Four Takeaways From the KC Chiefs' 26-7 Win Over the Miami Dolphins

Four overarching thoughts on the Chiefs' Wild Card Weekend matchup against the Dolphins.

The Kansas City Chiefs' first playoff game of the year is in the books. Fortunately for Andy Reid's group, it isn't their last.

It wasn't the sharpest of performances, but it was more than enough for Kansas City to take down Mike McDaniel and the visiting Miami Dolphins. Behind some timely offense and another stellar performance on defense, the Chiefs took care of business to kick off their 2024 postseason slate. Patrick Mahomes and company rise to 12-6 on the season (including playoffs) with a 26-7 victory and will await the rest of Wild Card Weekend's results to learn what's next.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Saturday's game.

Kansas City set the tone early on both sides of the ball

During their down period spanning from the middle of the season to the end of it, the Chiefs tended to start slow on either or both sides of the ball. On offense, not even the famous opening scripts from Reid could get them to start strong in some outings. On the other side of the ball, Steve Spagnuolo's defense would take a bit of time to feel out the opposition's game plan before making in-game adjustments. Saturday was a breath of fresh air to begin the outing, with both parts of the Kansas City operation stepping up. 

On the Chiefs' first offensive possession of the game, a key third-down conversion from Mahomes to Travis Kelce kept the drive alive. Running back Isiah Pacheco had rush attempts of 10 and 23 yards and rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice capped things off with a touchdown. A three-and-out and an interception made up the first two Miami possessions, a testament to the Chiefs' defense. Kansas City did a great job not digging itself into a hole in the first half, helping them along their path to victory.

Self-inflicted mistakes and the red zone offense remain things to monitor

Speaking of not digging themselves into a hole, the Chiefs somehow managed to underwhelm at times despite the final score. During the regular season, the team built a reputation as a squad that shot itself in the foot with mistakes. Whether it be dropped passes, penalties, turnovers or red zone struggles, they sometimes couldn't refrain from getting in their own way. A No. 15-ranked scoring offense and a No. 17 red zone efficiency percentage backed it up. The box score ended up being an accurate reflection of how the action unfolded, but there was room for the advantage to have kicked in even sooner. 

In the first quarter, wideout Mecole Hardman didn't track a deep pass from Mahomes that would've been a guaranteed touchdown. A Jawaan Taylor block in the back infraction stalled out an otherwise smooth drive that ended with just three points. Drops were an issue again, although the conditions can be partially to blame. The Chiefs tripped themselves up often, also going just 2-for-6 in the red zone. In some ways, this offensive performance felt a bit similar to Week 17's victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. The jury is out on whether it's good enough to win a championship, yet it was obviously enough in the Wild Card round. 

The Chiefs' defense once again lived up to its billing

There's an elephant in the room to address regarding the Kansas City defense: Tyreek Hill's touchdown on Miami's third possession. Sure, cornerback Trent McDuffie lost his rep after Hill's pre-snap motion and he also committed pass interference on the same play. Outside of that, though, the Dolphins simply weren't getting anything going while the game was still in the balance. For the second time in just over two months, Spagnuolo and company bottled up one of the league's most potent attacks. Here's how Miami's drives went from Hill's score until its possession that ended with around six minutes left:

• Turnover on downs
• Punt
• HALF
• Punt
• Punt
• Turnover on downs

At the time of that drive concluding, the Dolphins gained just nine first downs. They went 1-for-9 on third downs and 1-for-3 on fourth downs. They netted just 209 yards and held the ball for only 23:11 of action. Spagnuolo's stellar game plan and some sound performances from all levels of the unit helped lock down another win this season. With the stakes at their highest, nothing changed — Kansas City's defense remains objectively great. 

Tickets are officially punched for the Divisional Round

Since Mahomes took over as the Chiefs' full-time starter back in 2018, the worst end-of-season outcome they've known is a close loss in the AFC Championship Game. Their current stretch of success isn't all that normal. While it's yet to be determined what the end of this particular campaign will look like, Kansas City can at least get to the Divisional Round. Despite how disjointed the team has looked at times in recent weeks, that's more than most of the NFL can say every year.

With the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers meeting now moved from Sunday to Monday, the Chiefs have to wait a while before finding out who they'll play next weekend and which day it'll be on. With a Bills win, Kansas City will head to Orchard Park for Mahomes's first true road postseason start. In the event of a Pittsburgh upset, however, CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans would be coming to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. The one-seeded Baltimore Ravens get the lowest remaining playoff seed. That'll either be Houston (No. 4) or Pittsburgh (No. 7) depending on how Monday unfolds.