The Atlanta Falcons should be very thankful for one Saquon Barkley drop. The Falcons should make a big jump after upgrading to Kirk Cousins as a quarterback, and they’re just one incredibly unlikely win away from going 0-3.
The Falcons started strong on Sunday night, but the offense couldn’t maintain the momentum and Atlanta lost 22-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
They had two chances to win in the fourth quarter. The first drive stalled inside the 10-yard line and was a turnover on downs, and the final push to win was ended when Bijan Robinson was stopped for a loss on a fourth-and-inches handoff. It was an odd play call, with Robinson getting the handoff that was moving east-west instead of to the middle of the line. Perhaps concerns about the offensive line, which was struggling with injuries, played a role in the call. It didn’t help that a quarterback sneak with Cousins, who was coming off a torn Achilles tendon, was off the table. Give the Chiefs credit for making the plays they needed to make to pull out the win.
The Falcons have had a tough schedule. The combined record of their three opponents is 8-1, and their only loss came when the Falcons came back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2 after Barkley’s loss sparked a game-winning drive by Atlanta. But the NFL doesn’t have much sympathy for teams that have tough schedules. The Falcons don’t play well enough to be better than 1-2. And they’re lucky to be 1-2.
Chiefs take lead in 2nd half
The Falcons started fast. Cousins hit Drake London for a score of 14 yards and a 7-0 lead. After the Chiefs tied the game, Robinson scored and the Falcons were back up, 14-7. Then the offense, which lost a pair of offensive linemen to injuries, faltered. Worse, the Falcons suffered a critical turnover late in the half.
Rather than play it safe when they took over with 59 seconds left in the half, Cousins went back to pass, got his arm hit while being pressured behind a battered line, and the Chiefs intercepted the ball. The Chiefs scored a field goal near the end of the half to cut Atlanta’s lead to 14-13.
The third quarter was all Chiefs. They went on a couple of 11-play drives, ate up most of the clock, and shot a field goal and scored a touchdown. Atlanta barely had the ball in the third quarter and trailed 22-14 in the fourth.
The only good news for the Falcons is that the Chiefs didn’t shut them out completely, despite several chances to do so.
Falcons have a chance in the fourth quarter
Atlanta hit a field goal to force a point. The Falcons trailed 22-17 with a shot to pull off a blowout win over the two-time reigning champions. It wouldn’t be their last chance.
Pushed back to their own 6-yard line, the Falcons began to pick up the pace on offense, much like the two-minute drill that had won them the game against the Eagles in Week 2. London caught a huge pass on fourth down to keep the drive alive. But on back-to-back plays inside the 10-yard line, Cousins threw incompletes to Kyle Pitts (with officials possibly missing a defensive pass interference call) and London, and the Chiefs took over on downs.
Atlanta had one more chance just before the two-minute warning. The Chiefs punted after Mahomes made a miss to Xavier Worthy on third down, when Worthy appeared to stop his route. That gave Cousins another chance for his second game-winning drive of the season. The drive was kept alive by a pair of Chiefs penalties, and the Falcons drove inside the 20-yard line. Facing fourth-and-inches with less than a minute left, they inexplicably ran a wide play to Robinson and he was stopped well short of the line of scrimmage.
The Falcons had chances to win. They just aren’t ready to win yet. The Chiefs are used to being in that position and it showed.
