The Chiefs have lost Larry Johnson indefinately due to his off the field behavior.  This will really hurt the Chiefs’ offense as he was the team’s best player on that side of the football.  Johnson has carried the ball 93 times for 417 yards (4.5 ypc) with 3 TD grabs and he has also caught 6 passes for 12 yards (2.0 avg).  The Chiefs plan on letting Kolby Smith start this game but they should consider giving the rock to rookie Jamaal Charles.  Charles has carried the ball 24 times this season for 115 yards (4.8 ypc) and he also has caught 16 passes for 94 yards (5.9 avg).  Smith has carried the ball 14 times for 39 yards (2.8 ypc) and he has caught 8 passes for 37 yards (4.6 avg) so far this season.

The Chiefs really got beat up last week as they lost both Brodie Croyle (torn MCL) and Damon Huard (torn ligaments in finger) for the rest of the season.  Croyle finished up this season completing 20 of 29 passes (69%) for 151 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs (81.3 QB Rating).  The Chiefs really need to look for a different QB to lead them in the future as Croyle is way too injury prone to depend on.  Huard has completed 50 of 81 passes (61.7%) this season for 477 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 interceptions (65.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 4 times for 13 yards (3.3 ypc) in what was likely his last season in Kansas City.  The starting job now falls to Tyler Thigpen and that’s not a good thing for the Chiefs.  He has completed 38 of 90 passes (42.2%) for 392 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 interceptions (44.3 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 9 times for 61 yards (6.8 ypc) with a TD this season.  Look for the Chiefs to have a very nice draft pick in the first round next season and they should seriously consider a QB in round #1.

This is the kind of game that gets the head coach fired but somehow Herman Edwards has survived.  The Chiefs couldn’t get anything going on offense in this game as they only had the ball for 21:06.  The Chiefs only rushed for 35 yards on 17 carries (2.1 ypc) and they only could muster 92 yards passing.  The Panthers took Larry Johnson out of this game early holding him to 2 yards rushing on only 7 carries (0.3 ypc).  Damon Huard got benched in this game for being downright pathetic.  He completed 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards with 2 interceptions.  Tyler Thigpen finished up this game completing 5 of 10 passes for 37 yards.  The defense has to share the blame in this debacle as the Panthers rushed for 205 yards on 48 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also threw for 236 yards!  The Chiefs are now 1-4 on the season going into their bye week.

The Chiefs finally got their offense going last week and they are coming up against a Panthers’ D that is allowing 114.3 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  With that in mind expect the Chiefs to give the Panthers a very heavy dose of Larry Johnson (415 yards rushing).  If Johnson is effective running the ball look for Damon Huard to attack the Panthers’ secondary with play action passes to Dwyane Bowe and Tony Gonzalez.  For that to work though the Chiefs will have to keep DE Julius Peppers out of their backfield as the O-Line of the Chiefs has allowed 12 sacks already this season.

The Chiefs’ defense has been pathetic this season especially against the running game allowing 176.5 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry.  Look for the Panthers to come out running with DeAngelo Williams (201 yards rushing) and Jonathan Stewart (197 yards rushing) against the very soft interior of the Chiefs’ defense.  But, expect Jake Delhomme to take advantage of the Chiefs’ young corners (Brandon Carr, Brandon Flowers) with veterans Steve Smith and Mushin Muhammad in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  CAROLINA PANTHERS 21, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13

The Chiefs have signed WR Mark Bradley to a 2-year contract.  Bradley played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Bears this season before they released him but he didn’t catch any passes.  Bradley has now played in 34 games (4 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 38 passes for 583 yards (15.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  With the Chiefs’ WR corps in the state it’s in right now signing Bradley was a good move as they need someone to step up opposite Dwyane Bowe.