Miscues and late stops by the Chiefs lead to another Falcons loss

ATLANTA (AP) — On a night when the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs struggled offensively, the Atlanta Falcons had ample opportunity to hand Kansas City its first loss Sunday.

Injuries to the offensive line hurt at the end as the Falcons failed to convert on fourth-and-1, allowing the Chiefs to escape with a 22-17 win.

The Falcons and quarterback Kirk Cousins had the Chiefs on the ropes with about a minute left. They had third-and-1 on the Kansas City 13, knowing a touchdown would put Atlanta (1-2) ahead.

But they couldn’t gain a single yard.

Tyler Allgeier was stuffed for no gain on a third-down run. On fourth down, Cousins handed off to Bijan Robinson, who tried to rush around the left side of the Chiefs’ defense but was thrown for a 3-yard loss, sealing a win for the Chiefs (3-0).

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) runs against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

“I don’t feel good (about the play calling now), they didn’t work,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “You run one up the middle with Tyler Allgeier, you don’t get it. You get no yards on that play. You get one on fourth down with Bijan, you get no yards on that play. You don’t like the calls, you don’t like the results, but that was our plan. We were decisive, we called them. We were very aggressive.”

In the first half, Atlanta lost starting center Drew Dalmon to an ankle injury and starting right tackle Kaleb McGary was sidelined with a knee injury. Their absence was noticeable as Cousins was sacked twice and hit 10 more times after delivering the pass.

“We won’t make excuses about that,” Morris said. “I got a 69-man roster. I love the guys I got and the guys that went up there and they fought for us against whoever. I’ll go out and battle with whoever we got on our football team.”

For the third week in a row, Atlanta was 2 of 9 on third-down conversions.

“We (have to) go out there and get better,” Morris said. “In order to keep (Chiefs quarterback) Patrick Mahomes off the field, you’d like to be able to convert some of those. That’ll affect time of possession and some of the plays we run on defense. That can also affect the scoreboard.”