Mahomes completes two touchdown passes, and the Chiefs hold off the Falcons to win 22–17 thanks to their defense

Two-time defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City are still undefeated thanks to a number of oppressive stands from their defense.

In the final minutes, the Chiefs defense stopped Atlanta twice on fourth down, and Mahomes overcame another interception to toss two touchdown passes and preserve a 22-17 victory over the Falcons on Sunday night.

“Having a defense that has experienced those situations in the past and can produce those huge plays is beneficial,” Mahomes remarked. “We’re winning games as a team, and I think we’re going to start improving every single week.”

The Chiefs (3-0) haven’t been flawless, to be sure; Mahomes is the first to admit that, but overall, their record hasn’t been marred by a total of 13 points.

In the last moments, the Falcons (1-2), fresh off an unexpected victory away from Philadelphia, had two chances to score the game-winning touchdown.

In the last minute and a half, the Falcons missed a chance for a field goal, and Kirk Cousins threw two incompletions in the end zone from the Chiefs 6.

Following a pair of penalties, Atlanta regained possession of the ball, moved down the field, and found itself in a third-and-one situation at the Kansas City 13 point.

On fourth down with less than a minute left, Nick Bolton threw Bijan Robinson for a 3-yard loss after Tyler Allgeier was stuffed for no gain.

Bolton claimed that before the Falcons snapped the ball, he knew what play they were running.

“Have faith in my hands, in my eyes, in the play call we had,” he uttered. “I knew exactly where I was going.”

Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster were among Mahomes’ 217 yards of passing yardage, while Harrison Butker kicked three field goals to help the Chiefs win.

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, Cousins was 20 of 29 for 230 yards.

Cousins stated, “I think we’ve missed a lot of opportunities out there on the field.” “I’m excited about getting better.”

Spurred on by their thrilling last-second victory over Philadelphia:

The Falcons received the opening kickoff and moved 70 yards in quick succession for a touchdown.

In addition to throwing a 14-yard touchdown ball to Drake London, who also grabbed the game-winning touchdown against the Eagles, Cousins completed all five of his passes for 66 yards.

Due to a blown covering by the Chiefs, London found itself all by itself in the end zone.

Mahomes recovered after intercepting four passes.

Following Cousins’ 50-yard pass to Kyle Pitts, Robinson ran for a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Falcons the lead back.

However, the injuries to center Drew Dalman and right tackle Kaleb McGary dealt a double blow to Atlanta’s offensive line.

The guys up from found it difficult to maintain pressure on Cousins, who was hit ten times during the game and was sacked twice.

He spent the majority of the evening cleaning himself off the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf. This was due to the addition of two backup quarterbacks to their lineup.

After one of those hits led to a clumsy pass that Chamarri Conner intercepted, Butker’s 44-yard field goal cut the Falcons’ lead to 14-13 at the half.

During the third quarter, Butker gave the Chiefs a lead they would not relinquish with a 21-yard chip shot; later on, Mahomes and Smith-Schuster connected for a 13-yard touchdown throw to extend Kansas City’s lead.

For the third consecutive game, Travis Kelce did not play a significant role. The standout tight end scored thirty yards on four catches.

Replacing running backs

Isiah Pacheco, the running back for Kansas City, missed time due to an ankle injury, but his replacements performed admirably for the Chiefs.

Undrafted rookie Carson Steele led the way with 17 hard carries for 72 yards. Samaje Perine contributed three catches for fifteen yards and six carries for twenty-five yards.

Mahomes remarked, “I had a lot of trust there.” “Some of Isaiah’s juice is gone from you. After all, not many individuals get very excited after every run. However, I felt the men did a fantastic job.

When Kansas City had a third-and-goal situation, Cousins turned to face Pitts in the end zone. Safety Bryan Cook seemed to run into Pitts with his back to the quarterback right before the ball was delivered.

However, there was no flag raised by the officials, and Cousins’ fourth-down pass was similarly incomplete.

Referee Tra Blake informed a pool reporter that the call was made in real time and required the officials to make a decision. “We make that decision as best we can.”