Before this week’s games, only four NFL teams had fewer pass plays of 20-plus yards than Kansas City’s 29 and the Chiefs had scored two first-half touchdowns in just three games.
Then the Chiefs came to the Georgia Dome on Sunday. Against the Falcons’ defense, the Chiefs transformed from a grinding offensive attack to one that gained big chunks of yards through the air and found their first-half footing.
The Chiefs gashed the Falcons for five passing plays of 20 yards or more during the 29-28 victory. The Chiefs also had three running plays of at least 10 yards, including Albert Wilson’s 55-yard touchdown on a fake punt.
Kansas City made six of those big plays in the first half, when it scored two touchdowns for the first time in the its past five games. The Chiefs kept alive the streak of Falcons opponents scoring a TD on their first possession, joining the Cardinals, Eagles, Buccaneers, Packers and Chargers.
“It’s been the last five or six games we’ve got out there and we’ve let teams drive down the field on us,” Falcons safety Ricardo Allen said. “We’re putting our offense behind the eight ball. We’re just not communicating enough. We are not playing with enough intent. We get out there and we are trying to feel it out. We have to get out there and play, man. Once that clock starts, it’s time to go.”
The Chiefs set the tone on their first possession, when they needed just four plays to drive 72 yards score a touchdown.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill ran for 13 yards on a sweep. Tight end Travis Kelce caught a 21-yard pass against zone coverage. Kelce beat safety Keanu Neal for a 35-yard catch. And Spencer Ware finished off the drive with a three-yard TD run.
Yet another Falcons opponent had scored a touchdown on its first possession.
“It’s tough,” Allen said. “Every team has their own battle wound; that’s our battle wound. It’s been lingering and it’s been bothering us this whole year. We’ve got to go out there and start fast. We start fast in practice; we go hard in practice. Now we’ve got to do it in a game.”
Three of Kansas City’s big plays against the Falcons came on third or fourth down: Wilson’s 55-yard TD run on fourth-and-one, a 25-yard catch by Hill on third-and-10 and Wilson’s 21-yard reception on third-and-11.
“It was just tackling,” Allen said. “On third downs, making a play. The thing is, we knew what they were running on third down but it’s just somebody missed a communication key. If everybody talked and everybody understands what’s going (on), they can’t beat us. If the offense shifts or does something different, you can’t just shut down.”
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