Chiefs add another too-close-for-comfort win over Falcons to stay undefeated

The Kansas City Chiefs sat and watched a number of previously unbeaten teams fall in Week 3 before their own late game in primetime on Sunday Night Football, giving them a real opportunity to get ahead in the standings.

The NFC owned the AFC outright in Week 3 and it set up K.C. quite well to see the likes of the Houston Texans and L.A. Chargers chalk one up in the loss column (not to mention the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, and more). Fortunately they outlasted the Falcons, who took them down to the wire, to stay undefeated and take a one-game lead in the division.

It was another weird game with plenty of positives and negatives from the Chiefs, but that's what we're used to seeing. They rise up to the occasion in order to win, but they also put themselves in a position to lose when victory should have come much easier. Such is life with these Chiefs at this point.

Let's look back at a back-and-forth game that will go down as a 22-17 victory for the Chiefs.

What we're bound to remember

Bijan Robinson came into Week 3 averaging 116 yards per game from scrimmage, but the Chiefs held him to less than half of that total. Given that he was in the midst of a transformation into perhaps the NFL's most dynamic running back this side of Christian McCaffrey, Steve Spagnuolo's defense did a serious number to stifle both Robinson and the Falcons' offense. The most telling stat of all: 1.9 yards/carry—yep, one-point-nine.

What we'll want to forget

The red-zone foibles. The inability to convert on short-yardage (for yet another season). The errant throws and floating interception from Patrick Mahomes. The slow night for Travis Kelce. The numerous flags on the final drive that could have easily been a game-winning one for the home team. Watching the Chiefs each week is to watch a franchise shoot itself in the foot and Week 3 was a great example.

The game was over when...

Bijan Robinson had the ball with just 4th-and-inches to go on a potential game-winning drive and Nick Bolton served up a firm "no, sir!"

The highlight of the game

Aside from Bolton's big stop on Robinson, the defense delivered the game's other significant highlight as well. In a game with so little margin for error, Chamarri Conner came up huge on this interception of Kirk Cousins late in the second quarter.

The Chiefs settled for field goals all night, but they got another one there and that pulled them within a single point at halftime. They'd go on to take a lead they'd never relinquish on the very next possession.

3 stats to know from Chiefs-Falcons

1. 4.8 - That's the yards per play for the Chiefs on the night. When a defense has two prolific playmakers at safety like Atlanta does in Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons, the Chiefs' offensive concerns go from irritating to troubling.

2. 2. 9 - The number of first downs via the ground game for the Chiefs. In 2022, the Chiefs averaged 6.2 first downs rushing per game and they elevated to 6.3 in 2023. So far through two games this year, they're averaging 6.5, but without Isiah Pacheco, that total went up almost 150%. It's a tribute to the trust Andy Reid had in Carson Steele and Samaje Perine to take what's given them and limit mistakes.

3. 14 - The number of targets for Rashee Rice. If you want to know who the most important player on offense for the Chiefs is, just look at the disparate number of targets thrown his way. Mahomes relies heavily on Rice and for good reason. In fact, if you add up the players who were second, third, fourth, and sixth on the night in targets, you'd still be tied with Rice's total of 14.

What's next for the Chiefs?

The Chiefs will stay away from Arrowhead in Week 4 with a trip out West to visit the Los Angeles Chargers who lost for the first time in Jim Harbaugh's tenure with the team. The Chargers are also dealing with ton of new injuires to everyone from Joey Bosa to Justin Herbert to Joe Alt, so it will be interesting to see what sort of shape the roster is in seven days from now.