Chiefs’ keys vs. Dolphins: Stay ready if Miami goes up-tempo and keep an eye on No. 88
The Chiefs travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins in Week 14 action at Hard Rock Stadium, site where the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV earlier in 2020.
The matchup marks the 28th meeting between the two teams, with the Chiefs (11-1) holding a 14-13 edge in the all-time series.
Since arriving in Kansas City in 2013, Chiefs coach Andy Reid is 2-0 against the Dolphins, and the last time the Chiefs played Miami resulted in a 29-13 win in 2017.
But this Miami team, a strong 8-4 in 2020, has undergone some major changes since that meeting. Brian Flores is now the head coach and rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 4-1 as a starter.
The Chiefs are already in the postseason and can clinch another AFC West championship with a win or tie, or if the Raiders lose to or tie the Indianapolis Colts.
Here are four areas to monitor as the Chiefs look to improve to 12-1 in the chase for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
STAY FRESH DEFENSIVELY
The Dolphins went to an uptempo offense in the second half of last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it worked: they won 19-7.
Through the first two quarters, Tagovailoa completed 12 of 19 passes for 111 yards. Miami’s offense managed just six points while running a conventional offense.
Going uptempo played to Tagovailoa’s skill-set and athleticism, and he finished the game 26 of 39 for a career-high 296 yards and a touchdown.
Whether Miami offensive coordinator Chan Gailey decides to stick with the uptempo offense remains to be seen. But the Chiefs should know that Gailey will roll with a quarterback’s strengths: Remember his time in Kansas City and the work he did with Tyler Thigpen in 2008.
If uptempo remains Miami’s approach, defensive substitutions won’t frequently occur outside of dead-ball situations. And that’s not a good scenario for a Chiefs defense that substitutes a lot and utilizes various defensive sub-packages under coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
All the Chiefs’ defensive players will need to stay fresh. As Miami showed last weekend, this team isn’t afraid to go with a no-huddle approach with its rookie quarterback.
WATCH OUT FOR NO. 88
The Chiefs have matched up against some good tight ends in 2020, including Darren Waller, Hunter Henry, Mark Andrews and the venerable Rob Gronkowski.
Through 12 games, the Chiefs have mostly held their own. The exceptions came against Waller, who found the end zone in each of the two games between the Chiefs and Raiders, and Tampa’s Gronkowski, who gouged KC for 106 yards in Week 12.
The Chiefs have another test Sunday against a good, emerging young tight end in Mike Gesicki.
“He’s a really great route runner,” Reid said. “He can high-point it. He’s long, so he can go up and get it, and that’s a tough matchup.”
Tough indeed. Gesicki, at 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, has quickly developed chemistry with his rookie quarterback. Over the past three games, Gesicki has been targeted 21 times and has scored a touchdown in consecutive contests.
While the third-year tight end isn’t at Travis Kelce’s level, Gesicki has 39 catches for 537 yards and four TDs this season. He’s coming off a game in which he was targeted 11 times, hauling in nine balls for 88 yards.
GET INTO THAT END ZONE
On paper, the Chiefs’ offense looks like a runaway train.
They’re first in the league in total yards (427.6 per game), first in yards per play (6.5), first in passing (314.4) and second in scoring (30.8 points).
All that, and yet the Chiefs rank a dismal 24th in red-zone percentage, converting on just 57.5 percent of their trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. And the Chiefs offense is doing this with quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the helm.
These issues haven’t haunted them so far, but settling for field goals a little more than a month before the postseason begins isn’t a recipe for success in their chase to repeat as Super Bowl champs.
Miami isn’t a great matchup for a team experiencing red-zone woes. The Dolphins’ defense ranks ninth in the NFL in red-zone TD percentage, at 58.3. The Dolphins are allowing just 17.7 points per game, ranking second in the league in that category.
DON’T LOOK AHEAD
The Chiefs enter the final quarter of their season with two tough games — Sunday vs. Miami and a Week 15 matchup against the New Orleans Saints — before closing out the season against the Atlanta Falcons (4-8) and Los Angeles Chargers (3-9).
Kansas City’s next two opponents are a combined 18-6 and represent two formidable roadblocks.
It’s tempting to look ahead to that looming matchup with the Saints (10-2), who like the Chiefs clinched a postseason berth in Week 13. But the Chiefs, who are locked in a tight race with the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-1) for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, can’t afford to overlook Miami.
The Dolphins have recorded some quality wins, including back-to-back victories over the Rams and Cardinals in Weeks 8-9. If there’s ever a time when the cliche “one game at a time” applies, this is the week.
Handle business first, worry about what comes next later.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
