Kansas City have won all three games by combined total of 13 points; Patrick Mahomes threw for two touchdown passes and one interception as defending Super Bowl champs held off Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons
Monday 23 September 2024 18:09, UK
Patrick Mahomes threw a pair of touchdown passes and Kansas City's defense made a couple of late stands to keep the Chiefs unbeaten with a 22-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night.
The two-time reigning Super Bowl champions Chiefs (3-0) have been far from perfect but have now won their first three games by a combined 13 points.
Mahomes completed 26 of 39 passes for 217 yards - including scoring throws to Rashee Rice and Juju Smith-Schuster -and an interception, while Harrison Butker booted three field goals for the Chiefs.
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was 20 of 29 for 230 yards with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drake London and a 50-yard completion to Kyle Pitts that set up Bijan Robinson's one-yard scoring run for the Falcons (1-2), who missed opportunities in the closing minutes to secure victory.
Carrying on the momentum from their last-minute stunner at Philadelphia, Cousins and the Falcons took the opening kick off and quickly drove 70 yards for a touchdown.
Cousins completed all five of his passes for 66 yards, including the scoring toss to London - who also caught the winning score against the Eagles. London wound up all alone in the end zone on a busted coverage by the Chiefs.
Three games into his third season, London became the fastest player in Falcons history to reach 150 career receptions.
Mahomes responded with a long drive of his own, taking the Chiefs 75 yards in 17 plays but failing to come away with any points. Going for Noah Gray in the end zone, Mahomes was intercepted by Justin Simmons - the fourth pick of the season for the Chiefs star quarterback.
But Mahomes bounced back from that miscue to push Kansas City all the way to the end zone. A 13-play, 79-yard possession ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rice.
The Falcons reclaimed the lead on Robinson's one-yard touchdown run, which was set up by Cousins' 50-yard pass to Kyle Pitts.
Atlanta's offensive line took a pair of hits when right tackle Kaleb McGary and center Drew Dalman both went out with injuries. With a pair of backups joining their ranks, the guys up front struggled to keep the pressure off Cousins, who was sacked twice and hit 10 more times as he threw.
One of those hits resulted in a wobbly pass that was picked off by Chamarri Conner, setting up Butker's 44-yard field goal that sliced the Falcons' lead to 14-13 at half-time.
Butker put the Chiefs ahead to stay on a 21-yard chip shot in the third quarter, and Kansas City then stretched that advantage on Mahomes' 13-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Schuster.
Kirk Cousins threw a pair of incompletions in the end zone from the Chiefs six to end one chance, and the final Atlanta drive ended with Bijan Robinson being thrown for a three-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Kansas City 13 with less than a minute remaining.
The Chiefs stay on the road for another week when they visit Los Angeles next Sunday to face the Chargers (2-1), while the Falcons play the second of three straight home games when the New Orleans Saints visit Atlanta next Sunday.
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