Week 3 Recap: Chiefs Beat Falcon, 22-17

Good Morning Chiefs Kingdom,

First off, we apologize for an error in last Friday’s newsletter. We use templates to speed up our writing process, and we neglected to update the Monday night games in the schedule section. As Coach Reid always says, “We’ll clean some things up.”

Secondly, a sincere thank you to the 5,463 Chiefs fans who read this newsletter!

Today we bring you a game recap, NFL Week 3 results, headlines, and more.

Go Chiefs!

— Luke Gromer

Chiefs News

Week 3 Recap

1st Half

• The Falcons moved the ball easily on the opening drive and Cousins connected with Drake London for an easy TD on a broken coverage

• The Chiefs moved the ball methodically down the field until on the 17th play of the drive Mahomes threw an interception in the end zone

• The defense forced a quick punt on the next Falcons drive

• The offense responded with a 13-play drive that was capped off by a 13-yard TD pass from Mahomes to Rice

• The Falcons then threw an incompletion on 3rd and 3 but Chris Jones was called for a questionable roughing the passer that extended the drive. On the next play, Cousins connected with TE Kyle Pitts for a 50-yard gain down to the 1, and they punched it in for a TD on the ground on the next play

• The Chiefs responded with a FG drive, then the teams traded back-to-back punts

• With 41 seconds left, Turk Wharton hit Cousins as he threw and Chamarri Conner intercepted the pass in Falcons’ territory

• Butker nailed a 44-yard FG with 11 seconds left in the half to draw within 1

• SCORE AT HALF: ATL 14, KC 13

2nd Half

• The Chiefs drove down to the Falcons’ 1-yard line but stalled out and had to settle for a short FG to take a 16-14 lead

• The defense forced a 3-and-out on the next drive

• The Chiefs put together an 11-play, 80-yard TD drive that finished with Mahomes connecting with WR Juju Smith-Schuster for a 13-yard TD

• The Falcons moved the ball into Chiefs territory and converted a 54-yard FG

• The Chiefs went 3-and-out on the next drive

• The Falcons drove to the Chiefs 11-yard line, but the defense made a 4th down stop to force a turnover on downs

• The Chiefs took over with just over 4 minutes left and a chance to put the game away but went 3-and-out

•  The Falcons took over with about 2.5 minutes left and drove down to the KC 13. On 4th and 1 with just under a minute to play, Nick Bolton blew up a run play to give the offense the ball back and end the game

• FINAL SCORE: KC 22, ATL 17

#1: A Weird Game

In classic Chiefs fashion, this game was weird.

The Falcons had one good TD drive (on their opening possession) and then another TD drive that would have been a punt if not for a very questionable roughing the passer call that extended the drive.

And yet, the Chiefs needed a 4th and 1 stop with 56 seconds left at their 13-yard line to win the game.

#2: Red Zone Woes

The Chiefs drove the ball into the red zone on their opening drive, and then Mahomes threw a terrible interception in the end zone that kept points off the board.

On the opening drive of the second half, the Chiefs drove down to the Falcons’ 1-yard line but settled for a FG after stalling out.

If they had come up with a FG on the opening drive, and a TD on the first drive of the second half, this game might have been a blowout.

#3: Defense Comes Up Big

The Falcons scored their second offensive TD of the game with 6:37 left in the 2nd quarter.

The Chiefs defense then held the Falcons offense to this 👇

Both of the turnovers on downs came inside the red zone with the game on the line.

The offense failed twice to put the game away in the fourth quarter, but the defense stepped up and closed the door.

Andy Reid

• Injuries: No injuries to report.

• Opening comments: Reid praised Bolton and the defense for their 4th down stops, Rice for his play, and Carson Steele for his performance at RB.

• On the Falcons decision to go for the first 4th down: “There are some tough decisions there, and it can go either way. He stayed aggressive there.”

• On the last drive: “We stepped up on the last drive and did a nice job holding them out of there.”

Patrick Mahomes

• On the RBs: “I thought the guys did a great job, and at the end of the day, I thought the O-line took it upon themselves to accept the challenge.”

• On the INT: “That was a mistake you obviously can’t make in the red zone.”

• On the team and his play: “We haven’t played [well] all three games. We’ve been able to win, and that speaks to the character of the team, the grit... I feel like I haven’t played very well… I have to get my base right. I’m trusting my arm too much. I gotta get back to my fundamentals.”

• On Travis Kelce: “We’re calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like 2 or 3 people are going to him… I’m going to try my best to keep feeding him the ball… People are really emphasizing trying to take him away and it’s getting other guys open.”

• On Rashee Rice: “He’s a legit, legit #1 receiver. I’m super proud of what he’s done already, but I think he has another level to unlock.”

All press conferences can be viewed in their entirety here

• QB Mahomes: 26/39, 217 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT

• RB Steele: 17 CAR, 72 YDS, 1 REC, 2 YDS 

• WR Rice: 12 REC, 110 YDS, 1 TD

• TE Kelce: 4 REC, 30 YDS

• LB Bolton: 8 TOT, 7 SOLO, 3 TFL

• CB Conner: 10 TOT, 5 SOLO, 1 INT

• 🏈 Who: Chiefs (3-0) @ Chargers (2-1)

• 📆 When: Sunday, 9/29, 3:25 pm CT

• 📍 Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

• 📺 Watch: CBS

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Around the NFL

Week 3

• Dolphins QB Skylar Thompson left the game with a chest injury

• Eagles WR DeVonta Smith suffered a concussion in their win over the Saints and teammate C.J. Gardner-Johnson called it a “cheap shot”

• Panthers QB Andy Dalton had a big day throwing the ball and led the Panthers to their first win

• Raiders HC Antonio Pierce criticized his team for making “business decisions” in their 36-22 loss to the Panthers

• Steelers RT Troy Fautanu was placed on IR with a dislocated knee cap and will miss the remainder of the regular season

• Lions TE Sam LaPorta sprained his ankle on Sunday

• Former Dolphins RB Mercury Morris passed away yesterday at the age of 77

Chiefs, NFL, and More

Worth the Click

• 🥳 Carson Steele’s family was watching the game from his sister’s wedding

• 🏈 Grab some new Chiefs gear from Rally House*

• 🚚 A Panthers lineman demolished a Raider defender on Sunday

• 🤯 Mitch Holthus was not a fan of his vantage point in Atlanta

• 💣 Geno Smith and DK Metcalf connected on a beautiful 71-yard TD pass

• 🎟 Grab your Chiefs tickets before prices go up*

• 👀 The picture of P Matt Araiza catching the snap is pretty impressive (and the caption takes a shot at Kadarius Toney)

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