Patrick Mahomes threw for five touchdowns and 348 yards as the Kansas City Chiefs thrashed the Falcons 35-13 at Atlanta on Sunday.
Mahomes was back to his imperious best, completing 22-of-35 passes with zero interceptions and one sack in a win that took the Chiefs level with the idle Denver Broncos top of the AFC West.
Rookie Emmett Johnson twice found the end zone, while Josh Downs had a touchdown on his Kansas City debut following a deadline day trade from Indianapolis.
Cyrus Allen and Andrew Armstrong each scored their first Chiefs touchdowns, grabbing passes of 39 yards and 43 yards respectively as Mahomes dominated the Falcons defense.
It was the three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback's most impressive showing since his nine-month injury absence after tearing his knee ligaments last December.
"Guys made plays, you know? I gave them chances downfield, and they went out there and made plays happen," said Mahomes.
Johnson -- stepping up for Kenneth Walker III, who was absent with a groin injury -- also led the Chiefs' running game, with 22 carries for 101 yards.
Star tight end Travis Kelce left the field early, injuring his ankle as he was tackled taking his first catch, but returned in the second quarter.
"I thought we did a great job picking up, obviously Kenneth not being here. I thought Emmett did a great job, and then the O-line gave me chances to throw the ball down the field," said Mahomes.
It was another miserable day for the Falcons, who trailed 28-3 before Bijan Robinson's fourth-quarter touchdown, and have now lost three straight and five of their past six.
Elsewhere, the Cleveland Browns rallied from 17-0 down to stun the Houston Texans 27-24, as Quinshon Judkins ran in a touchdown with less than a minute remaining.
The Texans had led with C.J. Stroud's first-half passing touchdowns to Nico Collins and Xavier Hutchinson.
The Browns fought back to take the lead with touchdowns either side of halftime, from a Deshaun Watson six-yard run, a KC Concepcion rushing touchdown and two field goals, all without reply.
The Texans thought they had salvaged the win with a Stroud pass to Dalton Schultz, before Watson led yet another late game-winning drive and Judkins ran five yards for the win with 53 seconds left.
"It was definitely a big win for us overall, but personally for me it was definitely special," said Watson, who was drafted by the Texans in 2017 and traded to Cleveland five years later.
Kirk Cousins threw for two touchdowns even as he was sacked three times on his return to the Minnesota Vikings, who beat divisional rivals Green Bay 30-10 on Sunday.
Despite having just a few days to adjust to his new team, Cousins sent a 38-yard pass to Myles Price in the first quarter, and sealed victory with a 20-yard pass to tight end Gavin Bartholomew in the fourth.
Cousins spent six successful seasons with the Vikings between 2018 and 2023, but tore his Achilles tendon at the Packers' Lambeau Field and subsequently had spells with the Falcons and the Las Vegas Raiders before returning to Minnesota last week.
"It was emotional, coming to the stadium three years ago, tearing my Achilles here, and it's been a tough three years," said Cousins.
"It's been a tough three years and there's more of the story being written."
The Detroit Lions thrashed New England 35-10 in Munich, Germany, after the Patriots' quarterback Drake Maye left the field with an ankle injury following a sack from behind by Aidan Hutchinson in the first quarter.
Lions defensive end Hutchinson then suffered a knee injury celebrating the sack.
The Carolina Panthers needed a field goal with two seconds remaining to beat their divisional rival New Orleans Saints and move top of the NFC South.
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