Brandon Harley
Falcons could not complete the second half comeback against Chiefs 22-17
In a brief moment, the Atlanta Falcons looked like they would cap off two straight weeks of tough competition with victories over contenders. They were in a position to make it happen with a decisive stop against the Chiefs offense, followed by a long drive that brought them within striking distance of the end zone despite being down by five points. Ultimately, they came up just short, and it's difficult not to be a little impressed at how close they came and frustrated at how they lost.
A disputed pass interference penalty set up Kansas City's win over Cincinnati the prior week, but the Chiefs might have gotten away with one against the Falcons. During third-and-goal, Kirk Cousins looked toward Kyle Pitts in the end zone. Just before Pitts received the ball, Bryan Cook collided with him with his back turned not looking for the ball. But the officials did not throw the flag. Talking about a controversial no-call that's it.
Cousins completed 20 of 29 passes for 230 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drake London and a 50-yard completion to Kyle Pitts. This set up Bijan Robinson's 1-yard scoring run.
The Chiefs were led by Pat Mahomes, who threw for 217 yards, including touchdown throws to Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster, while Harrison Butker booted three field goals for the Chiefs. Sadly, Travis Kelce was not much of a factor for the third game in a row. The star tight end had four catches for 30 yards