Young to cap off a 15-play, 70-yard drive (8:34). He finished the game with a team-high six catches for 81 yards.

As the Chiefs were driving in the second quarter, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney sacked QB Patrick Mahomes for a loss of 10 yards, holding the Chiefs to a field goal. His second sack of the day came in the fourth quarter, combining with defensive end DeShawn Williams to bring Mahomes down. Clowney finished with three tackles (two solo), 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and two tackles for loss. This was his fifth-straight game against the Chiefs with a tackle for loss. He also reached 55.0 sacks for his career. For Williams, this was his first credited sack of the season, bringing his career total to 9.5. He recorded three tackles (one solo), 0.5 sacks, and one quarterback hit.

Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum also had a sack against Mahomes, getting to him for a loss of eight yards in the final minutes of the first half. This marked his second consecutive game with a sack. Wonnum notched five tackles (two solo), 1.0 sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit. Linebacker Josey Jewell recorded his tenth career sack in the final minutes of the fourth quarter for a loss of six yards, leading to a Chiefs punt two plays later. Jewell had a game-high nine tackles (six solo), 1.0 sack, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit. This marked his fourth-straight game with six or more tackles and his sixth-consecutive game against the Chiefs with at least five tackles. Jewell reached several milestones against the Chiefs. He recorded the 500th tackle of his career, his 15th quarterback hit, and his 10th sack. Corner Jaycee Horn notched his first career sack, bringing down QB Patrick Mahomes for a loss of 12 yards in the fourth quarter to force a Chiefs punt. On the day, Horn recorded six tackles with 1.0 sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit.

Kicker Eddy Piñeiro went a perfect four-for-four (30, 32, 29, 33) on field goals and two-for-two on PATs against Kansas City. On the season, he his 16-for-17 on field goals and 18-for-18 on PATs. Piñeiro now ranks third in franchise history in PATs (65). Piñeiro has now made 40 consecutive field goals at Bank of America Stadium, the second longest streak in Panthers history behind Graham Gano's 41-straight conversions (2016-18). It is also the longest active streak for a kicker in their home stadium in the NFL.

Panthers 2024 second-round pick running back Jonathon Brooks made his NFL debut against the Chiefs. He finished with two carries for 7 yards. Safety Sam Franklin Jr. recorded a career-high four special teams tackles (two solo) against Kansas City. The Panthers scored 27 points against the Chiefs, the second-most points they have allowed all season. The Chiefs entered the game ranked eighth in the league allowing 19.1 points per game. The Panthers defense recorded a season-high 5.0 sacks against the Chiefs. This was the most by the Panthers in a game since they also recorded 5.0 against the Falcons in Week 10 of the 2022 season. The Panthers 5.0 sacks were also the most by an opposing defense against the Chiefs this season. The Panthers special teams unit allowed -4 punt return yards against the Chiefs. This was tied for the fewest punt return yards allowed in a game by the Panthers, previously accomplished three times, most recently against the Texans in Week Three of 2021.

Next Gen Stats

Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 2 — Photo Panthers.com

Bryce Young was blitzed on a season-high 40.0% of dropbacks against the Chiefs in Week 12, completing 11 of his 14 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown on such dropbacks, including a season-high 9.6 yards per attempt. Young also completed 9 of his 16 attempts over 10 air yards for 165 yards, generating a career-high completion percentage over expected of +14.0% (min. 5 attempts). The Panthers pass rush came alive against the Chiefs generating 5 sacks against Patrick Mahomes, tied for the most in a game of Mahomes' career. The Panthers had recorded only 12 total sacks entering the game, the 2nd-fewest in the league this season.

Snap Counts

Take a look at the snap counts and playtime percentage for the Panthers in Week 12 of the regular season against the Chiefs.

Normally a guy getting eight snaps isn't that big of a deal. When it's your spare offensive lineman, it's a signal of something, well, bigger. Brady Christensen getting 13 percent of the total snaps as an eligible sixth blocker shows how committed they were to protect and run, but they also put him into a pass pattern. Sadly, he was being held and not thrown to. But Christensen can seemingly do it all. Adam Thielen played a reduced workload in his first game back after an eight-game absence, getting in for 38 snaps (61 percent). They can afford that when Xavier Legette and David Moore each play nearly every snap as Thielen works his way back. Wide receiver Dan Chisena, promoted from the practice squad, got his second offensive snap since 2021. He had one last year with Arizona but has hung around the league as a special teams player. The Panthers are running short on receivers at the moment.

D.J. Wonnum has gone from "Oh, let's ease him into things after a long absence" to playing the lion's share of the snaps at outside linebacker. That's a rotational job by nature, and the 64 percent of the snaps Jadeveon Clowney played is closer to the norm (if not high). But Wonnum logging 77 percent in his second game back is a testament to the work he put in on the back end. Undrafted rookie Kenny Dyson, also promoted from the practice squad this week, got his first NFL snaps as well.

We've noted before that you can track how a game went by the snap counts of Eddy Piñeiro and Johnny Hekker. With Piñeiro having four more plays than Hekker and JJ Jansen (by virtue of kicking off, meaning points have been scored), it was as good a day as you can have without winning. Some of the special teams regulars were scattered across the participation chart, as Feleipe Franks and Raheem Blackshear were called to play some offense because of shortages there. Normally, they're part of a more stable than normal special teams core including Sam Franklin Jr., Lonnie Johnson, and Jon Rhattigan. (Franklin, Rhattigan, and Blackshear were also three of the four game captains this week, along with Bryce Young).

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Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 3 — Photo Panthers.com

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Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 9 — Photo Panthers.com

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Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 12 — Photo Panthers.com

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Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 14 — Photo Panthers.com

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Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 16 — Photo Panthers.com

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Panthers vs Chiefs - Figure 17 — Photo Panthers.com