At some point this week, Chiefs inside linebacker Derrick Johnson realized something.
No matter how hard their scout-team quarterbacks this week — Nick Foles and Tyler Bray — tried, they simply were not going to give the Chiefs’ first-string defense a comprehensive look of what they’ll face on Sunday, when the Chiefs, 6-2, take on the Carolina Panthers, 3-5, in a road test at Bank of America Stadium.
This has nothing to do with Foles or Bray, both of whom are honest-to-God pocket quarterbacks. Instead, it has everything to do with the freakish size and athletic ability of the man pulling the trigger for the Panthers, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player who the Chiefs say simply cannot be adequately replicated in practice, by anyone in the league — Cam Newton.