Atlanta Falcons

5 reasons why the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Kansas City Chiefs

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Atlanta Falcons lost a wildly entertaining football game to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Lets look at why this happened:

The Kansas City Chiefs marched into the Georgia Dome and escaped with a 29-28 victory on Sunday. I apologize If you read my previous article and got excited that the Falcons were going to win. My prediction was Atlanta would win a tightly contested game, unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.

This is a game that be plague us with “what if’s” for the remainder of the season:

What if the Falcons scored two touchdowns instead of two field goals in early red-zone trips?

What if the Chiefs would have actually punted following the timeout?

What if Dan Quinn wasn’t bamboozled by Andy Reid and wasted a vital, 2nd-half timeout?

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This was obviously a frustrating game to watch. Injuries continuing to pile up didn’t help either. There is a very thin line between the Falcons as a viable contender and missing the playoffs entirely.

Atlanta is now tied with Tampa Bay for first in the NFC South. The remaining 4 games are now “must-win” for our beloved birds. It is essential that the Falcons put the Kansas City loss in the rear-view mirror and move on.

Before we move on, lets mosey through our weekly slideshow. I will again apologize before describing in detail just how discouraging Week 13 was.

Dec 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) leaves the field after being defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs at the Georgia Dome. The Chiefs won 29-28. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

5. Rough Day for Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan looked human for the first time this season. Well, he’s always looked human but yesterday was the first time his play was more pedestrian than MVP-caliber.

Ryan’s stat line appear awful; having thrown for 297 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. It was; however, the unfortunate timing of his interception that proved costly. Eric Berry intercepted a Ryan throw in the first half and returned it for a touchdown. It was a great defensive play but a throw Ryan should have never forced. Even more egregious was his 2nd interception thrown to Berry. Ryan forced another ball the Chiefs safety gobbled up and took to the house for 2-points and the ball game.

I hate to focus on a few plays from a 60-minute football game but it’s hard to assume the game ends more favorably if they are executed differently. The good news is that “Matty Ice” is still playing at a high level this season and will recover just fine.

Dec 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman (24) carries the ball past Kansas City Chiefs inside linebacker Ramik Wilson (53) in the first quarter at the Georgia Dome. The Chiefs won 29-28. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

4. Red Zone Scoring

I touched on this earlier and I wanted to come back to it. The Falcons dreaded red zone woes returned and at the most inopportune time. Out of 6 trips inside the 25, Atlanta only scored on half of their attempts. This is not a welcomed metric for a team that will likely play more close games as the regular season wraps up.

There is major cause for concern when an offense goes into prime scoring territory and returns empty-handed. This is magnified when that team, (staring right at you, Atlanta), has the most prolific offense in the NFL. The Falcons are an astounding 1-4 when they score less than 30 points, meaning every score counts. There’s no doubt Atlanta lost this past Sunday by way of leaving too many points on the field.

Dec 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Albert Wilson (12) carries the ball to score a touchdown in the third quarter of their game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome. The Chiefs won 29-28. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

3. Special Teams

I want to commend my man Matt Bryant before diving face-first into negativity. Bryant showed again Sunday just how reliable of a kicker he is. His “golden leg of immunity” was 3-for-3 on field goals to include a 59-yarder. The Falcons are extremely lucky in that Matt Bryant’s reliability as a kicker is such a luxury.

Moving onto the non-commendable items from yesterday is everything that was Kansas City’s fake-punt.

Why in the world did Dan Quinn call a time out in a situation where it was obvious he was being baited by Andy Reid? Making matters worse, Quinn did not having his team prepared to defend against a Kansas City fake. This lack of wherewithal resulted in Chiefs receiver Albert Wilson taking off, untouched, for a 55-yard touchdown.

Special teams is normally a solid strength for this team. Allowing big plays on special teams only make it harder to win during the stretch run and into the playoffs.

Dec 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) talks with quarterback Matt Ryan (2) prior to their game against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

2. Injury Bug

This topic stings the most this week.

One thing the Atlanta Falcons can’t afford is injuries to key contributors on offense. Defensively, Atlanta has already lost Desmond Trufant for the season and Adrian Clayborn for an extended period. There is now much cause for concern with injuries on both sides of the ball.

Jake Matthews, Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu did not finish the game yesterday. Once Matthews exited the game with a knee injury, Kansas City feasted on Matt Ryan. Its actually a surprise the Chiefs didn’t post more sacks. Still, Ryan did a solid job leading the team down the field for the go-ahead score without his two best weapons. Shh, don’t tell anyone that it was more of a credit to Kansas City’s busted coverage.

Hopefully these injuries are nothing serious. It is hard to see how this team could recover from losing any one of those three for an extended period of time. Keep your fingers crossed Falcons Nation.

Dec 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (11) throws the ball in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome. The Chiefs won 29-28. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

1. Defensive Woes

Man, this defense is something else. Not the good kind of “something else” either.

I knew coming into this week the Falcons defense wasn’t good, but few anticipated they would make Alex Smith look like Tom Brady. Injuries have limited this unit but there’s still have enough talent to be competitive. Whether it is coaching or just lack of experience, something needs to change with Atlanta’s defense.

The pass rush has finally started to take shape thanks to the emergence of Vic Beasley. Other than that, it’s hard to find positives with this defense. They don’t force many turnovers, can’t get off the field on third down and make rookie mistakes.

The Falcons are a good team, but for them to be truly great, they desperately need this defense to take the next step. Otherwise, games like the one against the Chiefs will become all too familiar.