Kansas City will have nine players in their starting 22 who are either rookies or playing in only their second NFL season. They will have two rookie starting quarterbacks in Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr, who will play for injured left corner Pat Surtain.

PLAYER NOTES

--TE Tony Gonzalez needs just 85 more receiving yards to pass Shannon Sharpe as the career leading in receiving yards by a tight end (10,006). Gonzalez already holds the record for most career receptions (831 and counting).

--QB Tyler Thigpen, a second-year player who will make his first NFL start against Atlanta, last started a game in 2006 at Coastal Carolina. He played in only one game as a rookie in 2007, when he attempted six passes (completing two) in replacing injured backup Damon Huard against San Diego.

--QB Damon Huard will not start a second straight game against Atlanta, but it won't be because of the neck injury he sustained in last week's loss to Oakland. Huard was knocked out of the game after the second offensive series, but did a full workout Wednesday.

--CB Patrick Surtain will miss this week's Atlanta game with a shoulder injury.

--CB Brandon Carr will be making his first start as a base defender against Atlanta. The rookie started in the first two games against New England and Oakland when the Chiefs opened in a nickel defense. But this time he'll be starting at left cornerback with veteran Pat Surtain down with a shoulder injury.

--WR Will Franklin, the Chiefs' prospective No. 3 wideout who missed the first two games while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, is expected to be active for Sunday's game in Atlanta.

GAME PLAN: It's simple, and repetitive. Run the ball and stop the run. The Chiefs, who rushed for only 55 games against Oakland, have to run against the eight-man fronts the Falcons will use to take some pressure off young QB Tyler Thigpen in just his first NFL start. But Thigpen has to make some passes, too, to back defenders out of the box to help out his runners. Defensively, they have to stop Michael Turner and the powerful Falcons running game and put the pressure on rookie QB Matt Ryan to make winning plays.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Falcons RDE John Abraham vs. Chiefs LT Branden Albert. NFL sack leader Abraham (four) will get his chances against the Chiefs rookie, who has hung in there in his first two NFL starts.

INJURY REPORT: QB Brodie Croyle is out (separated shoulder) for a second consecutive game and likely won't play for another two to three weeks. CB Patrick Surtain, a starter, is out with a shoulder injury. LB Napoleon Harris, a 2007 starter who missed the first two games, has returned to practice despite his sore knee.

-- DE Turk McBride was added to the Chiefs' injury list Thursday when he got only limited participation in practice. McBride, the starting left defensive end, sustained an abdominal injury when he fell on the heel on Raiders RB Justin Fargas while making a tackle in the second half. McBride, who did not return to the game, said his spleen had possibly been bruised by the blow. He remains hopeful of playing Sunday in Atlanta.