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| ARI at WAS | CAR at MIN | CIN at NYG | CLE at BAL | DAL at GB | DET at SF | HOU at TEN | JAX at IND |
| KC at ATL | MIA at NE | NO at DEN | NYJ at SD | OAK at BUF | PIT at PHI | STL at SEA | TB at CHI |
Week 3 Game Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 14, Atlanta Falcons 38
What you need to know
| Kansas City Chiefs |
It is difficult to express just how out of place rookie QB Tyler Thigpen looked for about 28 minutes of this game. He finally had some success late in the half, running the Chiefs two minute drill; five of his seven first half completions came on that final drive. Prior to that, he had two completions for a grand total of 7 yards. He was somewhat better in the second half, in a more limited role as the Chiefs gave the ball to Larry Johnson more often, but the damage had been done. His three interceptions on the day were of the ugly variety, not a bad bounce among them. All in all, it appeared that the Chiefs asked too much of him.
Larry Johnson had to wait until the second half to get anything going, which he began with a 48 yard scamper. In the first half he carried the ball a paltry six times. Why the Chiefs coaching staff had more confidence in their rookie QB going to the air so frequently than they had in Johnson's running will remain a question mark. Once he got the opportunity, Johnson showed quite clearly that he's still got a lot of gas in the tank.
Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez are the only viable receiving threats on this team, but without a reliable quarterback to get them the ball, even that is in question. Bowe had six balls thrown officially targeted to him before one of them was close enough to actually catch. Gonzalez was double covered all day, yet still caught four of his seven targets.
| Atlanta Falcons |
Matt Ryan is making somebody look smart right about now. He looked like a seasoned veteran against a lackluster Chiefs defense. The game plan focused mainly on the running game, but he made the most of his limited chances; again and again, he found the open receiver when he needed to. The highlight was a perfectly thrown bomb to Roddy White for a 70 yard score.
Michael Turner (23-104-3) was the difference in this game. He started off slow, but once he got going, was absolutely unstoppable. Jerious Norwood chipped in with 105 yards of his own (75 rush, 30 rec), but was the second option behind Turner. Of note is the fact that early in the game, the two backs split time evenly, and briefly Norwood had the edge in carries. Then Turner got loose for a 38 yard gain and saw most of the important carries from then on.
Roddy White is clearly Matt Ryan's go to receiver. In addition to his long touchdown, he was targeted twice in the red zone, and all of five his catches were for first downs. Michael Jenkins was a steady number two option, but did not get enough opportunities to be noticed.
What you ought to know
| QB Tyler Thigpen, Pass: 14 - 36 - 128 - 1 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 1 - 18 - 0 |
Thigpen had a rough day, starting his first NFL game after having come off the bench last week. He struggled to find open receivers until the 2 minute drill to end the first half, in which he found Dwayne Bowe for a touchdown. He was constantly pressured and showed that he can scramble when needed, but was unable to overcome the Falcons tight coverage. The coaching staff showed confidence in him after the touchdown -- by leaving him in for the second half -- and he responded with a better second half. On the downside, he threw three interceptions on the day, and they weren't even close to a Kansas City receiver.
| QB Brodie Croyle |
Croyle was inactive due to a separated shoulder.
| RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 24 - 121 - 1 |
The Chiefs gave up early on Johnson, it seemed. He had only six first half carries, for 11 yards. In the second half, his first carry was for 48 yards (which ended in a fumble out of bounds). With the score still close enough to eke out a win, he was leaned on more heavily and responded with a number of good rushes, making one wonder why they didn't do this earlier. He was not used at all in the passing game.
| RB Jamaal Charles, Rush: 7 - 38 - 0, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (5 targets) |
Charles has seemingly taken on the role of pass catching back for the Chiefs, and got a handful of carries in garbage time.
| RB Kolby Smith, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Smith caught one pass and rushed the ball once. He was strictly a backup in this game as Jamaal Charles was the beneficiary when Johnson was rested.
| RB Mike Cox (1 targets) |
Cox, the starting fullback, was used primarily as a blocker.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 4 - 43 - 1 (12 targets) |
Bowe was targeted six times before he finally caught the seventh throw, which happened to be for a touchdown. On each missed ball, it was a case of a poorly thrown pass or the fact that he wasn't open (and Thigpen threw it anyway). Despite his low catch total, he is clearly the most reliable option for the Chiefs.
