Patrick Mahomes, defense fuel Chiefs' wild-card win over Dolphins

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There have been times this season when the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense didn’t resemble the high-octane units of their Super Bowl champions, but on a frigid Saturday night, against a banged-up Miami Dolphins defense, Patrick Mahomes guided the Chiefs to a 26-7 wild-card victory to advance to the divisional round.

The Dolphins’ offense was on a record-setting pace early in the season, but it faltered down the stretch, scoring a combined 33 points in losing the last two games of the regular season. Miami didn’t convert a third down Saturday until 10:00 remained in the fourth quarter.

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Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are in the divisional round of the playoffs for the sixth straight season, but this time with a different type of team. The Chiefs’ defense, as it has done most of the season, led the way. The Chiefs limited the Dolphins to 264 yards and one touchdown.

QB breakdown: The Dolphins tried to blitz Mahomes like no other Chiefs opponent. They came after him on 60% of his dropbacks in the first half, the highest percentage of his career. He went 8-of-15 when blitzed for 100 yards in the half. The Dolphins backed off the pressure some in the second half. Mahomes finished 23-of-41 for 262 yards and a touchdown.

Buy on a breakout performance: Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice had his biggest game yet with 130 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. Most often, if Mahomes was going to a wide receiver, it was Rice. He was the target on 12 of Mahomes’ first 20 passes thrown to a wide receiver. Rice had 92 receiving yards in the first half. A Chiefs wide receiver didn’t hit 92 receiving yards for a game until Week 12 in the regular season. It was the most receiving yards in a first half by a Chiefs WR since the 2021 opener (Tyreek Hill, 96 receiving yards). And it was the most by a rookie in the first half of a playoff game since 2009 (Colts WR Austin Collie had 105 receiving yards in the first half of the AFC Championship Game vs. the Jets).

Eye-popping stat: Offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor‘s block-in-the-back penalty wiped out a Chiefs touchdown in the second quarter. Taylor had 17 accepted penalties in the regular season, the most by any offensive player in a season since 2003. Taylor later in the first half had another penalty, this one a false start, when the Chiefs were in the two-minute drill.

Troubling trend: The Chiefs were 2-of-6 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. They were 1-of-3 in Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals in the red zone in their most recent game playing their starters. They were 17th in red zone efficiency in the regular season at 54.1%. — Adam Teicher

Next game: Either the Bills in Buffalo or the Houston Texans at Arrowhead.

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Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins were missing five starters on one side of the ball, but a casual observer could be forgiven for not being able to tell it was on defense.

The Dolphins’ offense mustered 264 yards. Without five defensive starters, Miami’s defense forced field goals on four consecutive red zone trips, but its offense couldn’t capitalize.

Even with the return of running back Raheem Mostert and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from two-game absences, the Dolphins’ offense looked like a shell of the version that scored 70 points on the Denver Broncos in Week 3.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 20 of 39 passes for 199 yards, a touchdown and an interception, capping off a three-game stretch of unremarkable play ahead of a pivotal offseason. The Dolphins picked up his fifth-year option, but his contract negotiations for an extension over the next few months will be monitored with great interest.

QB breakdown: This was a game that will likely be discussed for the next several months in regard to Tagovailoa’s limitations. Kansas City didn’t respect him as a threat to run and dared him to throw in frigid conditions. The ball slipped out of his hands on several pass attempts, and his ineffectiveness as a passer allowed the Chiefs to key on Miami’s run game. Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards this season, but he hasn’t topped 300 yards since Nov. 19.

Describe the game in two words: Bad football. There aren’t many other ways to describe it — the Dolphins averaged 3.1 yards per play outside of that long touchdown to Hill and were consistently stuffed at the line of scrimmage by a stout Chiefs defense.

Troubling trend: For the fourth consecutive game, the Dolphins’ high-powered offense looked anything but special. They failed to hit their season scoring average in five of their final six games, losing all but two of them. Outside of a 53-yard touchdown pass Saturday night to Hill, the Dolphins’ offense was nonexistent. — Marcel Louis-Jacques

Next game: Season’s over.