ATLANTA – Patrick Mahomes knows he has to get better.
No worries.
Thanks to some overwhelming resistance from Kansas City, the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions are still undefeated.
Mahomes threw another interception and threw two touchdown passes. In the final minutes, the Chiefs defense stopped Atlanta twice on fourth down to secure a 22-17 victory over the Falcons on Sunday night.
“It helps when you have a defense that’s been in those moments before and can make those big plays,” Mahomes said. “It’s a team game and we win games and I feel like we’re getting better every week.”
The Chiefs (3-0) have been far from perfect, that much is certain – Mahomes points more to himself than anyone else – but their record has remained flawless with a total of 13 points.
After their surprise victory in Philadelphia, the Falcons (1:2) still had several chances for the decisive touchdown in the final minutes.
Kirk Cousins threw a pair of incomplete passes in the end zone from the Chiefs’ 6-yard line after the Falcons missed a field goal opportunity with just over 4 minutes left.
Atlanta got the ball back, stormed down the field with the help of some penalties, and had a third and one at the Kansas City 13-yard line. Tyler Allgeier was stopped for no gain and Bijan Robinson was thrown to by Nick Bolton on fourth down for a loss of 3 yards with less than a minute left on the clock.
Bolton said he recognized the Falcons’ play before they snapped the ball.
“Trust my keys, trust my eyes, trust our move,” he said. “I already knew where I was going.”
Mahomes threw for 217 yards, including touchdowns to Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Harrison Butker kicked three field goals for the Chiefs.
Cousins completed 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards, making a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drake London and a 50-yard pass to Kyle Pitts that set up Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown run.
“I feel like we missed a lot of opportunities on the field,” Cousins said. “I’m looking forward to getting better.”
The Falcons capitalized on the momentum of their last-minute blowout in Philadelphia, running 70 yards after the opening kickoff and scoring a touchdown.
Cousins completed all five of his passes for 66 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Drake London, who also caught the winning catch against the Eagles. London ended up all alone in the end zone after a failed coverage by the Chiefs.
Mahomes recovered his fourth interception of the season and led Kansas City on a 13-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rice.
The Falcons regained the lead on Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown run, which was set up by Cousins’ 50-yard pass to Kyle Pitts.
But Atlanta’s offensive line suffered two setbacks when right tackle Kaleb McGary and center Drew Dalman both went down with injuries. With two backups in their ranks, the guys up front struggled to keep the pressure off Cousins, who was sacked twice and hit 10 more times while throwing and spent much of the night trying to get up off the turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
One of those drives resulted in a wobbly pass that was intercepted by Chamarri Conner, setting up Butker’s 44-yard field goal that cut the Falcons’ lead to 14-13 at halftime.
Butker gave the Chiefs the lead in the third quarter with a 21-yard chip shot, and Kansas City extended its lead late in the third quarter with Mahomes’ 13-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Schuster.
For the third game in a row, Travis Kelce was not a big factor. The star tight end caught four balls for 30 yards.
With Kansas City running back Isiah Pacheco out with an ankle injury, the Chiefs got good performances from his backup players.
Carson Steele, an undrafted rookie, led the way with 17 powerful carries for 72 yards. Samaje Perine contributed six carries for 25 yards and three catches for 15 yards.
“I had a lot of confidence there,” Mahomes said. “You lose some of the energy that Isaiah has. I mean, there aren’t many guys that are that motivated after every run. But I thought the guys did a great job.”
After a controversial pass interference penalty on fourth-and-long earned them a win over Cincinnati the previous week, the Chiefs might have gotten away with such a penalty against the Falcons.
On third down and goal from the Kansas City 6, Cousins looked toward Pitts in the back of the end zone. With his back to the quarterback, safety Bryan Cook appeared to collide with Pitts just before the ball arrived.
But the referees did not throw a flag and Cousins’ pass on the fourth attempt was also incomplete.
“This is a real-time decision that the officials have to make,” referee Tra Blake told a pool reporter. “We’re doing our best to make that decision.”
Chiefs: Bolton limped off the field early in the fourth quarter after an awkward landing, but came back to stop Robinson.
Falcons: McGary and Dalman both went down in the second quarter. McGary was carried off the field with a knee injury and replaced by Storm Norton. Dalman was replaced by Ryan Neuzil after he went down with an ankle injury.
Chiefs: Stay on the road for another week when they visit Los Angeles next Sunday to face the Chargers (2-1) in an AFC West matchup.
Falcons: Play the second of three consecutive home games when their NFC South rival, the New Orleans Saints (2-1), travel to Atlanta next Sunday.
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