Five things that stood out about Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff win over the Dolphins
Patrick Mahomes provided a prototypical playoff moment with his legs. Tyreek Hill was back in Kansas City.
And yet? It’s once more all about the defense.
The Chiefs beat up on the Dolphins 26-7 in the AFC Wild Card Round late Saturday — because the defense beat up on Tua Tagovailoa in the coldest playoff game in Chiefs playoff history.
Hey, if you’re going to suffer through the kind of elements that took over Kansas City late Saturday, you might as well make it worth your time, right?
The Chiefs will advance to the Divisional Round — a game that could mark Mahomes’ first road playoff trip, depending on the results of Monday’s Bills-Steelers game.
For now, here are five observations from immediately after the game:
1. The headline? It’s the defense. Again.
About 18 months ago, after the completion of his first offseason program with the Chiefs, safety Justin Reid remarked that his new defense, the one called by Steve Spagnuolo, was the most complicated he had seen.
“By a mile,” he said.
This is why.
For games like this.
Spagnuolo’s mix of coverages had Tagovailoa and the Dolphins in hell. And you might assume that means all-out blitzes.
Just the opposite. Spagnuolo did not call a single cover-zero blitz in the first half, yet kept the Dolphins in complete guess-and-check mode. Miami was just 1 for 12 on third downs.
I get that it was cold. And windy. And unfavorable conditions for a quarterback. But the Chiefs made it look darn near impossible.
A personal favorite? When the Dolphins elected to go for it on 4th-and-2, Spagnuolo brought only two pass rushers.
Two.
Chris Jones and Charles Omenihu brought pressure from the edges, and everyone fell into coverage. It fooled Tagovailoa, who actually attempted to take off, but one of those nine in coverage, Willie Gay, was assigned as a spy. Tagovailoa spotted him late and flipped a pass to Hill, but Trent McDuffie batted it away.
If you wonder why Spagnuolo defenses have a reputation of improving late in the season — even though this one has been good from the jump — it’s because they’re willing to fight some learning curves in favor of the bigger picture.
A luxury of a perennial contender.
And, as a change of pace, that contention is the result of the defense more than anything else this season.
2. The other fourth down
It wouldn’t be a Chiefs postseason without a memorable Patrick Mahomes run.
It wouldn’t be a 2023 Chiefs game without a penalty to wipe out a big play.
The Chiefs got both within a three-play sequence.
It started with the decision — Chiefs coach Andy Reid kept the offense on the field on fourth down, and Mahomes took advantage of man-to-man defense and scrambled 28 yards for a first down. A lot going on during that play, including Isiah Pacheco sneakily running down the sideline to ensure his man didn’t turn to stop Mahomes on the run.
It gave the Chiefs three points. Should’ve given them seven.
If that wasn’t a theme of the day, right?
The Chiefs scored two plays later on a quick screen to receiver Rashee Rice, but right tackle Jawaan Taylor was rightly whistled for a block in the back to negate the touchdown. The Chiefs couldn’t find the end zone.
Taylor was the most penalized man in football, by a margin of five flags, but he added one to his bingo card — his first block in the back of the year.
3. The return of Tyreek
Tyreek Hill’s return to Kansas City, a better-late-than-never return, included one appearance in the first quarter box score.
A tackle.
A bit better thereafter. The expected thereafter.
Hill burned the Chiefs on a fly pattern, and despite Trent McDuffie grabbing him to try to catch up, Hill fought through the contact and still managed to track the ball in the air to pull it down ... and then find his way into the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown.
It highlighted the quality for which Hill is bet known — his speed.
It better highlighted the quality for which he should be more known — his ability to track the ball in the air. He makes it look so easy that you might think it’s just that easy.
Unless you saw the snap from Mecole Hardman just moments earlier. Patrick Mahomes under-threw him, same as Tagovailoa did Hill. The result? Hardman caught sight of the ball much too late, and it fell incomplete with a fight.
For as much conversation as there is about the Chiefs’ inability to replace Hill’s speed, this is the characteristic they miss most — the way he can adjust to a bad ball.
The Chiefs have tried just about everyone on their roster — Hardman, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, you name it — and it’s plain clear. They don’t have a dependable deep threat.
Hill finished with five catches for 62 yards and the touchdown.
4. A new kind of helmet toss
The most memorable image of the game?
Not a touchdown.
Not the four field goals.
Instead, it was piece of Mahomes’ helmet flying through the sub-zero degree air after a head-on collision with DeShon Elliott. Mahomes played with the chunk missing before referees spotted it. Which prompted a new kind of helmet toss for a team that’s had enough of those this season.
Mahomes had to change out his helmet, and as he was calling a third-down play in the huddle, he had Trey Smith, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Donovan Smith trying to help him tighten it over his hair. The next play got blown up — and so did Mahomes — by a blitz up the middle.
And how fitting that the entire sequence came in the red zone. Because while the Chiefs once more showed some signs of offensive improvement, it all fell apart in the red zone.
Again.
The Chiefs made six trips to the red zone but scored only two touchdowns. In their last outing of the regular season, a Week 17 date with the Bengals, the starters converted only one of three red-zone trips into touchdowns.
5. The Rashee Rice development
We’ve heard plenty of negativity about the Chiefs wide receivers this season — and, frankly, with good reason.
But don’t lump in Rashee Rice with that criticism. No, he’s not the deep threat solution they need that I mentioned earlier, but he’s turning into a menace over the short and intermediate routes. And freezing temperatures probably did not make it fun to attempt to tackle him after the catch.
On a day in which tight end Travis Kelce dropped three of his initial six targets, Mahomes’ most reliabie target was his least experience.
It’s a trend.
After a preseason marred by drops, Rice has developed into the sure-handed receiver who can get open — and then make something happen after the catch.
This story was originally published January 13, 2024 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Five things that stood out about Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff win over the Dolphins."