Chiefs trounce Dolphins: Patrick Mahomes shatters helmet, but leads KC to dominant win

KANSAS CITY — The fans brought cardboard sheets to slip between their feet and the frigid concrete. Andy Reid’s mustache turned into icicles. Patrick Mahomes’ helmet cracked like it was constructed of plastic. This was a different kind of cold, a different kind of football, a different kind of test.

“You kinda have to go to a different place to be in that weather and play a contact sport,” Mike McDaniel said.

McDaniel’s Dolphins, a warm-weather team with a warm-weather quarterback, had been called everything from frauds to front-runners this season, the criticisms intensifying as December bled into January and they dropped three of their final five, losing not only their chance at the AFC’s top seed but also their grip on their own division.

The consequence of a Week 18 loss to the Bills proved severe: instead of an AFC East title and a playoff opener at home — it was 81 degrees in Miami on Saturday — the Dolphins instead were rewarded with a trip to Kansas City for the fourth-coldest games in league history.

“You reap what you sow,” chirped ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith this week, dismissing the Dolphins, like plenty more, as pretenders this year and nothing more. “You deserve this. Go out there and freeze.”

Just about everyone at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium did Saturday night during the Chiefs’ 26-7 win in the wild-card round of the playoffs. With the wind chill, it felt like -27 at kickoff. The gusts were whipping, the air biting, the conditions flat-out unforgiving.

One team seemed to relish it. The Chiefs danced and screamed and lit up the scoreboard. The champs looked revived.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, stumbled in silence, whimpering quietly into an offseason of uncertainty.

“Guys are going to take this one on the chin for sure,” wide receiver Tyreek Hill said.

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One of the weirdest parts of the Chiefs’ season is the collection of receivers. The six-player group — Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, Richie James and Rashee Rice — dropped 25 catchable passes in the regular season, the most by any receiver group since the 2012 Jacksonville Jaguars. But the best player in the group is the youngest: Rice, the 23-year-old who the Chiefs traded up in the second round of the draft to acquire. Mahomes connected with Rice when the Dolphins blitzed or played zone coverage. Rice’s 130 yards is the best performance any Chiefs rookie receiver has had in their playoff debut, as he surpassed the 104 yards that Elmo Wright had in 1971 in an overtime game on Christmas Day against the Dolphins.

The AFC playoff bracket as it stands Sunday morning. Divisional-round matchups won't be known until after Bills-Steelers on Monday.

Patrick Mahomes on playing in the frigid weather: “It was windy. I thought the guys did a great job of getting open. You have to be mentally tough.”

Led by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs’ defense, for the second time this season, swarmed the Dolphins, both Tua Tagovailoa in the pocket against and the skill-position players on the perimeter. Pass rushers George Karlaftis, Chris Jones and Charles Omenihu generated consistent pressure on Tagovailoa, who was sacked twice and threw an interception. Even after receiver Tyreek Hill scored a touchdown in his first return to Arrowhead Stadium since he was traded in March 2022, the Chiefs’ secondary, led by cornerbacks L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie, was exceptional at covering and tackling the Dolphins’ receivers. The first time the Dolphins converted on a third-down snap occurred early in the fourth quarter. Safety Mike Edwards recorded the interception and Sneed and McDuffie each finished with two pass breakups.

Patrick Mahomes praises the fans and said he was glad the team "didn't make them come out here for no reason."

Patrick Mahomes, throughout his seven-year career, has built a strong reputation for playing his best in January and February. Since he became the Chiefs’ starter in 2018, each January has started the same: a playoff run that began inside Arrowhead Stadium. Saturday’s game, though, featured a few new details — the coldest game of his career, his quarterback-specific VICIS’ helmet being cracked and a rookie receiver who produced a breakout performance in his postseason debut. But Mahomes was Mahomes, the league’s most-talented quarterback who had another stellar performance, especially when the Dolphins blitzed over and over again. His accuracy, even in windy conditions, was excellent, he chose the correct times when to scramble and he finished with only one negative play, an intentional grounding penalty.

Saturday was a bitter finish for a Dolphins team that had realistic hopes of earning the AFC’s top seed as recently as New Year’s Eve. But their late-season skid started with a 56-19 loss to the Ravens that day, and Miami never recovered.

It ended Saturday night in frigid Kansas City with a third straight defeat, each more costly than the last, the Dolphins skidding into another offseason without ever flipping the narrative that dogged them all year — that they were merely pretenders, that they couldn’t hang with the best in the league when it counted. That 70-point eruption in September? All the optimism that this year would be different?

It wasn’t.

Miami (11-7) finished 1-6 against playoff teams in 2023, including Saturday night’s 26-7 loss to the Chiefs. Their point differential in those games was -110.

Mike McDaniel has won 20 regular-season games in two seasons in Miami and turned the Dolphins into one of the most entertaining teams in football. But the next step? The one where the Dolphins become a legitimate threat in the AFC instead of just a fun regular-season story?

They’re still not there yet. Still no division titles since 2008. And still only one postseason victory since Dan Marino retired in 1999.

McDaniel’s teams are 4-10 in games played in December and January over the last two years; they are 16-6 in others.

Meanwhile, the biggest offseason question will center on the long-term future of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who struggled all night in the frigid cold, finishing with just 196 passing yards. The Dolphins exercised his fifth-year option last spring, which keeps him with the team through at least 2024, but beyond that, the franchise will have to decide if he’s worth the weighty contract starting QBs merit these days. His cap number jumps from $9.6 million this year to $23 million in 2024, which will limit general manager Chris Grier’s ability to keep surrounding him with the talent he’s grown accustomed to.

Patrick Mahomes said he was unhappy about his helmet cracking because his helmet was warm.

"I put the other helmet on and it did not fit at all. It had been sitting in the cold all day long."

• If the Bills beat the Steelers: The Ravens will host the Texans, while the Bills will host the Chiefs.
• If the Steelers beat the Bills: The Ravens will host the Steelers, while the Chiefs will host the Texans.
• If Buffalo wins, it means Patrick Mahomes will go on the road in the postseason for the first time in his career. Including tonight, he is 11-2 at home in the playoffs and 2-1 at neutral sites (his three Super Bowl appearances).

Tyreek Hill's 53-yard touchdown is the only Dolphins' play to go 20-plus yards.

Miami had at least two plays of 20-plus yards in every game this season.

The Dolphins have won one playoff game since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season.

The Miami Dolphins entered these playoffs with the second-longest playoff win drought. They haven't won in the postseason since Dec. 30, 2000; they appear headed for their sixth consecutive playoff loss.

The Detroit Lions have the NFL's longest drought. Their last win came on Jan. 5, 1992. They'll get a chance to end the streak at home Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.

Outside of his 53-yard touchdown catch, Hill has 9 yards on his other four receptions. The Dolphins haven’t been able to free their top target in the middle of the field.

One of a handful of issues for Miami’s offense. The unit that scored 70 points in a game in September and looked like a track team for much of the season has nosedived to the finish line.