The Kansas City Chiefs remained undefeated with their first away win of the season against the Atlanta Falcons, winning 22-17 on Sunday night.

The first road test of the season for the Chiefs resulted in the defense limiting Atlanta’s rushing attack. Here are four takeaways from the Chiefs’ week three matchup.

Defensive Line Play

Coming into this game, it seemed pretty clear that defensive tackle Chris Jones and the rest of the Chiefs’ defense would need to contain Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. This was clearly achieved.

Not only was Robinson held to 31 yards on just 16 carries for an average of 1.9 yards per carry, but the defensive line also kept persistent pressure on Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins was hit 10 times, sacked twice and had a ball tipped resulting in an interception.

Playing Without Pacheco

Against the Cincinnati Bengals in week two, Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco sustained a broken fibula, leaving him to be put on the injured reserve list. It was now up to Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ offense to manage this important loss.

Reid ended up looking to undrafted rookie running back Carson Steele to try and fill the void during the matchup with the Falcons. Steele responded with a solid outing, gaining 72 yards on 17 carries.

Quarterback Duel

Both teams’ quarterbacks were a focal point of this matchup. Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Cousins of the Falcons both managed the game well for their offenses. Cousins was constantly under pressure, which did force an interception near the end of the first half. However, outside of the interception, he handled the pressure well as Cousins ended the game with a 69% completion percentage for a solid 230 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Mahomes finished with 26 completed passes out of 39 attempts, for fewer yards at 217 and a touchdown. Mahomes also threw an interception, getting picked off by Falcons safety Justin Simmons.

Other Highlights of the Game

Wide receiver Rashee Rice had another team-leading performance, establishing himself as Mahomes’ top target. Rice pulled in 12 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Travis Kelce had another underwhelming game with four catches for 30 yards. However, this still put Kelce at the second-most receiving yards on the night for Kansas City, with no other receiver gaining more than 17 yards through the air.

This was the opposite of what Atlanta did, as three different receivers had 59 or more receiving yards, with wide receiver Drake London leading the way at six catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.

The Chiefs lead in the time of possession stat by a large margin, with 34 minutes and 57 seconds compared to Atlanta’s 25 minutes and 3 seconds. The Chiefs also had numerous players play well on defense, including safety Chamarri Conner, who picked off Cousins and finished with 10 tackles. Middle linebacker Nick Bolton, a fourth-year man out of the University of Missouri, had another great game with eight total tackles and three for loss. That included the final stop that Kansas City needed to shut down Atlanta.

Next Week

The Chiefs will take on the Los Angeles Chargers on the road for their first divisional game of the season on Sunday, Sep. 29.

Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Emma Harper and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com