It was once again a neck-and-neck race, but the Chiefs improved their record to 3-0 with a 22-17 victory over the Falcons on Football on Sunday evening.

Trailing by five points, the Falcons had a few late chances to score but couldn’t capitalize. With just over four minutes left to play, Kirk Cousins ​​couldn’t reach tight end Kyle Pitts or Drake London in the end zone at the Kansas City 6-yard line. Although the referees probably could have called defensive pass interference against safety Bryan Cook on the throw to Pitts, no one raised a flag.

At that point, the Falcons could have cut Kansas City’s lead to just two points, but head coach Raheem Morris decided to go for it, and it didn’t work.

But after a three-and-out by the Kansas City offense, the Falcons had another chance – this time helped by some fouls by the Chiefs on defense. A penalty for illegal hand use gave Atlanta a free first down. Then there was a possible equalizing whistle for defensive pass interference, as receiver Ray-Ray McCloud made contact with Trent McDuffie, but the cornerback was penalized anyway. Finally, a horse-collar tackle brought the Falcons to Kansas City’s 22-yard line.

But on third and one with 1:03 left on the clock, Tyler Allgeier was stopped short of the uprights. And on the fourth attempt, linebacker Nick Bolton – who had briefly left the game due to back problems – broke through the line and brought down Bijan Robinson, who lost three yards, effectively ending the game.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had to take a creative kneel down to run out the clock with Atlanta still having two timeouts. During one of them, his foot caught slightly on the turf and had to shake it off. But Mahomes told NBC’s Melissa Stark after the game that he was OK.

With four drives of at least 11 plays, the Chiefs dominated the time of possession for much of the game, the final score being 34:57 to 25:03. Kansas City had more turnovers than Atlanta (345 to 311), had 22 first downs to Atlanta’s 19, and was successful on 6 of 14 third downs, Atlanta on 2 of 9.

The Falcons led 7-0 when London caught a 14-yard pass to cap the first drive, but the team was unable to score after Justin Simmons, a former Broncos safety, intercepted Mahomes for the sixth time.

Rashee Rice’s 13-yard touchdown catch from Mahomes tied the game at 7-7. And while Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead, Atlanta never reached the end zone again for the rest of the game.

Despite missing his first extra point since 2022 in the second half, Harrison Butker made field goals of 53, 44 and 21 yards to give the Chiefs a 16-14 lead midway through the third quarter. Then receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was a key player for Kansas City in the 2022 Super Bowl run, caught his first touchdown of the season with 1:16 left in the third quarter to give the visitors a 22-14 lead.

Atlanta’s only point of the second half came on Younghoe Koo’s 54-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, a career-high distance for the kicker.

Mahomes finished the game completing 26 of 38 passes for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Rice led the team with 12 catches for 110 yards with one TD. Tight end Travis Kelce caught four passes for 30 yards.

With running back Isiah Pacheco out, freshman Carson Steele led the Chiefs with 17 carries for 72 yards. He also caught a 2-yard pass.

On the other hand, Cousins ​​completed 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards, one touchdown and one interception. London caught six passes for 67 yards and scored a touchdown, and Darnell Mooney caught all eight passes aimed at him for 66 yards. Robinson managed just 31 yards on 16 attempts, although he did catch two passes for 21 yards.

With a current record of 3-0, the Chiefs are back on the road next weekend to play their division rival Chargers in Los Angeles.

The 1-2 Falcons stay at home to face division rival Saints.