Takeaways as Chiefs outlast Falcons 22-17 on Sunday Night Football originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs keep winning.
Kansas City on Sunday Night Football went to Atlanta and soared over the Falcons with a 22-17 win, moving it to 3-0 on the young campaign.
It wasn’t always pretty and Mahomes was far from his best for the second straight season, but Atlanta’s inability to score in the second half proved decisive. It came down to the final drive, but the Falcons failed to convert a 4th and short via Bijan Robinson that sealed the deal.
The Falcons, on the other hand, dropped to 1-2 after pulling off a stunning road win last time out against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Let’s analyze the game further with takeaways:
A missed pass interference?
The biggest play of the game may have been one that wasn’t called. Late in the fourth quarter on a third down, Chiefs safety Bryan Cook appeared to interfere with Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts when he ran a route into the end zone.
Pitts beat Cook on the route, but the latter jumped into Pitts’ body before he could make a play on Kirk Cousins’ pass. It ultimately was not called, and Atlanta missed its ensuing fourth-down play to go emptyhanded instead of kicking a field goal.
That play could’ve been the reason Atlanta won as a flag would’ve seen the Falcons proceed to the one-yard line. Instead, the ball went back to Kansas City, who went three-and-out anyway.
Kansas City last time out benefited from a pass interference call on a 4th and 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, which helped set up its last-second field-goal win.
Young receivers shine under the lights
QB play between Mahomes and Cousins wasn’t always at its best, but both stars received vital help from their young wideouts.
For Kansas City, it was second-year option Rashee Rice. Rice came up clutch with 12 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown, his second 100-yard game of the season. Travis Kelce continued to go under the radar with just four catches for 30 yards.
Atlanta received solid play from Drake London as the third-year wideout continues to blossom. London logged six catches for 67 yards and a touchdown to follow up on his solid outing at Philadelphia. Darnell Mooney also came up big with eight catches for 66 yards, but Atlanta will be disappointed with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier struggling on the ground. Robinson, specifically, averaged just 1.9 yards per carry en route to 31 rushing yards.
Carson Steele steps up as RB1
With Isiah Pacheco sidelined for a while due to injury, the Chiefs turned to two faces to pick up the running load. Those two were veteran Samaje Perine and rookie Carson Steele.
Perine recorded six carries for 25 yards and three catches for 15, but Steele provided the better impact. The undrafted free agent rushed for 72 yards on 17 carries, good for a 4.2 average and a long of nine. It may not have been a breakout game, but he may have earned the trust of Andy Reid and Co. to earn more carries moving forward.
Rookie wideout Xavier Worthy logged three rushes for 13 yards.
Falcons enter crucial stretch
With the Falcons now 1-2, their next three games could prove pivotal down the line. With the Pittsburgh Steelers, Eagles and Chiefs out the way, up next are three divisional games. Up first is Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints at home, as Carr came back down to earth in a Week 3 loss to Philly.
Then Atlanta will again be at home against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are also off to a solid start. The three-game stretch concludes at the Carolina Panthers, who, for now, are a slightly different team with Andy Dalton under center instead of Bryce Young.
If Atlanta has serious aspirations of contending this season, it should go 3-0 and make some noise as the next four games after will be versus the Seattle Seahawks, at Tampa Bay, home to the Dallas Cowboys and at New Orleans.