| WR Marques Hagans, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Hagans was targeted only once, for a short first down.
| WR Devard Darling, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (5 targets) |
All five of Darling's targets came in the first half. He did not look particularly dangerous on any of them, but the blame still falls mainly to poor QB play.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 4 - 35 - 0 (9 targets) |
Gonzalez was often double covered, and when he did pull in the catch, he was promptly tackled. He was his old reliable self, but was never a threat to get more than a short gain each time.
| PK Nick Novak 0 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
His only field goal attempt, of 32 yards, went wide right.
| KC Rush Defense |
They had their hands full, and in the end could not stop the tandem of Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood. Especially Michael Turner.
| KC Pass Defense |
No sacks, no interceptions, pretty much tells the story. They made a rookie quarterback look like a veteran, despite the fact that the Falcons did not go to the air often.
| QB Matt Ryan, Pass: 12 - 18 - 192 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 15 - 0 |
Ryan showed exceptional poise throughout the game, running an efficient albeit run heavy Falcons offense. No sacks, no interceptions, no mistakes of any kind. The emphasis on -- and overall success of -- the ground game helped him immensely as the KC defense had no choice but to key on the run. When he did drop back to pass, he had plenty of time to find his man, notably on a deep pass to Roddy White that became a 70 yard score.
| RB Michael Turner, Rush: 23 - 104 - 3 |
Michael Turner was an absolute monster. He started the day slowly, and actually split carries evenly with Jerious Norwood early in the game, but once he got going the Falcons made him the focus of the offense. Of note are his three touchdowns on the day, all short yardage carries (two, four, and, one yard). He was nearly impossible to take down; one time he literally dragged a clinging KC player five yards and still didn't go down.
| RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 11 - 75 - 0, Rec: 1 - 30 - 0 (2 targets) |
Norwood was actually splitting carries evenly with Michael Turner in the first quarter. Once Turner showed the hot hand, Norwood was relegated to a change of pace role. Late in the contest, with the game well in hand, he got most of his yards on a nice 44 yard off tackle run. He was targeted twice in the passing game, and showed good hands and agility in turning a short screen into a 30 yard gain. Norwood also returned kickoffs.
| RB Ovie Mughelli (1 targets) |
Mughelli, the starting fullback, was targeted once on a short 'safety' route, but he was otherwise used exclusively as a blocker.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 5 - 119 - 1 (7 targets) |
White made the highlight catch of the day on a deep route, hauling in a bomb from QB Matt Ryan for a 70 yard TD. Despite the focus on the running game, White was easily Ryan's preferred receiver when they did go to the air, and he showed why, catching five of seven balls thrown his way.
| WR Harry Douglas, Rush: 1 - -8 - 0, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Douglas caught both balls thrown his way, for short gains. He was also featured on a reverse, but was stopped for negative eight yards.
| WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jenkins did nothing spectacularly, but looked capable when he got the chance. The offence did not pass enough to give him many opportunities, however.
| WR Laurent Robinson, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Robinson caught one pass early in the game, but later left the game with a knee injury.
| WR Brian Finneran (1 targets) |
The veteran wideout did not show up on the score sheet, but was targeted once on a short route.
| TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Peelle did not factor into the passing game. The Falcons second TE, was targeted once, and caught the ball for a 7 yard gain.
| PK Jason Elam 1 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 8 points |
Elam was perfect on the day: one field goal (27 yards) and five PATs.
| ATL Rush Defense |
The Falcons seemed to stop Larry Johnson early in the game, forcing the Chiefs to essentially abandon the run. When the Chiefs ran later in the game, the defense was good but not great, allowing Johnson to rack up a number of good carries.
| ATL Pass Defense |
It's difficult to criticize them, but take this stellar effort with a grain of salt due to an inexperienced opposing QB. They blanketed the KC receivers early, and late in the game put the icing on the cake with an interception that was returned for a touchdown. The pass rush was the most impressive aspect as they gave Thigpen very little time to throw.
