Marcus Peters rips win away from Panthers, who collapse in second half vs. Chiefs

The Carolina Panthers’ frustrating season got even more frustrating on Sunday, as the Kansas City Chiefs held the defending NFC champions scoreless in the second half and posted a last-minute, 20-17 win.

The Chiefs’ defense sealed the game. Eric Berry’s nifty fourth quarter pick-six pulled Kansas City within three, but it was cornerback Marcus Peters who literally ripped the win away from the Panthers.

With 29 seconds to play, the game tied, 17-17, and the Panthers on their own 20, Cam Newton hit Kelvin Benjamin for a 14-yard gain but as Benjamin was trying to run with the ball, Peters, a Pro Bowler as a rookie last year, just took the ball from his arms.

Peters got a dumb penalty by punting the ball into the stands after the turnover, but it only cost the Chiefs five yards for delay of game.

Well inside Carolina territory, the Chiefs bled the clock then Cairo Santos hit the game-winning 37-yard field goal.

Thanks to the turnovers by Berry and Peters, Kansas City now has an impressive plus/minus ratio of plus-14 this season and at 7-2 claim a share of the AFC West lead with the Oakland Raiders, who are on their bye this week.

The win also extended the Chiefs’ post-bye win streak: they’ve won their last 14 straight games after their bye, dating to week 17 of the 2014 season.

As for the Panthers, they slipped to 3-6 and while the NFC South leaders, Atlanta, also lost on Sunday, the Falcons are 6-4 while the other teams in the division, the Buccaneers and Saints, are 4-5.

It was quite the collapse for the Panthers, who were up 17-0 with just under two minutes left in the first half and 17-3 at halftime. They had just one possession in the third quarter, a 20-play drive that ended in a punt, and their four fourth-quarter possessions went interception, punt, punt, fumble.