ATLANTA — They exited a raucous crowd inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium with another close victory, this one a 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Several of the Kansas City Chiefs’ players walked out of the visitors’ locker room Sunday night with a smile. A few others displayed their relief with a few big exhales. Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs’ star quarterback, didn’t show much emotion when he left the locker room and stood in front of the lectern. Mahomes just wanted to be honest with himself.
“I feel like I haven’t played very well,” Mahomes said. “That’s not a stats thing. I just feel I’m missing opportunities whenever they’re out there or not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at.”
Based on the box score, Mahomes’ performance was competent — 26 completions on 39 attempts for 217 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Mahomes, though, knows the truth: For the second consecutive week, the biggest reason the Chiefs were victorious was their defense, a unit that held the Falcons out of the end zone in the second half.
Without receiver Marquise Brown (shoulder) and running back Isiah Pacheco (fibula), Mahomes was able to guide the Chiefs to an eight-point lead late in the third quarter. But once again, similar to the two previous wins, the Chiefs offense failed to score enough points to put the opponent away or possess the ball long enough in the fourth quarter to secure its lead.
“We haven’t played (well), I mean, really in all three games,” Mahomes said of the Chiefs’ 3-0 record. “We’ve been able to win and that speaks to the character of the team, the grit and how we’ve been in these situations before.”
He handed it off after the INT 😂
📺: #KCvsATL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/6Mt9JS9zXT— NFL (@NFL) September 23, 2024
The Chiefs possessed the ball for just three minutes and 59 seconds in the fourth quarter, the byproduct of two drives that ended in three-and-outs.
Despite the Falcons marching down the field and into the red zone, the Chiefs’ defenders, led by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, held them out of the end zone twice to seal the victory. Spagnuolo unleashed blitzes on back-to-back plays with four minutes left to force quarterback Kirk Cousins into throwing rushed, inaccurate incompletions in the end zone. The first fourth-down stop featured a seven-man blitz, which left cornerback Naheez Johnson unblocked.
“Spags is very methodical the way he calls plays and he keeps offenses guessing,” defensive end George Karlaftis said. “We talk about it in meetings, how we’re going to attack each offense, so we kind of know what to expect. A lot of times he times up (blitzes) perfectly and it works out great. I’m happy he’s our defensive coordinator.”
The closest the Falcons (1-2) came to scoring a potential game-winning touchdown was when Cousins attempted a pass into the back of the end zone for tight end Kyle Pitts. Safety Bryan Cook didn’t turn his head to look at the ball and used his shoulder pads to record a pass breakup despite initiating contact with Pitts, perhaps enough to warrant a pass-interference penalty. But no flag was thrown.
“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on,” referee Tra Blake said in a pool report. “From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel that there was a foul committed.”
3-0 looks good on you, Chiefs Kingdom. Goodnight! pic.twitter.com/wXsiiLLntW
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 23, 2024
The Chiefs knew the Falcons, needing a touchdown, would remain aggressive on fourth-down snaps with their next possession.
With less than a minute remaining, the Falcons faced a fourth-and-inches from the Chiefs’ 13-yard line. The Falcons lined up in a condensed formation featuring two tight ends and two running backs, similar to one they used in the second quarter to score a 1-yard touchdown. Before getting under backup center Ryan Neuzil, Cousin used a signal, using his hands to tap his helmet multiple times, to communicate with his teammates.
“They saw us all kind of loading the box and they said, ‘Check, check,’” linebacker Leo Chenal said. “We knew that they were alerting to an outside run. (Linebacker) Nick (Bolton) just read it perfectly and took the shot.”
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Bolton, who suffered a lower back injury earlier in the fourth quarter, was the lone defender the Falcons didn’t block. He sprinted upfield behind Chenal, who created penetration against left tackle Jack Matthews and tackled running back Bijan Robinson behind the line of scrimmage for a 3-yard loss.
“I saw that and cheated over a little bit,” Bolton said of the Falcons’ formation. “It’s a rule around the locker room: If a tight end is (supposed to block No.) 54, man, he’s going to set the edge for you. I saw Leo set the edge and I went off his butt and I made a play. I trusted the play call we had and I already knew where I was going on the snap.”
Chiefs get the stop on fourth down!!!!
📺: #KCvsATL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/5aUfSMdG6o— NFL (@NFL) September 23, 2024
The defense came through again, holding the Falcons to 17 points, the fewest they have allowed this season.
As for the Chiefs offense, Mahomes wasn’t able to throw as many deep passes as he or coach Andy Reid wanted because the left tackle position, with new starter Wanya Morris, has been somewhat of a liability. The Falcons used a variety of zone coverages to force Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs to execute on long drives, featuring 10 or more plays, to score both of their touchdowns.
Mahomes didn’t start the game as well as he wanted. He missed receiver Rashee Rice, who was wide open in the middle of the field, with an inaccurate throw on his first pass of the game. The Chiefs’ first possession ended in a turnover. Falcons safety Justin Simmons intercepted Mahomes’ pass in the end zone as he undercut the corner route from tight end Noah Gray.
“I saw the Cover 0 (blitz) and we had miscommunication with how we were going to pick up the pressure,” Mahomes said. “And then, I can’t force it once it doesn’t (get picked up). I got sped up a little bit, but you can’t force it. Those are mistakes you can’t make in the red zone.”
Justin Simmons picks off Patrick Mahomes for the sixth time in his career!
📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/hvqUF5f1Qe
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 23, 2024
In the fourth quarter, Mahomes didn’t get the necessary help to continue the Chiefs’ drives to keep the ball away from Cousins. Tight end Travis Kelce failed to secure the ball on a pass in the middle of the field that would’ve been a first down, with the ball knocked out by safety Jessie Bates III. The Chiefs’ next drive ended after just three plays when rookie receiver Xavier Worthy stopped running his crossing route, a third-down incompletion that forced a punt.
Mahomes knows the Chiefs were fortunate to win Sunday despite going scoreless after the third quarter, especially because he completed only one pass for 2 yards in the fourth quarter.
“Luckily for me, I’m not playing my best and we’re still getting wins,” Mahomes said. “I’ve got to get better to make the offense better.”
(Photo: Brett Davis / Imagn Images)
