ATLANTA -- By the time the Falcons' starters came off the field at the start of the second quarter Atlanta had built a 7-0 lead and had more than doubled the yards gained by the Chiefs - 129 yards to 62.
It was the type of performance the Falcons' starters needed, and although Atlanta lost 28-14, there were plenty of positives to take away from this game. Most importantly, though, the Falcons emerged healthy, which is always the main priority in the preseason.
Fast start for the Falcons' offense
The Falcons' starting offense looked much sharper on their opening possession against the Chiefs than it did last week against the Jets. There were no penalties called on the Falcons as they marched 65 yards on seven plays to score a touchdown on their opening possession.
Atlanta showed a good balance of run and pass, gaining 32 yards on four carries and completing a pair of passes for 33 yards. Tight end Austin Hooper caught both passes on the drive, including the 4-yard touchdown catch that came on a play-action rollout.
To read more on how the Falcons' offense showed what they're all about by using the run game to set up explosive plays downfield, click here.
Ridley catches first touchdown pass
Calvin Ridley caught the first touchdown catch of his NFL career on Friday night. The Falcons rookie snagged a 7-yard pass from quarterback Matt Schaub to give Atlanta a 14-3 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in the second quarter.
Ridley's touchdown came on the end of a nice drive by the Falcons' offensive backups that covered 75 yards in 15 plays. The Falcons ran the ball eight times for 31 yards - led by rookie running back Ito Smith, who had six carries for 23 yards - while Schaub completed five of his seven pass attempts for 44 yards, including a nice 18-yard completion to a leaping Russell Gage.
Kazee continues to make plays in the preseason
One week after leading the Falcons with 11 tackles against the Jets, second-year safety Damontae Kazee continued to make big plays. In the second quarter against the Chiefs, Kazee got airborne to pick off a deep pass from Patrick Mahomes to give the Falcons' offense a short field to work with.
Chiefs connected on some big pass plays
The Falcons' starting defense played well during their time on the field, but the Chiefs took advantage of Atlanta's backups with a couple of big pass plays in the second and third quarters. With 28 seconds left in the first half, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes found receiver Tyreek Hill on a 69-yard touchdown strike. Hill got behind three Falcons defenders on the play - Justin Bethel, Tyson Graham and Marcelis Branch.
Early in the third quarter, the Chiefs again scored on a deep pass. Quarterback Chad Henne hit receiver Gehrig Dieter, who beat rookie cornerback Isaiah Oliver, for a 27-yard touchdown. It appeared as though Oliver tried to jam Dieter at the line of scrimmage but couldn't get his hands on him and was unable to recover in time to defend the pass.
If you'd like to go back through our live blog to recap all the action from Friday night's Chiefs-Falcons game, check out the feed below.
