Chiefs Hold Off Falcons in 22-17 Win to Secure a 3-0 Record
That’s three games in a row now, and it seems that the Kansas City Chiefs are not letting up in their games as the team continues to come up with impressive strides in their games. This time, the defending champs secured a 22-17 win to beat the Atlanta Falcons as they escaped a big rally in the fourth to stay on top of the league in the 2024 NFL season.
With the goal of coming up with a massive title defense, it does seem that the Chiefs are in the best form now more than ever, and one can certainly say that they have indeed clicked well to survive a comeback attempt from one of the top dogs in the league. What could have been a huge upset turned to be just another day in the office for the Chiefs as they eked out an expected victory once more.
The Falcons have had poor luck in their first three games of the season, considering that their first three opponents flexed a whopping record of 8-1, thus their 0-3 start is quite explainable. However, it cannot be denied that this loss stings well for the Falcons considering the fact that they nearly won it had their offense kept the momentum going.
Chiefs on the Grind
The Falcons started strong in the first half of the game and took a 7-0 lead in the game as Kirk Cousins hit Drake London for a 14-yard score. The Chiefs would tie it up right away but then Bijan Robinson scored to put them back up 14-7. However, things went quite poorly on the later parts of the game, with the Falcons offense stalling due to shifts with injuries, and even had a critical turnover near the end of the first half that could have built the lead a little bigger than what it was.
What could have been a big lead for the Falcons turned to be a chance for the Chiefs to cut in close in the game. The team responded with a Harrison Butker field goal to make it 14-10, and then another goal from 44 yards with six seconds left to bring the deficit down to just 14-13 heading into the second half.
The Chiefs turned up the game at this point. Harrison Butker nailed another field goal at 9:40 to take the lead for the squad, and then a Patrick Mahomes pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster put the Chiefs way ahead to enter the fourth – showing the momentum shift that proved to be a huge factor in the game.
A Failed Comeback
The Falcons squad was already banged up with injuries, and even Kirk Cousins was hurting his arm at the time. Still, a field goal from Younghoe Koo from 54 yards cut the lead to 22-17, but that was the last for them in the day as Atlanta was backed up for pretty much of the game after that.
They did have a chance multiple times in the game. One seen them backed up to their own 6-yard line with Cousins throwing off an incomplete to Kyle Pitts – with critics even saying that the officials may have missed out on a defensive pass interference call. The Falcons had their last chance right before the two-minute warning but could not capitalize as the Chiefs defense swarmed well to prevent them from stealing the game away. In the end, experience played out well, and the Chiefs showed that they are the defending champions for a reason.