Sunday Night Football: Chiefs hold on for 22-17 win over Falcons

Once again, it came down to the wire, but the Chiefs extended their record to 3-0 with a 22-17 victory over the Falcons. Sunday Night Football.

Down by five points, the Falcons had a pair of late opportunities to score but couldn’t convert. With just over four minutes remaining, Kirk Cousins ​​was unable to connect with tight end Kyle Pitts or Drake London in the end zone from the Kansas City 6-yard line. While the officials likely could have called defensive pass interference on safety Bryan Cook on the pass to Pitts, no one brought out the flag.

At that point, the Falcons also could have cut Kansas City’s lead to just two points, but head coach Raheem Morris decided to take a chance and it didn’t work out.

But after a three-down drive by the Kansas City offense, the Falcons once again had a chance, this time aided by some defensive fouls by the Chiefs. A foul for illegal use of hands gave Atlanta a free first down. Then there was a potential offsetting penalty for defensive pass interference, as receiver Ray-Ray McCloud initiated contact with Trent McDuffie, but the cornerback was still penalized. Finally, a horse-collar tackle brought the Falcons to the Kansas City 22-yard line.

But on third-and-1 with 1:03 left, Tyler Allgeier was stopped short of the goalposts. And on fourth down, linebacker Nick Bolton, who had briefly left the game with a back issue, broke through the line to tackle Bijan Robinson for a 3-yard loss, ending the game.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had to take a creative knee to run out the clock as Atlanta still had two timeouts. In one of them, his foot got caught a bit in the turf and he had to shake it off. But Mahomes told NBC’s Melissa Stark after the game that he was fine.

With four drives of at least 11 plays, the Chiefs dominated time of possession for much of the game, with the final score 34:57 to 25:03. Kansas City outgained Atlanta 345 to 311, had 22 first downs to Atlanta’s 19 and was 6-for-14 on third down, while Atlanta was 2-for-9.

The Falcons had a 7-0 lead when London caught a 14-yard pass to close the opening drive. But the team was unable to score after Justin Simmons, a former Broncos safety, intercepted Mahomes for the sixth time.

Rashee Rice’s 13-yard touchdown reception off Mahomes tied the game at 7-7. And although Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown run gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead, 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 lead midway through the third quarter. Then wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was a key player for Kansas City in the team’s run to the 2022 Super Bowl, 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 in the second half came on a 54-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo early in the fourth quarter. That distance tied the kicker’s career high.

Mahomes finished the game 26-of-38 passing for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Rice led the team with 12 receptions and 110 yards, including one touchdown. 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 hand, Cousins ​​completed 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. London had six receptions for 67 yards, with one touchdown, and Darnell Mooney caught all eight of his passes for 66 yards. Robinson finished with just 31 yards on 16 carries, though he did have two receptions for 21 yards.

Now 3-0, the Chiefs will be on the road again next weekend to play their division rival Chargers in Los Angeles.

The 1-2 Falcons will stay home to face the division rival Saints.