Heavily Criticized Chief Proves Doubters Wrong With Bounce-Back Effort vs. Panthers

The Kansas City Chiefs won a much closer game than most people anticipated on Sunday, defeating the Carolina Panthers 30-27. One major reason the game was so narrow was because the Chiefs' secondary struggled yet again.

Bryce Young finished the game with a 60% completion percentage (21/35) for 263 yards and one touchdown. Although the Chiefs secondary has struggled since Jaylen Watson went down, this Panthers team was meant to be an easy opponent.

Despite most of the secondary struggling against the Panthers, cornerback Nazeeh Johnson had a bounce-back game. Johnson allowed just three catches on eight targets for 41 yards, earning him a 67.9 in pass coverage, according to PFF.

Nazeeh Johnson bounces back in a big way against the Panthers

Last week against the Bills, Johnson had a horrendous day in pass coverage. Johnson allowed nine catches on 12 targets for 103 yards and one touchdown against the Bills. The former seventh-round pick showed exactly why that's where he was selected in Week 11.

Luckily, Johnson's performance was much better against the Panthers. Although this is likely the result of the Panthers having a weaker receiving corps than the Bills, Johnson needed to show he could play well after a bad game.

Going forward, monitoring Johnson's play is important even though Watson is expected back. If Johnson is able to build off of his success against the Panthers there's a chance he could still receive playing time in the defensive backfield when Watson returns.

On the other hand, if Johnson has more bad performances, Steve Spagnuolo shouldn't play him.