It’s time for the Arrowhead Pride staff to put their opinions to the test. Before the Kansas City Chiefs travel to face the Atlanta Falcons, our writers predicted the final score and result.
Atlanta has been an unpredictable team both looking dominant in their trio of wins while struggling in most of their six losses. FanDuel Sportsbook currently lists the Chiefs as 3.5-point home favorites.
The Falcons also have the misfortune of not coming off of a European game into their bye week. The Falcons lost
34-17 to the Cincinnati Bengals in Madrid, Spain on Sunday. They also sent starting safety Jessie Bates to the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
We also want to know your score prediction! Vote in the poll on The Feed and share your score prediction!
Jared Sapp (@TrumanChief)
I do worry about the Falcons’ pass rush, even if their defense’s other two levels were underwhelming even before trading Bates. With the league’s two best running backs facing off, I expect a run heavy day that should lead to a fast moving game.
Look for the Chiefs’ pass rush to build on their second half against Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix. This will be a game where Atlanta looks game for a couple of drives before the Chiefs overwhelm in route to a victory. The run game will lead to limited possessions for both sides to keep the scoring from getting out of hand.
Chiefs 27, Falcons 17
Caleb James (@CJScoobs)
The Chiefs and Falcons are on opposite ends of the competitive spectrum in the NFL, and this week’s game should show that. The Falcons traded away veteran safety Jessie Bates to the contending Jacksonville Jaguars, while the Chiefs traded for wide receiver Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts.
Despite a talented core of offensive playmakers, including Bijan Robinson and Drake London, the Falcons are only 3-6, largely because their defense allows over 340 yards per game.
The Falcons are -8 in the turnover-takeaway category, 30th in the NFL, while the Chiefs are tied for 9th at +4. If they can force turnovers, they will be in good shape to win the game.
I don’t think Downs will play more than 20 snaps this week, but I would expect the Chiefs to design a few routes for him to get his feet wet in the offense.
Chiefs 27, Falcons 13
Mark Gunnels (@MarkAGunnels)
I’ve got the Chiefs winning this one. Josh Downs makes his debut, and I like Mahomes having another guy who can get open underneath, especially now that Atlanta traded away Jessie Bates. The Falcons also traded their starting center, Ryan Neuzil, so I expect Chris Jones to make life real uncomfortable up the middle.
Chiefs 27, Falcons 20
Maurice Elston (@MrMauriceElston)
What impressed me most about the Chiefs’ 35–12 win over the Jets was how they finished. Kansas City has a habit of letting teams it should beat hang around, and the Jets were within two points at halftime. The Chiefs outscored them 21–0 from there. Kenneth Walker III looked like the player we saw during the 5–0 start, finishing with 143 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. To keep Walker rolling, the Chiefs need their receivers to win against man coverage. Seattle and Denver showed what happens when defenses can load the box and trust their corners to hold up one-on-one: the run slows down, and play-action loses its bite. If the receivers make Atlanta pay for that approach, Walker will have more room to run and Patrick Mahomes can get back to attacking off play-action.
Against Atlanta, the key is slowing down Bijan Robinson. That’s the operative phrase: slow him down. He’s coming off 100 rushing yards and another 47 through the air, so Kansas City has to account for him even when he doesn’t get the handoff. Drake London demands attention, and Kyle Pitts can still cause problems for the Chiefs’ linebackers and safeties even in a quiet season. But if Kansas City’s run defense keeps Robinson from taking over, Sack Nation can build on its five-sack performance by moving Michael Penix Jr. off his spot and forcing him past his first read. I like the Chiefs’ chances when Atlanta has to win that way.
Chiefs 27, Falcons 17
Matt Stagner (@stagdsp)
Your Kansas City Chiefs head to Atlanta as big favorites against the 2-6 Falcons. Yes, they’ve lost 4 of their last 5, but this is a dangerous opponent. They’ve got the league’s best RB and a streaky young QB– it’s an offense that can get out to an early lead and make things uncomfortable. But, as always, this game will come down to how the Chiefs execute. From the pass protection to the receivers and the short-yardage offense, this team has questions, but they’re more than capable. Ideally, they start strong with Walker and Johnson– if the run game gets going, the Chiefs are hard to beat.
Chiefs 33, Falcons 21
Dakota Watson (@D_Watson56)
The Chiefs enter this game after righting some of their wrongs last week against the Jets, although still with major question marks for a team intent on making a Super Bowl run. The Falcons, meanwhile, are on a two game losing skid after their upset win over the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers. I never quite know what to make of the Falcons. They’re a team with some of the best offensive weapons in the entire NFL, yet they can’t ever seem to put it all together.
Since Jonathan Taylor in week 2, Bijan Robinson will be the best running back the Chiefs have faced all season. The Chiefs have been great defending the run in 2026, and I think they will be able to contain Robinson, but he will still get his yards. Defensively, the Chiefs should also be able to continue the positive momentum they established last week in pressuring the quarterback and leading to mistakes by the Falcons’ offense.
I’m excited to see what the Chiefs’ offense has in store for new wide receiver Josh Downs. I’m keeping my expectations in check, however, as it always seems like the Chiefs onboard their wide receivers slowly. I expect Downs to play 35-50% of the team’s snaps, but they will still be able to generate enough offense to take home the win.
Chiefs 27, Falcons 17
Rocky Magana (@RockyMagana)
The Atlanta Falcons only show up for primetime games; they are garbage during noon kickoffs. Despite having multiple weapons on offense, namely running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London, they can never seem to put it all together in the daytime.
On the other hand, the Chiefs are coming off one of their best performances of the season, when the pass rush finally woke up and bullied a terrible team in the New York Jets. At the end of the day, I would expect the Chiefs offense to continue rolling while they ramp up new acquisition wide receiver Josh Downs.
Chiefs 31, Atlanta 17
Nate Christensen
Atlanta has been a surprisingly competitive team since quarterback Michael Penix Jr. came back. The Falcons have one of the dynamic duos of weapons in running back Bijan Robinson and Drake London. That alongside a decent offensive line has given the Falcons a shot to win any game. Their defense has been surprisingly competent, but after trading Jessie Bates, that will probably fall off.
I expect Atlanta to have some nice drives against the Chiefs, but the game will play out similarly to the Jets game. At some point, the Chiefs pressure will get to a pocket-bound Penix and Atlanta won’t be able to catch up offensively. Chiefs pull away in the second half.
Chiefs 28, Falcons 17
Ron Kopp Jr. (@RonOnChiefs)
If the Falcons hadn’t traded away two starters this week, this would feel much more like a spot where the Chiefs could slip up. Still, noon kickoffs have seemed to come with slow starts for Kansas City this year, and this Falcons team still has a reason to fight to stay tied for first place in the NFC South.
However, Atlanta has had more letdowns than triumphs this year, including a couple of weeks ago when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran for 342 yards as a team and didn’t need a pass to win.
This game should be a comfortable win for Kansas City because of its offense, leaning on the ground game once again to stay in rhtyhm and open up the middle of the field for passes.
Chiefs 27, Falcons 17
2026 Standings
All nine panelists predicted the Chiefs to win by more than ten points. Ron (38-20) and Matt (28-13) had the most accurate Week 9 predictions with only 16 total points of error.
Our readers were less optimistic about how Kansas City would perform. Only 50.6% of our readers anticipated a comfortable Chiefs victory, while 37.2% expected Mahomes and Company to narrowly come out on top. 12.2% of respondents expected the Jets to win.
*To calculate a prediction’s points of error, the differences between the prediction and the actual score in point spread, home team score, and away team score are added together. For example, a prediction calls for a 17-10 Chiefs win. They end up winning 16-10, so there were two points of error: the point spread was off by one point, the Kansas City score missed by one point, and the opponent’s score was predicted correctly. But if the Chiefs lose the game 17-10, there were 28 points of error in the prediction: the point spread was off by 14 (the difference between +7 and -7), and both scores were off by 7.
