ATLANTA — Third down has been a problem for the Atlanta Falcons all season. Fourth down joined it on Sunday night. The Falcons failed on two fourth-down attempts from inside the Kansas City 15-yard line in the final five minutes of the game and left Mercedes-Benz Stadium as 22-17 losers wondering what might have been.
“I was in four-down territory for a while there,” coach Raheem Morris said. “We were here to win this football game. We didn’t come here to tie or lose or hope we win or allow Patrick Mahomes to work his magic. We came here to win the football game on our terms, and we lost it.”
The Falcons’ final gasp came on fourth-and-1 from the Chiefs’ 13-yard line when they tried to run a sweep to the left with running back Bijan Robinson, who was stuffed for a 3-yard loss by linebacker Nick Bolton.
“When I got the ball, I saw a defender right away, and I was like, ‘S—,’” Robinson said. “He came right in the back door and came free. It was on me to try to break it, but obviously he held my foot, and it was tough for me to go anywhere. It was just an assignment that we forgot to get, and it was a run through.”
Chiefs get the stop on fourth down!!!!
📺: #KCvsATL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/5aUfSMdG6o— NFL (@NFL) September 23, 2024
The Falcons had failed to convert a third-and-1 on the previous play when running back Tyler Allgeier was stuffed for no gain. Atlanta, which was coming off a 152-yard rushing effort against Philadelphia, had only 82 yards on the ground against the Chiefs. Those failures cost the Falcons a chance at a second straight prime-time surprise after stunning the Eagles last Monday night.
The Falcons came into Sunday’s game feeling confident they would have more success with the run game against a Kansas City team that was last in the league in rush defense success rate (41.9 percent) through the first two weeks.
“We really did,” Morris said. “They did a nice job of sending some zero packages. That’s a good football team. That is a very good football team, and they were able to come out today and bow up and stop the run, and we were not. They ran the ball pretty well.”
Atlanta’s other fourth-down failure came when a pass to Drake London on fourth-and-5 from the Kansas City 6-yard line fell incomplete with 4:08 remaining. That play, too, was preceded by a near miss on third down, this one not entirely the Falcons’ fault.
On third-and-5, Kirk Cousins threw to Kyle Pitts in the back of the end zone, but the ball fell incomplete after Chiefs safety Bryan Cook wrapped up Pitts.
“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on,” referee Tra Blake told a pool reporter after the game. “From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel that there was a foul committed.”
Morris declined to comment on the play.
“I like my money,” the coach said. “I’m smart enough not to talk about the officials. They made the call or they didn’t make the call. It is what it is. We had a chance to win the football game.”
Pitts and Cousins blamed themselves.
“You never want to put it in the ref’s hands,” said Pitts, who had a 50-yard catch earlier in the game to set up a Falcons touchdown. “Just got to make that play.”
Will @kylepitts__ catch a 50-yard pass from @KirkCousins8?
It is decidedly so 🎱
NBC | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/HVl8DZzvoI
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 23, 2024
Cousins, who became the fifth-fastest to 40,000 regular-season passing yards on Sunday (153 games), might have affected the outcome with a higher pass, he said.
“I felt like I was a little late, and he ran out of real estate,” Cousins said. “If I had the play to do over again, I would have gotten to Kyle earlier or put the ball higher and not even put it in the ref’s hands. That’s where I would correct my own play.”
Cousins finished 20-for-29 for 230 yards, one touchdown, one interception and an 89.7 passer rating.
“Frustrating night. You feel like you snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” he said. “There’s plenty I can point to that wasn’t good enough to win this game, but I still felt like it was right there for us to win and when you don’t do it, it leaves a pretty sickening feeling. That’s life in this league.”
The Falcons have gone 2-for-9 on third down in all three games this season. Through three games, they are 30th in the NFL in conversion rate (22.2 percent), according to TruMedia.
“Haven’t been good enough, have to be better moving forward,” Cousins said. “I think we have a lot of the pieces we need to be successful. I think we have to get better. I look forward to the challenge of trying to be a better offense because I do think we can be.”
Atlanta’s inability to convert third downs gave Mahomes too many chances even on a night when he wasn’t as sharp as usual. Mahomes finished 26-for-39 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
At one point late in the third quarter, the Chiefs led in time of possession 30:33 to 12:46 and had run 63 plays to Atlanta’s 26. Asked if that made an impact on the game, Falcons safety Jessie Bates said, “Hell yeah.”
“But I thought we did a really good job of responding and forcing those guys to kick field goals,” he said. “A loss is a loss. You never want to start off 0-2 at home. We want to get this city behind us, but I think it was a hard-fought game. There’s a lot that we can learn from and build off of. Tough loss … now we’re off into the division and that’s the most important thing.”
(Top photo of Kirk Cousins: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
