The Kansas City Chiefs have made games interesting this season despite their winning record, so why should Sunday’s matchup against the Atlanta Falcons have been different?
Kansas City faced a Falcons squad ready to play and the home team had to dig deep with the game very much in doubt well into the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs withstood the Falcons’ best blows and emerged with a 17-14 win, improving to 14-1 and securing the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed and homefield advantage in the postseason.
Sunday’s game, like many for the Chiefs in recent weeks, was far from easy. It was their seventh straight one-possession win. Atlanta’s defense stifled the Chiefs’ explosive offense and the visitors held a 14-10 lead with less than four minutes remaining.
Too much time on the clock for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive capped with a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson to give the Chiefs the lead for good, although they had to weather the Falcons’ final and frantic late-game drive — and a missed 39-yard field-goal attempt that would’ve sent it to overtime.
Here’s what stood out from Sunday’s matchup.
MAHOMES IN THE CLUTCH
The Chiefs’ signal-caller is one of the NFL’s top erasers, meaning his big-play and clutch abilities are enough to compensate for mistakes.
Mahomes was certainly needed in Sunday’s close game. He saved his best for the final quarter, passing for 84 yards and a touchdown to energize his team to victory.
PLAYING DOWN TO THE COMPETITION?
The Chiefs entered Sunday’s game as 10-point favorites and had a juicy matchup facing an Atlanta defense ranked at or near the bottom of the league in numerous statistical categories, including 31st against the pass.
The Chiefs’ offense, however, looked lethargic through three quarters. Mahomes didn’t top the 200-yard mark until the final period. The offense also converted a woeful 5 of 13 third-down opportunities.
The Kansas City defense did its job despite being down starting linebackers Damien Wilson and Anthony Hitchens, limiting the Falcons to 367 total yards in the game.
Give credit to the Falcons for having a good defensive game plan. But the Chiefs’ offense should’ve had its way against a 4-10 team, especially coming off a game in which the Chiefs dropped 32 points on one of the Falcons’ divisional foes.
