Carolina's Muhsin Muhammad (87) drags Kansas City's Brandon Carr (39) across the goal line for a third-quarter touchdown. The Panthers beat the Chiefs, 34-0, Sunday in Charlotte, N.C.

Charlotte, N.C. ? Herm Edwards came up to John Fox an hour before kickoff and gave him a hearty bear hug. The former college teammates then exchanged stories and laughs.

But the second matchup of the ex-San Diego State defensive backs was no fair fight: Fox has the Carolina Panthers looking like an NFC contender, and Edwards’ Kansas City Chiefs are still clearly rebuilding, no matter what happened last week.

DeAngelo Williams had 123 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns, and the Panthers held Larry Johnson to two yards rushing in a 34-0 victory Sunday.

It was the first time in six years that the Chiefs were shut out.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had a game like this,” said Fox, after Carolina’s most lopsided win in team history.

The Panthers (4-1), who have missed the playoffs the past two seasons, are off to their best start since reaching the Super Bowl in the 2003 season. It was one of their most dominating performances since they crushed the Edwards-coached New York Jets 30-3 in 2005 on the way to reaching the NFC championship game.

You can’t blame Edwards if he wants no part of another game against Fox.

“I didn’t see that coming at all. We were a confident team after last week’s game,” Edwards said of the Chiefs (1-4), who routed Denver to end a franchise-record 12-game losing streak. “Then we come in here and we acted like we’ve never played before.”

Williams and Jonathan Stewart ran through a woeful defense that also couldn’t stop the pass. Steve Smith caught six passes for 96 yards, and Muhsin Muhammad had a 47-yard touchdown catch.

Kansas City’s only highlight in a miserable day was a personal milestone.

Tony Gonzalez caught a six-yard pass late in the first quarter to move past Shannon Sharpe for the NFL’s career leader for yards receiving for a tight end. But that catch came on third-and-16, leading to one of Dustin Colquitt’s seven punts.

Gonzalez was in no mood to celebrate after the Chiefs’ first shutout since losing 24-0 to Oakland in the final game of the 2002 season.

“That was the worst I’ve ever been involved with, in my professional career,” Gonzalez said. “We couldn’t get anything going – offense, defense, special teams. So embarrassing.”