Laddie Morse
In a game that many believed would be a high scoring shootout, the Chiefs Defense stepped up and they were the major reason the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 21-to-14. The first question many will have is how did ex-Chief Tyreek Hill do? He had 8 catches on 10 targets for 62 yards receiving. Hill also had one carry for 3 yards but that was even less impressive than his receiving yards.
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The Real Deal McCoy Decoy
Travis Kelce became more of a decoy in this game than a real threat as a receiver. He had 3 catches on 4 targets for 14 yards.
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If Reid did get the ball to Kelce more often the Chiefs offense may have become more predictable. When you are predictable, like the Chiefs often are with TE Travis Kelce, you have a tendency to fail simply becasue the other team is throwing extra coverage at a player… like Kelce. So, by using him as a decoy, other receivers were found open more often. Even though he only had 14 yards receiving in this game v Miami, Matt Derrick shares this about Kelce:
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“Travis Kelce is now the all-time leading receiver in Chiefs franchise history with 10,941 yards. He moves past Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez with 10,940 yards.”
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TE Travis Kelce was used as a decoy on this play in which he started out on the right side and ran a crossing pattern taking a couple (at least) of defenders with him, clearing out a space for RB Jerick McKinnon to score a TD (0:20):
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The first half score was 21-to-0, so after that the Chiefs offense sputtered and in the second half K.C. wasn’t able to score again, the rest of the game. In the meantime, the Dolphins scored 14 points in the 3rd quarter making the game a lot closer than it needed to be.
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The Wide Receivers Are Still Meh
The Wide Receivers for the Chiefs didn’t break out like I thought they might need to in order to secure this victory. Here are their receptions, yards, targets and TDs.
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While we can be happy that 9 players had catches in this game — and 11 were targeted — the fact that TE Noah Gray had the most yardage (34 yards) and catches (3, tied with WR Mecole Hardman and Travis Kelce for catches), it in no way was a game in which the Chiefs young WRs were developed. I’m happy — no, thrilled — that Rashee Rice had a TD catch and then ran it in for 6 points, despite the attempted tackle by the Dolphins Bradley Chubb. Here’s that play (0:09):
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Player(s) of the Game
The Whole Chiefs Defense was the player of the game and deserved a game ball. They stopped the Dolphins potent offense on nine (9) drives and seven (7) of those were Punts. While both teams had 11 drives the Dolphins had more plays — 58 to 56 — and more yards in the game — 292 to 267 — the game came down to timely plays by the Chiefs Defense. Like when CB Trent MCDuffie forced Tyreek Hill to fumble the ball behind the line of scrimmage and then it was picked up by Safety Mike Edwards who then lateraled the ball ,to Safety Bryan Cook who ran faster than he’s ever run before, taking it all the way for a TD. Here’s that play (see below the pic of Spags, 0:23):
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Steve Spagnuolo, – Peter Schrager, Photo Credit
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Bryan Cook – Brad Henson Productions – Photo Credit
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Here’s another look at the 62 yard TD by Bryan Cook run — through the eyes and pie holes of Mitch Holthus and Danan Hughes — a look at the fumbled recovery by Mike Edwards, plus the strip of Tyreek Hill caused by Trent McDuffie (1:51):
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As offered by Adam Teicher at ESPN here’s what Tyreek Hill said of the decisive play:
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“They played two-man coverage and [McDuffie] was unblocked and he came free as soon as I caught it and I didn’t even get a chance to make a move. That’s the explanation I’ve got for you. They did a good job.”
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Trent McDuffie may end up making the Pro Bowl this year, even though he was the one who was in coverage when Tua Tagovailoa threw for a long TD to WR Cedric Wilson Jr. in the 3rd quarter.
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No Memorable Moments From Hill
Prior to the game, Tyreek Hill had given the Chiefs Defense some bulletin board material saying,
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“They are going to get this work wherever.
Y’all can use that bulletin board material.”
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Not only did that not come to fruition, Hill only had 62 yards receiving for the game, and while Hill was averaging 127 receiving yards per game, he fell far below that number… exactly 65 yards below his average per game.
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Tweet of the Game
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I remember when Travis Kelce lateraled to LeSean McCoy a few years back and HC Andy Reid didn’t like it very much. Hehe…
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Quote of the Game
I’m kind of copping out here by using another video of the best play of the game (0:31):
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Still, the Chiefs need to — offensively — find ways to finish off opponents and win close games (0:32).
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Great game. Not necessarily for the Dolphins, but it was still a great game, any way you look at it. I’m sure the NFL is thrilled with the outcome.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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