A funny thing has happened in the first three weeks of the Falcons’ season.
The defense has largely played better than the offense. It happened again Sunday night when the Falcons defense more than held its own against two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City and the greatest quarterback of this generation, Patrick Mahomes.
In the 22-17 loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Falcons limited the Chiefs’ big plays and were effective when Kansas City had the ball in the red zone. It’s the third game in a row that coach Raheem Morris’ defense did enough to contribute to a win. The offense, fortified by $180 million quarterback Kirk Cousins and the skill-player troika of Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts and Drake London, has done so once. Hence, the Falcons are 1-2.
“We’ve been playing really good defense throughout these first three weeks,” safety Jessie Bates III said. “There’s got to be something that we can learn from this tape. Week in and week out, there’s got to be something we can learn from it.”
Mahomes had two pass plays longer than 17 yards, and the longest was a 27-yard completion. The longest run by the Chiefs offense (which was without star running back Isiah Pacheco) was 15 yards, a Mahomes scramble. All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce was limited to four catches for 30 yards.
“I feel like they threw out everything that they have and I thought we did a really good job of responding,” Bates said. “I think the runs got a little leaky (Sunday) but we’ve just got clear up some of our third-down stuff. I think we’ll be good.”
Through three games, the Falcons have allowed 20.3 points per game, a shade better than their 2023 average (21.9). The team has scored an average of 16.3 points per game, which is a regression from last year’s average of 18.9. Three games don’t make for much of a sample. And while it might be what you would have hoped for from the defense as the club bolstered the roster with two defensive Pro Bowlers in edge rusher Matthew Judon and safety Justin Simmons, it’s certainly not what anyone would have expected from the offense with the addition of Cousins.
Yes, the Falcons had to finish the game without two of their starting offensive linemen. But backup linemen Storm Norton and Ryan Neuzil were not the reason the Falcons fell short against the Chiefs. An opportunity to slay a dragon in front of a national audience and build off the Monday night over Philadelphia was lost because the offense as a whole did not produce the way it needed to. The Falcons failing to get into the end zone on their final two drives, faltering on a fourth-and-5 and a fourth-and-1, was a downer of a way to end a night highlighted by the induction of owner Arthur Blank into the team’s ring of honor.
“The defense did a great job,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “We (as an offense) had our opportunities and we’ve got to learn from them.”
Even though they were on the field for 72 plays and 34:57 – in part because of the Chiefs’ ability to extend long drives but also because the Falcons were 2-for-9 on third downs, continuing a shortcoming in that category – they stood up in the final two Chiefs possessions that mattered.
They scored consecutive three-and-outs in the fourth quarter, giving the offense a chance to come back from the 22-17 deficit. Both Falcons drives ended on downs, the first on the Chiefs’ 6-yard line and the second on their 13.
“I think that you take every play and try to make them kick field goals if they get down the field and then obviously in crunchtime, getting those three-and-outs, getting the ball back to our offense and giving them as many chances as possible, is the goal,” said linebacker Troy Andersen.
It was inevitable that the Chiefs would move the ball. But the Falcons’ ability to limit the damage was notable. The Falcons were willing to give Mahomes short gains in the passing game but protected themselves from explosive ones. Mahomes averaged 5.6 yards per attempt on Sunday night. His career average is 7.9.
It showed from the Chiefs’ first series of the game. They put together a 17-play drive, the team’s longest (by measure of plays) going back at least to the start of the 2023 season. The duration spoke to the Chiefs’ efficiency and willingness to take what the Falcons were offering. But it also reflected the Falcons’ ability to contain the potent Chiefs and make them keep snapping the ball until they made a mistake, which they did when Mahomes threw into the end zone and was intercepted by Simmons7
“We disguised (the coverage) and (Simmons) slid over and Mahomes probably thought it was open and (Simmons) just did a good job of trusting it and making a play,” he said.
The good thing, relatively speaking, about the Falcons being 1-2 is that neither of the losses were to division or conference opponents. They’ll play three NFC South games next, at home against the Saints and Buccaneers and then on the road against Carolina.
“A loss is a loss,” Bates said. “You never want to start off 0-2 at home. We want to get this city behind us. But I think it was a hard-fought game. There’s a lot we can learn from and really build off of.”
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