That's pretty much the murderers' row of running backs the Panthers have faced this season. Yet, so far the Panthers have held their own, not allowing any of those vaunted backs to rush for more than 100 yards or score a touchdown against them this season.

At some point, you'd think the Panthers would catch a break.

But not this week.

On Sunday, Kansas City's bruising back Larry Johnson, fresh off a 198-yard, two-touchdown performance last week against Denver, invades Bank of America Stadium with momentum on his side.

Defensive tackle Damione Lewis, now in his seventh NFL season, said he's never seen a tougher stretch of running backs than what the Panthers have faced to open the season.

"I think by the end of the season we will have faced them all, don't you? I mean, that's the way it's looking. Golllllllly," joked Lewis.

All joking aside, he likes how the defense has responded.

"The thing this team does is treats everything the same and just takes it one play at a time," Lewis said. "We don't get ahead of ourselves when we're successful and we don't get down on ourselves when we're not doing so well."

"We are going to hit murderers' row again this week," coach John Fox said. "Every week you turn on the tape, that's one thing we get to do. We don't look at the records. We don't look at the preseason picks. We watch how people play, and these guys can run the ball. They put almost 200 (yards) up on a pretty good team that possesses the ball.

"It will be one more test, and I think we've done adequate in the first four. There's still room for improvement. We're not going to be polishing our stars by any stretch as we prepare for Kansas City."

The Panthers aren't exactly tearing it up on defense.

They rank 19th in the league against the run, allowing 114.3 yards per game on the ground. And opponents are still averaging 4.1 yards per carry against them.

But it's hard to argue that anyone has beaten the Panthers (3-1) on the ground. They've only allowed one rushing touchdown in 16 quarters, and that's a credit to the play of their front seven. Their one loss was to Minnesota and the Panthers held Peterson to 77 yards that day.

The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Johnson presents some different challenges for the Panthers because he's more physical than the other backs they've faced.

"He's a north-south runner and he won't give you a lot of shake," said safety Chris Harris. "He's a one-cut guy."

Added Lewis: "He's a big physical force when he runs the ball. He's full speed ahead. I mean, he's running downhill. So it's going to be a challenge."

A challenge the Panthers look forward to.

"Absolutely," Harris said. "We challenge each other every week not to give up 100 yards to any rusher. We have done a good job so far and we have another good back this week, so we have our hands full again. He's a physical runner. He's a north-south runner and he won't give you a lot of shake. He's a one-cut guy and gets upfield. We're going to have to make sure we're in our gaps and lanes to keep that from happening to us this week."

Johnson said he expects a stiff test.

"I think they play together," Johnson said of the Panthers. "It's not one guy that stands out, saying, 'It's on me. I'm the one that's making the plays.' Their defense is a unit that plays together. As far as them playing together, they go out and win a lot of games."

SERIES HISTORY: 4th meeting. Chiefs lead series 2-1. The Panthers haven't played the Chiefs since 2004 when they beat them 28-14 at Arrowhead Stadium. In that game, Jake Delhomme completed 16 of 29 passes for 180 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions despite the fact Steve Smith was out with a broken leg.