It came down to the wire once again, but the Chiefs pushed their record to 3-0 with a 22-17 victory over the Falcons on Sunday Night Football.
Down by five, the Falcons had a couple of late chances to score but couldn’t get it done. With just over four minutes to go, Kirk Cousins couldn’t connect with tight end Kyle Pitts or Drake London in the end zone from the Kansas City 6-yard line. While officials likely could have called defensive pass interference on safety Bryan Cook on the throw to Pitts, no one pulled out a flag.
At that point, the Falcons also could have cut Kansas City’s lead to just two points. But head coach Raheem Morris elected to go for it, and it didn’t work out.
But after a three-and-out from Kansas City’s offense, the Falcons once again had an opportunity — this time aided by some Chiefs defensive fouls. An illegal use of hands penalty gave Atlanta a free first down. Then there was a potential make-up call on defensive pass interference, as receiver Ray-Ray McCloud initiated contact with Trent McDuffie, but the cornerback was still flagged. Finally, a horse collar tackle moved the Falcons to Kansas City’s 22-yard line.
But on third-and-1 with 1:03 on the clock, Tyler Allgeier was stopped short of the sticks. And on fourth down, linebacker Nick Bolton — who had briefly exited the contest with a back issue — burst through the line to bring down Bijan Robinson for a 3-yard loss, effectively ending the contest.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had to do some creative kneeling to run the clock out, as Atlanta still had two timeouts. On one of them, he got his foot caught in the turf a little bit and had to shake it off. But Mahomes told NBC’s Melissa Stark after the game that he was just fine.
With four drives of at least 11 plays, the Chiefs dominated time of possession for much of the contest, with the final tally coming in at 34:57 to 25:03. Kansas City outgained Atlanta 345 to 311, had 22 first downs to Atlanta’s 19, and was 6-of-14 on third down with Atlanta 2-of-9.
The Falcons held a 7-0 lead when London caught a 14-yard pass to cap the opening drive. But the team couldn’t score after Justin Simmons — a former Broncos safety — picked off Mahomes for the sixth time.
Rashee Rice’s 13-yard touchdown catch from Mahomes tied the game at 7-7. And while Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown gave the Falcons a 14-7 advantage, Atlanta would not reach the end zone for the rest of the game.
Though Harrison Butker missed his first extra point since 2022 in the second half, he did connect on field goals of 53, 44, and 21 yards to give the Chiefs a 16-14 advantage midway through the third quarter. Then receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was a key player for Kansas City in the team’s 2022 Super Bowl run, caught his first touchdown of the season with 1:16 left in the third quarter to put the visitors up 22-14.
Atlanta’s only score of the second half came from Younghoe Koo’s 54-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. That length tied a career high for the kicker.
Mahomes finished the contest 26-of-38 for 217 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Rice led the team with 12 catches and 110 yards with a TD. Tight end Travis Kelce caught four passes for 30 yards.
With running back Isiah Pacheco out, rookie Carson Steele led the Chiefs with 17 carries for 72 yards. He also caught a 2-yard pass.
On the other side, Cousins finished 20-of-29 for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception. London had six catches for 67 yards with a TD and Darnell Mooney caught all eight of his targets for 66 yards. Robinson finished with just 31 yards on 16 carries, though he did have two receptions for 21 yards.
Now at 3-0, the Chiefs will be on the road again next weekend to play the division-rival Chargers in Los Angeles.
The 1-2 Falcons will stay at home to take on the division-rival Saints.
