ATLANTA — Patrick Mahomes has guided the Kansas City Chiefs to two straight Super Bowl titles and two consecutive last-play wins to open this season.
There’s no shortage of swagger in his game.
Now, he’s matched against Kirk Cousins, a quarterback who’s suddenly feeling a lot more confident about where things stand with the Atlanta Falcons.
Cousins guided the Falcons on a 70-yard drive in the final two minutes for a stunning road victory over the Philadelphia Eagles this past Monday night, looking very much like a guy who was worth that four-year, $180 million contract he received in free agency.
“It’s so important to find ways to win,” Cousins said. “That’s how you put together a great season. When you have these games that could go either way, you find a way to have it break your way. That’s the way this league is and so when we can find those inches, it can really change the tale of the season.”
Atlanta (1-1) will look to build on that momentum when it hosts the reigning champs in another prime-time game Sunday night.
PHOTOS: Chiefs' Mahomes leads reigning champs into Atlanta to face Cousins and rejuvenated Falcons
“You want to play these moments and these big-time games,” said first-year Falcons coach Raheem Morris, whose team is looking to break a streak of six straight losing seasons since its last playoff appearance in 2017.
The Chiefs (2-0), of course, have been though plenty of big-time games over the last six years with Mahomes at the helm.
While the Falcons have been sitting at home, Kansas City has won three Super Bowl titles, lost another time in the Super Bowl and reached the AFC championship game the other two years.
The Chiefs are off to a winning start in their quest to become the first team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowls, though it’s been far from perfection.
In fact, they are two plays from being 0-2, with Mahomes conceding that his performance has not been up to par. He is averaging just 221 yards passing, with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
“I have to be better,” Mahomes said.
Kansas City held off the Baltimore Ravens 27-20 when an apparent tying touchdown on the final play of regulation was overturned by a video review.
Last weekend, it was another game that came down to the last play as Harrison Butker booted a 51-yard field goal for a 26-25 victory over Cincinnati after a pass interference penalty on the Bengals kept the drive going.
Par for the course in the Mahomes era.
“The fourth quarter is when you win games,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “No matter how much you’re down, how much you’re up … really just focusing on being at your best in the fourth quarter is what we’ve done our best here.”
Travis Kelce has just four catches for 39 yards through the first two games.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid insists the 34-year-old tight end has not lost a step, saying it’s more a matter of opposing teams designing their defenses to take him out of the game.
“He’ll get his catches,” Reid said. “It’s not that he’s slowing down.”
Kelce did have one long catch against the Bengals, but the play was called back by a penalty.
Free safety Jessie Bates III has become the unquestioned leader of the Falcons defense.
He had a huge performance against the Eagles, breaking up what appeared to be a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith and sealing the victory with an interception in the closing seconds. Not to mention a team-high 12 tackles, including one behind the line.
“You’ve got to give Jessie a lot of credit,” Morris said. “The Eagles are a great offense. They can move the ball in a bunch of different ways, various different ways, and Jessie going out there making those type of plays for us is very important. It’s the reason he’s here.”
Kansas City running back Isiah Pacheco went down with an ankle injury last week, a loss that could dramatically change the design of the Chiefs offense.
Pacheco was a versatile, every-down back, while his backups, Carson Steele and Samaje Perine, have more specific skill sets.
Steele, an undrafted rookie, is at his best playing power football. Perine excels catching passes out of the backfield.
Bijan Robinson has shown plenty of skills in his two seasons with the Falcons, whether it’s running the ball or shifting outside to catch passes.
Add blocking to the list.
Robinson delivered a crushing hit on Philadelphia’s Nolan Smith, demonstrating that he’s a weapon with or without the ball in his hands.
“That’s the vision for Bijan,” Morris said. “Bijan can always catch the ball off the backfield. Bijan has always been known as a runner. Now him developing to this pass pro guy, and also being able to help out with some of the chips, some of the things he’s able to do, the screen game. Whatever the case may be, whatever’s called upon, Bijan can do.”
He’s also earned a new nickname.
“My son calls him ‘Black Panther,’” Morris said, “and he plays like it.”
Rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia was benched late in the win over Cincinnati after a second holding penalty. He also was beaten repeatedly by the Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson.
Reid was noncommittal on whether he would give Suamataia another chance against the Falcons. His replacement, Wanya Morris, committed a penalty of his own shortly after entering the Bengals game.
“You’re not always going to have your perfect day,” Mahomes said. “You have to have that mentality, ‘I’m going to come and get better this next week.’ I have all the trust in the world that he’s going to keep getting better.”
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