Falcons fantasy stud and dud from Week 3 vs. Chiefs

It was another prime time game which went down to the wire for the Falcons, but this was one where the Birds came up just short, against the defending Super Bowl champions.

This rendition of Sunday Night Football had the makings of a shootout early on, as Atlanta took the opening kickoff all the way down the field and into the end zone, before we saw plenty of first half fireworks with a scoreline of 14-13 going into the break. Two crucial injuries along the Falcons' offensive line derailed the attack, however.

Despite the fact that Atlanta did not break 20 points for the second time in three games, the primary fantasy contributors and star players on offense contributed for the most part, with each one having his own moment at one point or another.

There is a lot of great content available here at The Falcoholic, and I encourage you to check it out if you want some in-depth analysis. This will look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective (that means looking at nothing other than pure statistics). Here is Atlanta's fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 3's defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs .

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2024 History:Past Studs: Bijan Robinson, Darnell Mooney

Past Duds: Drake London, Kyle Pitts

Fantasy Stud - Drake LondonStat Line: 6 catches, 67 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown: 12.7 standard league points; 18.7 PPR points

Following a really quiet season opener, London has now strung together back-to-back weeks of six catches and a touchdown reception. While his score did not come until the last drive of the game last week (the game winner), the USC alum found the end zone on Atlanta's opening possession in this one. The former first rounder has already matched his TD total from all of last season.

London led the team in targets, and has seen both his targets and yardage uptick with each passing week, possibly in direct correlation with Kirk Cousins continuing to get healthier and back into rhythm following his Achilles injury.

While Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts, and to a lesser extent Ray-Ray McCloud are certainly factors in this aerial attack, London never leaves the field, now having played 100% of snaps in weeks 1 and 3, in addition to 97% in Week 2. He will be a strong WR2 moving forward as a key cog in Atlanta's offense.

Kirk Cousins: 230 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 interception, 1 carry, -1 rushing yards, 2 fumbles: 10.10 standard league/PPR points

It looked like it was going to be a banner night for Cousins and fantasy owners following the touchdown pass on the initial drive, but it turned out that more than half of his fantasy points would wind up coming from that one pass.

Cousins was unfortunate not to have scored a second touchdown pass on a long connection he had with Kyle Pitts, where the tight end was taken down at the 1-yard-line, but an interception and two fumbles combined with a complete lack of mobility helped contribute to an overall QB26 finish this week, which is abysmal.

Cousins may end up having some eventual streaming value depending on the matchup, but he's firmly a QB2 at the moment and should be left on the bench for the time being in single QB leagues.