The Kansas City Chiefs survived a furious comeback by the Carolina Panthers to win 30-27 on Sunday.

Here are some initial takeaways.

Patrick Mahomes delivers in the clutch… yet again.
It had not been pretty on either side of the ball (and we’ll get to that), but the Chiefs had a 27-16 lead over the Panthers with 2:42 to go in the third quarter. For a moment, it felt like the club had finally found a way to win comfortably against an inferior opponent.

But that wasn’t to be. The Panthers rallied back with two fourth-quarter scores as Kansas City punted the ball away on two straight possessions.

After Carolina converted a game-tying two-point try, it was up to Mahomes to put the team on his back and do it again. On first-and-10 from about midfield with less than a minute remaining, the quarterback glanced down the field and saw the left side open.

After evading a pass rusher, Mahomes sprinted for the first down, then skillfully juked his way around wide receiver Justin Watson’s block for a 33-yard scramble to get the Chiefs into field-goal range.

Undrafted rookie Spencer Shrader — signed less than two weeks ago to replace the injured Harrison Butker — would eventually take care of the rest, preventing the Chiefs from blowing a two-score lead against one of the NFL’s worst-ranked teams.

The offense takes a positive step.
When Chiefs head coach Andy Reid addressed the media last Monday, he candidly suggested that he and his coaching staff may need to simplify things for his team so that it could play faster.

In response, Kansas City came out of the gates sharp.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked much more like the player we’re used to seeing, with quick decision-making and orchestrating scores on the first five drives of the game.

While the offense was improved, it once again had protection issues — especially on the outside — along with untimely penalties. For example, in the second quarter, the Chiefs had the ball at the Carolina 5-yard line. But after four offensive penalties, the team had to settle for a field goal.

Let’s just say that Mahomes navigated protection issues a bit better this week. He was sacked five times on Sunday.

Tight end Noah Gray deserves a mention. He scored two touchdowns for the second straight game. As primary pass-catchers like tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins draw attention, Gray is taking full advantage.

Hopkins also added his third score as a Chief. Rookie receiver Xavier Worthy caught four of his six targets for 46 yards.

The Chiefs offense was better, but it still needs to be able to chew four minutes off the clock in a one-possession game. Still, I think it’s fair to say there were some positive offensive signs for Kansas City to take away into next week.

The defense takes a step backward.
This game reminded me of last season’s Week 4 win over the New York Jets — when a struggling young quarterback exploited the Chiefs’ secondary with ease.

All afternoon, Panthers pass-catchers were breaking free against the second and third levels of Steve Spagnuolo’s defense — and second-year quarterback Bryce Young was hitting them in stride.

It was fine in the first half because the defense held the opposition to field goals. But when the defense allows a game-tying touchdown (and two-point conversion) in the final frame, that will cast a large shadow on this unit — even in the win.

We’ll have to inspect the film and numbers in the coming days, but from our first look, it seems that the opposition is consistently finding ways to target both cornerback Nazeeh Johnson and safety Chamarri Conner.

Young threw for 263 yards, the second-greatest output of his career — and a season-high.

Make no mistake: Kansas City’s defense survived Bryce Young.

Ahead, there’s a date in five days with Gardner Minshew and the Las Vegas Raiders, providing a chance to regroup before a pivotal matchup against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers.