3 Atlanta Falcons to blame for their disappointing loss to Kansas City Chiefs

At 1-2, the Atlanta Falcons have to feel okay about surviving their most difficult stretch of the season, but simultaneously disappointed about how they let a few games slip through their fingers. After watching this game up close and personal on Sunday Night Football vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, I came to this conclusion on the ride back home: This team is close, but is still learning how to win.

I feel that Atlanta has the roster and the overall talent to go toe-to-toe with any team in the league. On any given Sunday, the Falcons have the ability to get the victory over anyone. I think anyone who watched that game, either from a Chiefs or a national perspective, probably came away feeling similar things. For the most part, Atlanta has a high-end defense. Unfortunately, the offense is inconsistent.

So what I am going to do today, as a slight coping method, to be honest, is to blame a few Falcons for this tough home loss to the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Could Kansas City pull off the unprecedented three-peat? Possibly, but after watching my alma mater of Georgia try and fail to three-peat as College Football Playoff National Champions, I can say that this is so, so very difficult.

Let's start with the most compensated man on the team, one who knows he has to play better.

3. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins

To be totally honest, I feel Kirk Cousins may have even outplayed his counterpart in Patrick Mahomes. He was slightly more accurate, threw for slightly more yards, but one less touchdown. Against most teams, this type of performance would have help secure the victory for the Falcons. While his one interception was varying shades of terrible, I did think that Cousins kept the Falcons in the game.

Unfortunately, people are going to remember what he did, or didn't do, in the fourth quarter. While I no longer question if Cousins is going to show up primetime, as he has the last two weeks, I do wonder if being brand-new to this team hurt the Falcons in the end. He is still working on building trust with his offense and teammates. Again, this will grow and evolve in time, but man, you have to feel frustrated.

During Atlanta's final three possessions, the Falcons needed at least one touchdown. They got a field goal, and then two turnovers on downs. I feel like better play-calling and a better overall feel for the offense would have made a world of difference. It wasn't like the Chiefs were unstoppable in this one. It felt like, at times, they were trying to give the game away. It was an opportunity for the taking, guys!

We do not need to bury Cousins too bad here, but slightly better play would have won this ballgame.

2. Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson

Without question, this was one of the most disappointing games of Bijan Robinson's Falcons career. No matter how many touches he got, he rarely made the most of them. He averaged fewer than two yards per carry with his longest run only being a seven-yarder. While he was slightly better out of the backfield, better ball distribution would have been better for this offensive game plan. If only it was...

Atlanta kept trying to run the ball up the middle vs. the Chiefs defense to little or no effective. Tyler Allgeier was more effective with his limited carriers, averaging well over four yards per carry. Cousins' decision to go with that final play call put Robinson in an impossible spot on fourth-and-inches. The Falcons opted to run outside to the side of the field where there were more defenders than blockers.

Overall, we can only hope that this game serves as an inflection point in Robinson's budding NFL career. We all know he can be a good player, but to be a great one, you have to show up in big moments such as these. A bit more explosiveness out of Robinson could have made a world of difference. This one might sting for a while for Robinson, but he has to get over the loss quickly.

Anything close to a decent game out of Robinson could have tipped the scales in the Falcons' favor.

1. Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson

This one falls on new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson the most. At the end of the day, we had a first-time offensive coordinator going up against one of the best defensive coordinators in the business in Steve Spagnuolo. I don't know if the Falcons were reacting to the Chiefs' defense in the end, but it certainly felt like it down the stretch. An experienced offensive coordinator may have won.

What you need to understand is that for as much promise as Robinson has an as offensive coordinator and a play-caller, he is still brand-new to this. He did have a few explosive plays drawn up. Some were executed better than others. But at the end of the game, the Falcons were a bit too conservative with running designs that it proved costly. I wish this game came up later in the season...

Ultimately, this game came down to a talented, but inexperienced team coming up short vs. a team that knows exactly who they are and what they are about. Kansas City is still one of the best teams in footbal. Most teams are going to lose to them, but I honestly felt that the Falcons had more than a few cracks at breaking this thing wide open and winning comfortably. They simply did not take advantage.

Robinson does not need to beat himself up too bad in this one, even though he is the most to blame.