Chiefs win even as they grieve over murder-suicide

• Players, fan cope in aftermath of Jovan Belcher tragedy
• Peyton Hillis hands coach Romeo Crennel a ball after scoring a touchdown
• "There's really nothing you can do to prepare for this," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt says

KANSAS CITY – This is the image Kansas City Chiefs fans needed to see.

Peyton Hillis, jogging to the sideline, handing the football used to score a first quarter touchdown to head coach Romeo Crennel, wrapping up his coach in an embrace.

The football mattered little at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs beat the Carolina Panthers 27-21. Yet in the wake of Saturday's murder-suicide involving Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who police say killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, before fatally shooting himself in front of Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli, the football certainly helped.

"I thought that was the best thing we could do," said Crennel who declined to discuss in detail what he saw Saturday. "If for no other reason it takes our minds off our misery for a few hours."

The Chiefs hung a jersey of Belcher's in his locker as part of their grieving, although the team did not publicly memorialize him before the game.

MIXED EMOTIONS:Fans ponder how to remember dead

"I can't imagine what (Crennel is) going through, and what (Pioli is) going through," tackle Eric Winston said. "To have to lose a person on your team, as a coach, I'm sure he looks at all of us sort of as his kids, and to add on to that having to witness it, it's something that I'm sure he'll never be able to forget. That's got to be so much tougher than just losing somebody.

Crennel acknowledged that there are still many emotional days ahead. "It might not be over for some time for a lot of the guys," he said.

Said defensive tackle Shaun Smith: "All I remember was me and Jovan walking off the field after Friday's practice, just talking about who's going to get more snaps this week. Because the week before we played nickel, and he doesn't play nickel. Just joking and having fun. So it was a little tough. I'm going to miss him, like I said. But I feel sorry for (Perkins') family, too, because they lost a loved one. We've got to continue to stay strong and stay together."

Although the game was unimportant -- especially with neither the Chiefs (2-10) nor the Panthers (3-9) bound the playoffs -- it did provide some relief for the team and community.

Hillis scored his first touchdown of the season. Jamaal Charles, whose wife is related to Perkins, rushed for 127 yards. Quinn threw two touchdown passes, and the Chiefs won their first game at Arrowhead since Dec. 18, 2011.

BOX SCORE:Chiefs 27, Panthers 21

Quinn, promoted to starter in November, played his best game since he was the Chiefs' starter in 2009. He threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns -- including a 1-yard pass to tight end Tony Moeaki on a fourth-and-goal in the second quarter – and led five scoring drives for a team that hadn't scored more than 20 points since Sept. 30.

"In tragedies like this, they can define you or redefine you," Quinn said. "I think this team was able to take this event and let it redefine us as a team. We were battling through a lot of emotion, a lot of difficulties on the field – there were a lot of injuries, too, and guys stepped up and played a heck of a game."

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who rushed for 78 yards and threw for 232 yards, gave Carolina a chance late, capping an 11-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy. After Murphy spiked the ball in the east zone, Newton collected the ball and handed it to a pair of boys dressed in Auburn jerseys.

Newton had one final chance at a Hail Mary as time expired, but his pass was completed to Steve Smith well short of the end zone.