Spokesman-Review
National Football League
Kansas City 22, Atlanta 17
When: 8:20 PM ET, Sunday, September 22, 2024
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature: Dome
Head Official: Tra Blake
Attendance: 72441

ATLANTA -- Patrick Mahomes completed 26 of 39 passes for 217 yards to go along with two touchdowns and an interception as the Kansas City Chiefs escaped with a 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night.

Carson Steele ran for 72 yards as the Chiefs (3-0) won their third one-score game to begin the season. Rashee Rice hauled in 12 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown.

Kirk Cousins completed 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown for Atlanta (1-2). He was also intercepted once. Drake London caught six passes for a team-high 67 yards and a touchdown.

After trailing 14-13 at halftime, the Chiefs marched to the Falcons 1-yard line on the opening possession of the second half but were forced to settle for Harrison Butker's 21-yard field goal with 9:40 remaining in the third quarter.

Mahomes later extended the Kansas City lead to 22-14 when he capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a 13-yard scoring strike to JuJu Smith-Schuster with 1:16 to go in the third. Butker missed the ensuing extra-point attempt.

Younghoe Koo's 54-yard field goal on the next possession cut Atlanta's deficit to 22-17 with 12:52 left in the game.

Following a Kansas City punt, the Falcons went on a 15-play, 83-yard drive, but they came up short of the end zone after back-to-back incompletions from the Chiefs 6-yard line and turned the ball over on downs.

Atlanta worked down to the Kansas City 13 on its last drive of the game, and on fourth-and-1, Bijan Robinson was stuffed for a loss of 3 yards to give the ball back to the Chiefs with 51 seconds remaining.

Cousins found London for a 14-yard score with 11:07 left in the first quarter, and Kansas City didn't answer until there was 8:45 remaining in the second, tying things at 7 on Rice's 13-yard touchdown reception.

Robinson rushed into the end zone from 1 yard out to put the Falcons up 14-7 with 6:37 left in the first half.

Two field goals from Butker -- from 53 and 44 yards out -- in the final 2:43 of the half got the visitors within 14-13 at the break.

--Jack Batten, Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Kansas City   Atlanta
Carson Steele Player Tyler Allgeier
17 Attempts 7
72 Yards 32
4.2 Avg Yards 4.6
0 Touchdowns 0
9 Long 12
Receiving
Kansas City   Atlanta
Rashee Rice Player Drake London
12 Receptions 6
110 Yards 67
9.2 Avg Yards 11.2
1 Touchdowns 1
27 Long 14
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Kansas City 345 128 217 2 3 1 2.0 1
Atlanta 311 82 229 2 1 1 0.0 0
Upcoming Games
  • Atlanta will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Falcons have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Kansas City will play their next game on the road against L.A. Chargers. The Chiefs have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.