Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs survived their first road test of the season on Sunday night by beating the Falcons 22-17.
Mahomes had his third straight game with an interception to open the season, but Rashee Rice’s 110 receiving yards and a touchdown propelled his team to a 3-0 start.
The Falcons got the ball back with 2:26 left in the game, but couldn’t find the go-ahead goal in front of their home fans.
Bijan Robinson was stopped on a 4th and inches deep in Kansas City territory with less than a minute remaining and Kansas City was then able to kneel and stop the clock.
“It was a team effort, that’s what it’s been like this season,” Mahomes said after the game on NBC. “We’ve been through moments like this before.”
Rashee Rice stole the show for the Chiefs by recording 110 receiving yards and a TD.
Kelce was the team’s second-leading receiver, but he looked frustrated on the sidelines.
It was another quiet night for Travis Kelce, as the tight end had just four receptions for 30 yards, though that was the second-most for the Chiefs.
The performance took place without his girlfriend Taylor Swift in the stands after he attended the Chiefs’ first two games of the season.
The game also featured another officiating controversy, as safety Bryan Cook was not called for pass interference on a crucial 3rd-and-5 in the fourth quarter despite wrapping his arms around Kyle Pitts and not facing the ball while it was in the air.
The pass fell incomplete and then Atlanta failed to convert a 4th-and-5 with 4:08 remaining, rendering its 15-play, 83-yard drive fruitless.
The two-time defending champion Chiefs have now won their first three games by a combined 13 points.
Mahomes threw for 217 yards while Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins completed 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drake London.
Continuing the momentum from their surprising last-minute goal in Philadelphia, Cousins and the Falcons took the opening kickoff and quickly drove 70 yards for a touchdown.
Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift was not in Atlanta for Sunday night’s football game
None of the Chiefs’ three wins this season have been comfortable, but they remain undefeated.
Cousins completed all five of his passes for 66 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Drake London, who also caught the game-winning touchdown against the Eagles. London ended up alone in the end zone after a blown coverage by the Chiefs.
Three games into his third season, London became the fastest player in Falcons history to reach 150 career receptions.
Mahomes responded with a long drive of his own, getting the Chiefs within 75 in 17 plays but failing to score a point. Going for Noah Gray in the end zone, Mahomes was intercepted by Justin Simmons, the fourth interception of the season for the Chiefs’ star quarterback.
But Mahomes recovered from that mistake and led Kansas City into the end zone. A 13-play, 79-yard drive ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rice.
Rice was brilliant for the Chiefs, as he led Kansas City in receptions and scored an early TD.
The Falcons regained 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 couple of hits when right tackle Kaleb McGary and center Drew Dalman went out with injuries. With a pair of reserves joining their ranks, the guys up top had trouble keeping pressure on Cousins, who was sacked twice and hit 10 more times while throwing, spending much of the night picking himself up off the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf.
One of those hits resulted in a wobbly pass that was intercepted by Chamarri Conner, setting up Butker’s 44-yard field goal that cut the Falcons’ lead to 14-13 at halftime.
Butker put the Chiefs ahead for good with a 21-yard strike in the third quarter, and Kansas City extended the lead with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Smith-Schuster late in the third quarter.