Chiefs' defense clips Falcons' wings to secure win

ATLANTA — Patrick Mahomes knows he must get better.

Not to worry.

Thanks to a couple of stifling stands from Kansas City's defense, the two-time reigning Super Bowl champ is still unbeaten.

Mahomes shook off another interception to throw a pair of touchdown passes, and the Chiefs defense stopped Atlanta twice on fourth down in the closing minutes, preserving a 22-17 victory over the Falcons on Sunday night.

"It helps when you have a defense that's been in those moments before and is able to make those big plays," Mahomes said. "It's a team game and we're winning games, and I feel like we're gonna start getting better and better each and every week."

The Chiefs (3-0) have been far from perfect, that's for sure — Mahomes points to himself more than anyone — but their record has remained unblemished by a combined 13 points.

Coming off an upset victory in Philadelphia, the Falcons (1-2) had a couple of shots at the go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes.

Kirk Cousins threw a pair of incompletions in the end zone from the Chiefs' six after the Falcons passed up a shot at a field goal with just over four minutes remaining.

Atlanta got the ball back, drove down the field with help from a couple of penalties, and had third-and-one at the Kansas City 13. Tyler Allgeier was stuffed for no gain and Bijan Robinson was thrown for a three-yard loss by Nick Bolton on fourth down with less than a minute remaining.

Bolton said he recognized what play the Falcons were running before they snapped the ball.

"Trust my keys, trust my eyes, trust the play call we had," he said. "I already knew where I was going."

Mahomes threw for 217 yards, including scoring throws to Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Harrison Butker booted three field goals for the Chiefs.

Cousins was 20 of 29 for 230 yards, with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drake London and a 50-yard completion to Kyle Pitts that set up Robinson's one-yard scoring run.

"I feel like we've left a lot of opportunities out there on the field," Cousins said.

"I look forward to getting better."

Riding the momentum from their last-minute stunner in Philadelphia, the Falcons took the opening kickoff and quickly drove 70 yards for a touchdown.

Cousins completed all five of his passes for 66 yards, including a 14-yard scoring toss to London — who also caught the winning score against the Eagles. London wound up all alone in the end zone on a busted coverage by the Chiefs.

Mahomes bounced back from his fourth interception of the season to take Kansas City on a 13-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rice.

The Falcons reclaimed the lead on Robinson's one-yard touchdown run, which was set up by Cousins'50-yard pass to Pitts.

But, Atlanta's offensive line took a pair of hits when right tackle Kaleb McGary and center Drew Dalman both left injured. With a pair of backups joining their ranks, the side struggled to keep the pressure off Cousins, who was sacked twice and hit 10 more times as he threw, spending much of the night picking himself off the turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Rams upset 49ers

NFC champions San Francisco let a 14-point lead slip away as they were upset by the Los Angeles Rams 27-24 on Sunday, while the Dallas Cowboys fell to a second straight NFL home loss.

The Rams produced a stirring fourth-quarter rally to hand the 49ers their first loss of the season with a 37-yard field goal from Joshua Karty in the final two seconds clinching the victory.

The Cowboys' woes continued as they fell 28-25 to the Baltimore Ravens, falling to 1-2 despite a late comeback attempt.

The 'Niners, cheered on by a large traveling support at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, raced out of the blocks with two touchdowns in the opening quarter — both coming from Brock Purdy connecting with Jauan Jennings.

The Rams kept in touch thanks to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Kyren Williams, but Purdy found Jennings again, with a 31-yard pass midway through the third quarter to make it 21-7.

But then, the Rams started their comeback with a three-yard rushing score from Williams.

Still trailing by 10 points with 6:15 left in the game, a Karty field goal reduced the deficit, before Stafford hurled a 50-yard pass to Tutu Atwell. From the resultant snap, Williams ran in from four yards to tie the game.

Ronnie Bell failed to catch a long Purdy pass with just over a minute left, which would have put San Francisco in field goal range.

The errors mounted up, and the Rams were helped by a 25-yard pass interference penalty against De'Vondre Campbell, leaving Karty with the field goal that he converted for the victory.

In Dallas, Derrick Henry ran in two touchdowns and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson had a passing and rushing score as the Ravens took a 28-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Dallas's Dak Prescott scored with a quarterback sneak at the start of the fourth, and then threw two more touchdowns, but the Cowboys' late revival fell short.

Agencies via Xinhua