The Falcons stood toe-to-toe with the two-time defending champion Super Bowl champions.
However, when it was time to close the deal, they couldn’t pull off the upset.
With quarterback Patrick Mahomes tossing two touchdown passes, the Chiefs held on to defeat the Falcons 22-17 on Sunday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons were aggressive, going for it on fourth-down three times. The last two stops killed potential touchdown drives where they could have taken the lead.
“I was in four-down territory for awhile there,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “We were going out to win this football game. We didn’t come here to tie. We didn’t come here to lose. We didn’t come here to hope that we win. We didn’t come here to allow Patrick Mahomes to work his magic. We came here to win a football game on our terms and we lost it. I’ll take that medicine all day.”
Well, if the Falcons had kicked two field goals, they could have won 23-22, but after the first stop the defense got the ball back and on their last possession, they had to score a touchdown.
So, that’s the decision-making Morris will have to live with.
The Chiefs needed a stop on fourth downs inside of their red zone to send the Falcons home. On a fourth down-and-1, linebacker Nick Bolton shot through and dropped running back Bijan Robinson for a loss in the final minute of the game.
“When I got the ball, I saw the defender right away,” Robinson said. “I was like, I have to break this tackle. He came right in the back door. He was free. It was up to be to try to break it.
“I tried to maneuver myself so he could slide off. See if I could just kick out of there, hop and get the first down. But he had my foot. It was tough for me to go anywhere.”
Mahomes was 26 of 39 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He finished with a passer rating of 87.2.
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was 20 of 29 for 230 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He finished with a passer rating of 89.7.
The Falcons continued to struggle on third downs. They were 2 of 9 (22%) for the second game in a row. The Falcons were 1 of 3 on fourth downs.
“Disappointing night,” Cousins said. “You feel like you snatched defeat from the jaws of victory is kind of how it felt a little bit, if I’m saying that right.”
The Chiefs improved to 3-0, while the Falcons dropped to 1-2.
There was a controversial non-call on a pass to Kyle Pitts in the end zone with just over four minutes to play on third down. Chiefs safety Brian Cook had his arms around Pitts. The fourth down pass was incomplete.
“I like my money,” Morris said when asked about the play. “I’m smart enough to be aware not to talk about the officials. They made the call or if they didn’t make the call. It is what it is. We had a chance to win the football game.”
Pitts felt he could have made the catch. Cousins felt he was late throwing it to Pitts.
“You never want to put it in the refs hands,” Pitts said. “You want to make the play on the ball. I just have got to make that play.”
Pitts, who had a big 50-yard gainer earlier in the game, felt he should have played through the contact.
“Yeah, I always feel that I have a shot at the ball,” Pitts said. “It was just unfortunate that it didn’t go my way. It’s always not tough, not finishing in the red zone. There are things we can fix, go back to the drawing board and get prepared for this week.”
Behind some timely passing from Cousins, the Falcons held a 14-13 lead at halftime.
The Falcons came out on fire. They zipped right down the field on a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown on the opening drive. Cousins tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Drake London, who was left wide open in a blown coverage by the Chiefs.
The Chiefs went on the attack and drove down to the Falcons’ 14-yard line. Safety Justin Simmons stepped in front of a Mahomes’ pass intended for tight end Noah Gay to make his first interception with the team.
The Falcons’ second possession ended with a punt.
The Chiefs, with Mahomes making moves and spreading the ball around, went on the move. He put together a 13-play, 79-yard touchdown drive. He tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rashee Rice. Harrison Butker’s kick made it 7-7.
The Falcons then hit the Chiefs with a big play to set up a short TD run. Cousins found Pitts for a 50-yard gain. Pitts nearly scored as he powered his way down to the 1-yard line. Robinson scored from a yard out to make it 14-7.
With the Chiefs shutting down the Falcons’ rushing attack, they were able to close out the half with field goals of 53 and 44 yards from Butker, the former Georgia Tech standout.
Chiefs safety Chamarri Conner had interception after Cousins’ arm was hit. He returned it for 3 yards and lateraled the ball to Jaylen Watson, who ran for 12 more yards. The Chiefs added a Butker’s 44-yard field goal.
Right tackle Kaleb McGary left game with 7:51 left in the second quarter. He couldn’t put any weight on his left leg. He was replaced by Storm Norton. Also, Ryan Neuzil was in at center in the second quarter after Drew Dalman suffered a left ankle injury.
The Falcons played the rest of the way with two backup offensive linemen.
“I thought Storm did a very good job at right tackle,” Cousins said. “I thought Ryan did a good job at center. There are so many moving parts at center as far as protection calls, pistol snaps, gun snaps and snaps under center. Handling the cadence. I thought Ryan did a phenomenal job stepping in handling a lot.”
Dalman may be out for some time.
“It will be good to have a week’s worth of work with (Neuzil) coming up to build that rapport,” Cousin said. “Storm and him both stepped up in a major way.”
The Chiefs scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter to take control of the game. Butker made a 21-yard field goal to make it 16-14.
After a three-and-out by the Falcons, Mahomes tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to make it 22-14.
The Falcons added a 53-yard field goal by Koo to make it 22-17 with 12:52 to play.
The Falcons defense forced a punt and the offense went on the move after dodging a miscue on the punt return. Avery Williams’ knee was down before the ball came loose on an apparent fumble.
With the ball, the Falcons found a rhythm. Robinson was the lead blocker on a toss reverse to Ray Ray McCloud, who busted loose for 20 yards. Robinson blocked two defenders.
On fourth down-and-2 from Kansas City’s 18-yard line, the Falcons went for it. Cousins hit London for a 7-yard gain.
On fourth down-and-5 from the 6, the Falcons went for it again, but Cousins pass with for London was incomplete. On third down, was the Pitts play where Cook was draped all over him.
“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on,” said NFL referee Tra Blake in the PFWA pool report. “From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel that there was a foul committed.”
The Chiefs got the ball back with 4:04 to play. The Falcons held the Chiefs to a three-and-out to force a punt. Williams called a fair catch at the Falcons’ 35 and they had the ball with 2:26 to play.
Bolton put and end to the drive with his tackle of Robinson.
“You never want to lose, when you start off 0-2 at home,” safety Jessie Bates III said. “We want to get this city behind us. It’s was hard-fought game. A lot that we can learn. Build off of. A tough loss.”
The Falcons are set to host the Saints (2-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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