Benjamin fumble a blight on otherwise bright performance

Kelvin Benjamin was having one of the better games of his career, until he wasn’t.

The third-year receiver had seven catches for 84 yards through almost the entirety of Sunday’s loss to Kansas City, and the Chiefs seemed to have no answer for his presence in the seam. He was also targeted by quarterback Cam Newton 12 times, the most of any Carolina receiver.

Then with 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the scored tied at 17, Benjamin caught a 14-yard pass that was stripped and recovered by Kansas City corner Marcus Peters at the Carolina 34.

“I caught it and the guys were trying to pry it out (so) I was trying to get to the ground,” Benjamin said. “They got it out before I got down.”

Peters, who had barely missed picking off Newton earlier, said the play, for him, was simple.

“You know how you go to the store and you want something and your mama tells you that you can’t have it? I should have caught the first pick he threw to me, but I stayed patient,” said Peters.

“I took the ball from him. That was it, I just took it from him.”

Kansas City set up the winning field goal with an 11-yard run on the following play.

“Kelvin’s a professional,” Newton said after the game. “I know that if anybody knows what his worth is to this team, it’s him. Things happen. There’s not need to grieve over something that we all understand it just happens.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2016 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Benjamin fumble a blight on otherwise bright performance."