Chiefs: Five Keys to Success Against the Dolphins

Laddie Morse

The Kansas City Chiefs have been down this road with the Miami Dolphins earlier this season. They played in Germany and the result was a 21-to-14 victory for the good guys. That was back in Week Nine (9) and if K.C. wishes to advance in the playoffs this season, they must take care of business at home and beat those same Dolphins again.

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Hill had 68 receiving yards in Week 9 on 8 catches and the Chiefs DBs will needs a similar result. Hill had 1,799 receiving yards this past season and he averaged over 105 yards per game. So, if K.C. can hold him down to less than 70 yards again, it greatly increases the odds of a K.C. victory. The two biggest reasons I’m not worried at all about Tyreek Hill’s contributions to this game are: L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie.

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The Dolphins sacked Mahomes twice in their first meeting, but they also had 4 QB Hits and that’s too many. With much being made of Mahomes getting skittish this season, a big reason for that is the lack of protection off the edges. Donovan Smith and Wanya Morris as well as Jawaan Taylor haven’t been as good as I’d like and they are the main reason for Mahomes needing to dance like he had ants in his pants. If this line does protect Mahomes, we may see a return to the dominance this offense once presented. Mahomes will need to keep his INTs down to nothing in this game as well as his Fumbles. He had one (1) Fumble in the first game in Week 9, but no INTs.

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Travis Kelce had just three receptions for only 14 yards in the first game verses the Dolphins this season. Kelce has averaged nearly that much PER CATCH in his career (12.5). He also averages over 71 yards per game over the span of his career. Consequently, if the Chiefs can figure out how to unleash the animal within Travis Kelce and get him a 100 yard game, it increases the odds to a great degree of a K.C. win. If Andy Reid has indeed been saving plays for the playoffs, plays he doesn’t use in the regular season, and if those plays involve Mr. Travis Kelce (or, Mr. Swift if you’re a Swiftie)… let’s hope Reid makes it happen.

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Running back Isiah Pacheco had just 66 yards rushing on 16 carries for a 4.1 average in the Week 9 contest. While that is close to his per game average this season, we know he is capable of much more and he’s shown that as the season wore on and revealed to us that potential. While Pop (that’s what his team mates call him) had no catches in the first game, I’m hoping to see him have a breakout game as far as receiving yards goes. I believe he’ll have plenty of rushing yards, but it’s his receiving yards I’m hoping to see more of.

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Back in Week 9, K.C. started the game with a 21-to-nothing burst. If they can do that again and then keep it going, this time around, they will have no problems handling whatever the Dolphins come up with. While the Chiefs scored zero points in the second half in Week 9, they will need to keep scoring on a consistent basis to outdistance the team from Miami. One of the primary gripes that fans have had about Andy Reid’s offense is his not keeping the peddle to the metal. If he can pull out all his Playoff plays in his playbook, they should be fine.

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Keys Summary

If Kansas City can navigate the waters of the Miami team and make sure they execute these five keys, their chances in this being a Wild Card Game victory go way up. It will be intriguing to see Andy Reid’s game plan as well as DC Steve Spagnuolo’s plan of attack. A little side note… even though there seem to be a lot of open NFL Head Coaching positions this year, I don’t think the Chiefs will be losing any of their own coaches… unless, they happen to win it all. Right now, the odds of K.C. winning it all currently sits at 9.1% by Fox Sports. The Chiefs are currently 3.5 point favorites, but here’s what CBS Sports had to say about “Why the Chiefs Can Cover:“

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“Many of Kansas City’s starters will be well-rested as, with its eighth straight AFC West title and the third seed in the conference already locked up, they sat out the team’s 13-12 victory at the Los Angeles Chargers in the regular-season finale. One of those starters was Patrick Mahomes, who finished sixth in the NFL with 4,183 passing yards and eighth with 27 touchdown tosses. The two-time Super Bowl MVP is looking to notch his 12th career postseason victory and pass Aaron Rodgers for most among active quarterbacks. Another player that was rested in Week 18 was Mahomes’ favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce. The 34-year-old Kelce hauled in 93 passes for 984 yards, ending his streak of 1,000-yard seasons at seven, and five touchdowns in 15 games. The Chiefs lost all three of their previous playoff meetings with the Dolphins, but have won four straight regular-season matchups….”

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Go Chiefs!

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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