Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 27 of 37 pass attempts (73%) for 269 yards and three touchdowns in the 30-27 win over the Carolina Panthers. The 29-year-old also rushed five times for 60 yards in this game. Mahomes had by far his best game of the season in this week's contest despite being heavy favorites going into the matchup. The Panthers offense kept pace with the Kansas City offense until the end of the game. The Chiefs eventually won the game on a last-second field goal, but the Panthers tied the game with under two minutes in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs quarterback will look to keep this momentum rolling into their Black Friday matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13. The Raiders rank 25th in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks this season, meaning Mahomes will have a favorable matchup next Friday. Fantasy managers should be encouraged by this performance and feel more confident about starting him.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman caught the pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes that resulted in his team defeating the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. Unfortunately, the 26-year-old hasn't been relevant since then, catching only 12 passes for 90 yards during the 2024-25 campaign. With the number of injuries on the roster this season, most assumed Hardman would have a chance to get more involved. However, that hasn't happened. Of course, he's been known to have some impressive fantasy showings over the years. Still, outside of his contributions as a member of the special teams unit, Hardman likely won't see much work in Week 12 versus the Carolina Panthers.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justin Watson should not be relied upon in any fantasy format this weekend when the Chiefs face the Carolina Panthers. Even with Rashee Rice (knee) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) both missing time, Watson has been unable to enjoy any consistency in the Kansas City offense. Since Week 7, Watson has averaged just 2.4 targets per game with an average of 4.5 PPR points per game during this span. In addition, this past weekend, during their loss to the Buffalo Bills, Watson saw his snap count drop significantly as he saw 49 in Week 10 but a mere 30 in Week 11. Until Watson can see stable targets and opportunities, fantasy managers should continue to leave Watson on the waiver wire.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Spencer Shrader will face the Carolina Panthers in Week 12. Shrader was acquired by the team in the wake of Harrison Butker's injury and started as the placekicker for the team in last week's loss. The 25-year-old kicker out of Notre Dame nailed all three extra-point attempts and did not attempt a field goal in Week 11. The Chiefs are favorites in this week's matchup against the Panthers, which bodes well for Shrader's opportunities to score. If the Chiefs dominate the Panthers in this contest, there should be plenty of extra-point attempts and field goals to kick. Shrader will look to continue his streak of made kicks for his new team this week. The Chiefs kicker is ranked as the 11th-best kicker in our RotoBaller rankings this week, meaning fantasy managers will likely have better options to turn to. That said, Shrader should be a decent bye-week replacement kicker.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy will face the Carolina Panthers in Week 12. Worthy had one of his more productive games last week in the 21-30 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The rookie receiver was heavily involved in the game plan for the beginning of the game, catching four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. Worthy did not have another catch for the rest of the game despite his early involvement. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes publicly stated that he needs to do a better job connecting with Worthy on deep passes since the young receiver is getting open. There will likely be an effort to push the ball downfield to Worthy in this contest since the Panthers are a beatable opponent. The Panthers rank 12th in fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers this season, but that is simply because teams do not need to pass against the Panthers to win games. The 21-year-old is ranked WR36 in our RotoBaller half-PPR rankings this week, making him a WR3/flex option in this contest. Fantasy managers dealing with bye weeks should have no issues finding a spot for Worthy in their starting lineups.