The bye week is over and the Carolina Panthers are set to return to action on Sunday, when they will host the Kansas City Chiefs. As long as they’re going to be facing the reigning Super Bowl champions, this matchup is coming at a pretty ideal time. The Panthers should be relatively well-rested after two weeks without a game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are coming off their first loss of the 2024 NFL season.

As expected, Carolina is in the same place as last week in Vinnie Iyer’s power rankings at The Sporting News. Here’s what he had to say about the Panthers coming off their bye.

“The Panthers will be looking for two things the rest of the way — more competent and confident play from Bryce Young with more experience in Dave Canales’ offense, and the limited defense continuing to play hard before the team can add more help in 2025.”

As for the Chiefs, they had been in the top spot virtually all season thanks their unblemished record. However, thanks to yesterday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills they have fallen two spots down to third. Detroit and Buffalo now occupy the top two positions.

“The Chiefs came down to earth, losing a rare two-possession game at Buffalo. Mahomes played well, but the defense had a few more lapses than expected. They are still in control of the AFC’s top seed, and in the end, getting the loss out of the way might be a good thing for the playoffs.”

It might be a good thing for the playoffs – but losing tends to begat more losing in our experience. While Carolina is far less likely to upset them than a contender like Josh Allen and the Bills, the truth is the Chiefs were well overdue for a loss and their record looks far better than they have actually played.

The score differential points to this. Buffalo has the best +/- in the AFC by a wide margin at +106. Meanwhile, Detroit has the best in the NFC at a ridiculous +159. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are only sitting at +49 on the season. Nine other teams have a better point differential this season, including two in their own division. So, while an upset is still unlikely – it’s not as crazy as the standings make it seem.

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