Chiefs Defeat Panthers on Last Second Field Goal

It wasn’t the familiar placekicker, but it was a familiar outcome.

Spencer Shrader, the injury replacement for Harrison Butker, made a 31-yard field goal with no time left on the clock as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Carolina Panthers 30-27 in Charlotte on Sunday afternoon.

The Chiefs won on the final snap of the game for the fifth time this season, narrowly averting disaster after the Panthers clawed back from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie the score with 1:46 to play. The Chiefs drove 57 yards down the field in response, with the key play a 33-yard ramble by Patrick Mahomes, to set up Shrader. The rookie kicker, in his second game with the Chiefs after Butker was placed on injured reserve, put his kick through the uprights for his third field goal of the game and his first career game winner.

In the end, the Chiefs were frustrated to have needed any heroics at all. They scored just 85 seconds into the game on a Mahomes pass to Noah Gray for 35 yards, and led 20-6 at halftime after Mahomes connected with Gray again on an 11-yard strike with 44 seconds to play before the intermission. But the Panthers, who had won two straight coming in, roared back. Their league-worst offense was sparked to life by the play of second year quarterback Bryce Young, who led a 15-play scoring drive to open the third quarter, and then, with the Chiefs up eight with 3:21 to play, took the Panthers down the field to set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Chuba Hubbard with 1:46 to play. The Panthers got a second chance at a game-tying two point conversion after a Chiefs penalty and converted on a Hubbard run to even the score at 27-27.

But 1:46 was far too much time for Mahomes, who hit Travis Kelce for eight yards and DeAndre Hopkins for seven more before his scramble along the left sideline moved the Chiefs into field goal range with 39 seconds left. 37 seconds and nine yards later, Shrader nailed his kick and the Chiefs were winners.

Mahomes finished with 269 yards passing and three touchdowns, two to Gray and one to Hopkins, and also rushed for 60 yards. It’s the first time Mahomes has had three or more passing scores in consecutive games since 2022. The Chiefs as a whole gained 391 yards of total offense, tallied 27 first downs, went 8-for-13 on third down, and scored on six of their eight possessions.

But the suddenly struggling Chiefs defense leaves with their heads bowed after giving up 334 total yards to a Panthers team that came in 32nd out of 32 teams in yards per game. Young threw for 263 yards and a touchdown in a valiant effort on the losing side.

The Chiefs move to 10-1 with the win, and have a quick turnaround before returning to Arrowhead Stadium to host the Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday.