Chiefs survive Falcons thanks to late end zone no-whistle and big Rashee Rice night: Key takeaways

By Nate Taylor, Josh Kendall and Mark Puleo

The Kansas City Chiefs win regularly, but the style of those victories has been anything but spectacular: a dominant defense with stops in the final phase and an offense that does just enough to win.

After allowing a touchdown on the first drive, the Chiefs' stingy defense made Atlanta's offensive line a pain the rest of the night, holding star running back Bijan Robinson in check and constantly pressuring Kirk Cousins. Kansas City's offense capitalized in the middle quarters, as Patrick Mahomes repeatedly found Rashee Rice to string together long third-quarter drives and take a lead into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs defense held Atlanta out of the end zone twice on late drives despite field-long marches into the red zone. With just over four minutes left to play, a dart from Cousins ​​to Kyle Pitts in the end zone resulted in heavy contact with Chiefs defender Bryan Cook on a play that seemed to warrant pass interference, but no flag was thrown. The Falcons lost the ball on one down on the next play and saw their final drive in the final minute again end with a failed fourth-down attempt.

The Chiefs defense shines again

Much like last week, the Chiefs defense under coordinator Steve Spagnuolo secured the team's victory and improved its record to 3-0. Twice in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs thwarted the Falcons' attack in the red zone on fourth down attempts. Spagnuolo unleashed blitzes and forced incomplete passes from Cousins ​​in the end zone.

The Falcons' final possession ended when they couldn't get the rushing yards they needed on short plays to continue their potentially game-winning offense. On a 4th-and-1 play, linebacker Nick Bolton, who had previously left the game with what appeared to be a hip or back injury, tackled Robinson behind the line of scrimmage for a three-yard loss. When the Chiefs needed such a performance, their defense held the Falcons to just 17 points, the fewest points they have allowed this season. — Nate Taylor, Chiefs sports reporter

Kansas City's offense still lacks explosiveness

The Chiefs offense is still developing three games into the season. Mahomes hasn't been able to take as many long passes as he or coach Andy Reid would have liked, as the left tackle position has been somewhat of a liability with new starter Wanya Morris. The Falcons often forced Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to move the ball further forward with drives that required 10 or more plays.

In the fourth quarter, Mahomes didn't get the support he needed to continue the Chiefs' attacks and keep the ball away from Cousins. Tight end Travis Kelce couldn't secure the ball on a pass in the middle of the field that would have been a first down, as the ball was taken out of play by safety Jessie Bates III. The Chiefs' next drive ended after just three plays when rookie receiver Xavier Worthy failed to run his crossing route, an incomplete pass on third down that forced the team to punt. The Chiefs were lucky to win despite not scoring a point in the fourth quarter. — Taylor

Falcons held and then lost the battle for possession

At one point in the third quarter, Kansas City led the time of possession battle 30-33-12-46 and had run 63 plays compared to Atlanta's 26. The Falcons evened up those numbers somewhat in the fourth quarter by running 30 plays on their final three possessions.

The Chiefs ended up running 72 plays, the Falcons 56, and taking a 349-311 lead over Atlanta. — Josh Kendall, Falcons sportscaster

Cousins ​​reach major milestone

Cousins ​​quietly reached a career milestone by reaching 40,000 passing yards in the regular season, becoming the fifth-fastest player in NFL history (153 games) to reach that mark. Cousins, who played in Washington and Minnesota before joining Atlanta as a free agent in the offseason, finished the game completing 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He has 40,097 yards in the regular season for his career. — Kendall

Atlanta's O-Line plagued by injury problems

The Falcons' injury woes may have ended on Sunday night. Atlanta lost right tackle Kaleb McGary (knee) and center Drew Dalman (ankle) in the second quarter. The extent of the injuries was initially unclear, but neither returned to the game. Storm Norton finished the game at right tackle and Ryan Neuzil took over the center position. — Kendall

Required reading

(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)