KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As soon as the Atlanta Falcons’ offense got set for the game-deciding fourth-and-1 snap with 56 seconds left Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, linebacker Nick Bolton had already diagnosed the play and won the game for the Kansas City Chiefs — at least, that’s what he envisioned.
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Earlier in the game, the Falcons had lined up with three players flanking Kirk Cousins in the backfield and out-leveraged the Chiefs’ defense in the red zone.
Bolton filed the play away. He knew Kansas City hadn’t lined up as well as it could, but he also sensed Atlanta might circle back to that play.
With the game on the line, the Falcons had shifted one of the blockers to the line of scrimmage, but Bolton’s Spidey senses were tingling. It had the familiar look of a stretch run outside to Bijan Robinson with Tyler Allgeier serving as lead blocker.
“I already knew where I was going on the snap,” Bolton said.
Derrick Nnadi, Mike Pennel and Mike Danna pushed the line of scrimmage back, while linebacker Leo Chenal imposed his will on the defense’s right edge. That created a lane for Bolton to knife through and drag down Robinson for a game-clinching 3-yard loss, one of three tackles for the loss the former Mizzou star had in the game.
“It’s like a rule around the locker room — if a tight end is blocking 54 (Chenal), he’s going to set the edge for you,” Bolton said. “I saw Leo set the edge and just kind of went off his butt and I made a play.”
Nick Bolton's game time stop sealed the deal for the Chiefs W! #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/5zTW1zLq4q
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 23, 2024
Bolton finished with eight tackles, the second-most for Kansas City’s defense.
“Shoutout to Nick Bolton for making the stop,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “Coming in, he was a little banged up. That’s just what you love to see in the defense.”
Bolton, who has worn a heavy brace on his left elbow since dislocating it last season, briefly left the game earlier in the fourth quarter after landing awkwardly when he tried to intercept a Cousins pass while blitzing, but he returned in time to deliver in the clutch using the same high IQ that made him a tackling machine in the SEC.
He said the Chiefs work on situational football and late-game scenarios all week for exactly those moments.
“We pride ourselves on that and try to be prepared — two-minute, four-minute, whatever we have — to go out there, execute and try to find ways to win,” Bolton said. “You just trust your work, trust the work you do throughout the week, trust your keys, trust everything you’ve been putting in since training camp. It just came out and worked in our favor today.
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