ATLANTA – Patrick Mahomes knows he must get better.
Not to worry.
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Thanks to a couple of stifling stands from Kansas City's defense, the two-time reigning Super Bowl champs are still unbeaten.
Mahomes shook off another interception to throw a pair of touchdown passes and the Chiefs defense stopped Atlanta twice on fourth down in the closing minutes, preserving 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 is able to make those big plays,” Mahomes said. “It’s a team game and we’re winning games and I feel like we’re gonna start getting better and better each and every week.”
The Chiefs (3-0) have been far from perfect, that's for sure — Mahomes points to himself more than anyone — but their record has remained unblemished by a combined 13 points.
Coming off an upset victory at Philadelphia, the Falcons (1-2) had a couple of shots at the go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes.
Kirk Cousins threw a pair of incompletions in the end zone from the Chiefs 6 after the Falcons passed up a shot at a field goal with just over 4 minute remaining.
Atlanta got the ball back, drove down the field with help from a couple of penalties, and had third-and-1 at the Kansas City 13. Tyler Allgeier was stuffed for no gain and Bijan Robinson was thrown for a 3-yard loss by Nick Bolton on fourth down with less than a minute remaining.
Bolton said he recognized what play the Falcons were running before they snapped the ball.
“Trust my keys, trust my eyes, trust the play call we had,” he said. “I already knew where I was going.”
Mahomes threw for 217 yards, including scoring throws to Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Harrison Butker booted three field goals for the Chiefs.
Cousins was 20 of 29 for 230 yards with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drake London and a 50-yard completion to Kyle Pitts that set up Robinson's 1-yard scoring run.
“I feel like we’ve left a lot of opportunities out there on the field,” Cousins said. “I look forward to getting better.”
Riding the momentum from their last-minute stunner at Philadelphia, the Falcons took the opening kickoff and quickly drove 70 yards for a touchdown.
Cousins completed all five of his passes for 66 yards, including a 14-yard scoring toss to Drake London — who also caught the winning score against the Eagles. London wound up all alone in the end zone on a busted coverage by the Chiefs.
Mahomes bounced back from his fourth interception of the season to take Kansas City on a 13-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rice.
The Falcons reclaimed 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 took a pair of hits when right tackle Kaleb McGary and center Drew Dalman both went out with injuries. With a pair of backups joining their ranks, the guys up from struggled to keep the pressure off Cousins, who was sacked twice and hit 10 more times as he threw, spending much of the night picking himself off the turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
One of those hits resulted in a wobbly pass that was picked off by Chamarri Conner, setting up Butker's 44-yard field goal that sliced the Falcons’ edge to 14-13 at halftime.
Butker put the Chiefs ahead to stay on a 21-yard chip shot in the third quarter, and Kansas City stretched the lead on Mahomes’ 13-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Schuster late in the third quarter.
For the third game in a row, Travis Kelce was not much of a factor. The star tight end had four catches for 30 yards.
Running back replacements
With Kansas City running back Isiah Pacheco sidelined with an ankle injury, the Chiefs got good production from his replacements.
Carson Steele, an undrafted rookie, led the way with 17 bruising carries for 72 yards. Samaje Perine chipped in with six carries for 25 yards, to go along with three catches for 15 yards.
“I had a lot of trust there,” Mahomes said. “You lose some of that juice that Isaiah has. I mean, there’s not a lot of people that are that fired up after every run. But I thought the guys did a great job.”
Controversial no-call
After a disputed pass interference penalty on fourth-and-long set up their victory over Cincinnati the previous week, the Chiefs might have gotten away with one against the Falcons.
On third-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 officials did not throw a flag, and Cousins' fourth-down pass also fell incomplete.
“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on," referee Tra Blake told a pool reporter. "We do the best we can to make that decision.”
Injury report
Chiefs: Bolton hobbled off the field early in the fourth quarter after an awkward landing, but he came back to make the big stop on Robinson.
Falcons: McGary and Dalman both went out in the second quarter. McGary was helped off the field with a knee injury and replaced by Storm Norton. Dalman was replaced by Ryan Neuzil after being sidelined with an ankle issue.
Up next
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 straight home games when their NFC South rival, the New Orleans Saints (2-1), visit Atlanta next Sunday.
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