Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes Praises Atlanta Falcons Will 'Make A Lot of Noise

The Atlanta Falcons left a strong impression on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes praised the Atlanta Falcons after a narrow victory on Sunday Night Football. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes left Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday night with two things -- a 22-17 victory and belief the Atlanta Falcons have brighter days ahead.

"That's a good football team," Mahomes said postgame. "I expect them to get better and better because whenever you bring a lot of different pieces in, it takes a little bit to get it going throughout the season.

"But, yeah, that's going to be a team that's going to make a lot of noise as the season goes on."

Mahomes, a two-time MVP and six-time Pro Bowler, completed 26-of-39 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a first quarter interception to Falcons safety Justin Simmons, who now owns six interceptions against Mahomes and has at least one in each of their past four meetings.

After the giveaway to Simmons, Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense settled in, scoring on five of the next six drives -- two touchdowns and three field goals.

But Atlanta's defense rose to the occasion when needed most. Kansas City failed to score in the fourth quarter and mustered only three net yards on nine plays. The Chiefs did not pick up a first down over the final 15 minutes.

And despite not recording a sack on Mahomes, the Falcons hit him seven times. Toss in the secondary's strong play and a lack of explosive gains, and Mahomes was impressed by Atlanta's defense.

"They're well-coached, two great safeties, great corners and they do a good job of executing," Mahomes said. "Obviously, their goal was to make us drive the field, and they did that."

Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice, who had a game-high 12 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets, noted Atlanta largely stayed away from man coverage.

"They played a lot of zone," Rice said. "They kind of gave us a lot of different looks, but they were still zone. Basically meaning, if I got to the other side of the field, as long as I found space in the middle of the field, Pat [Mahomes] would be able to find me."

Kansas City possessed the ball for nearly 10 minutes more than Atlanta and ran 16 additional plays. Success on third down was a key reason why, as the Chiefs went 6-of-14 while the Falcons slumped to a 2-of-9 mark.

Atlanta held Kansas City to just 4.8 yards per play, but the Chiefs ran for 128 yards and ultimately scored enough points to win -- and to Falcons coach Raheem Morris, the bottom line says more than any other number ever could.

"It's hard to say you're pleased with the play of your defense. Like, you don't choose sides up here," Morris said. "You don't pat people on the back for losses. We're not here to do that. We played well enough to give ourselves a chance to win the football game but there's always things you can do better."

And evidently, Mahomes believes the Falcons will not only identify those things but execute them en route to better nights than Sunday.

Atlanta's hopes of doing exactly that starts at 1 p.m. Sept. 28, when it hosts the New Orleans Saints inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.