The problem with trying to beat the Chiefs is ... wait, that’s a bad way to start this point. Let’s try again.
One of the problems with trying to beat the Chiefs is that you have to beat them a few times, and in different ways, just to beat them on the scoreboard. You can plan your defense to keep Tyreek Hill from beating you deep, but you better make sure you do it every snap.
You can cover long enough for your pass rush to get to Patrick Mahomes, but you better make sure it matters, with plays that end in sacks. You can have a sound plan on both sides of the ball, but you better make sure you tackle whichever insanely fast human the Chiefs have returning punts.
And you can even find yourself lucky, with some pressure leading to some bad decisions by Mahomes, but you better make sure you treat those turnovers like gifts from the football gods and turn them into points.
The Dolphins have talent all over their roster and in a lot of ways are built to give the Chiefs problems. They’re really young, too, so this is a rivalry that might develop over time. You could see that when the Dolphins closed what had been a blowout to within a score late in the fourth quarter. You’d bet even money that the Chiefs will see the Dolphins in the playoffs someday soon.
But at least on this day, Sunday afternoon the Chiefs presented more problems than the Dolphins could solve at once in a 33-27 win in Miami.
The win clinched a fifth straight AFC West championship for the Chiefs and sets up one of the league’s most anticipated games of the season next week: a potential Super Bowl preview when the Chiefs play the Saints in New Orleans.
The Saints are, in some ways, a more evolved version of what the Dolphins are building. Miami’s youth movement — here that term is pronounced “tank job” — is tracking toward success. You can see that, even on a day when the Dolphins played without key contributors like Kyle Van Noy and Myles Gaskin.
They even scored the game’s first 10 points, with Mahomes uncharacteristically mishandling pressure. Mahomes’ first interception appeared to be a bad decision, either not seeing Andrew Van Ginkel or not believing Van Ginkel could get off the ground as quickly as he did in deflecting a screen pass high enough for Byron Jones to pick it off.
Mahomes’ second interception was on one of those against-the-body throws that every quarterback is taught not to make but Mahomes has made routinely. This one sailed high, over intended target Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Eric Rowe made the interception.
That matched Mahomes’ interception total all season, and combined with a dropped snap and 30-yard sack made for perhaps the worst start of his brilliant young career.
Which was the perfect setup to make an emphatic point: These Chiefs are different, way different, and one of the ways they’re different is that they’re as likely to win down 10 as most teams are up 10.
The Dolphins’ plan against the Chiefs was sound. They had enough coverage on the back end to force Mahomes to hold the ball, which was often enough for pressure without blitzing.
Mahomes’ extraterrestrial success against blitzes narrows the path for opponents and creates situations like Sunday, when a good opponent plays relatively well and gets its doors blown off.
Not sure if this part is a secret, but the Chiefs still aren’t playing their best. They scored a touchdown in their only red-zone attempt, but that issue can’t be pronounced solved. Their makeshift offensive line — Mitchell Schwartz, their best lineman, can be activated from injured reserve as soon as this week — provides inconsistent protection.
Mahomes has more than enough track record for success, but he needs to clean up some of those mistakes. He underthrew a third interception with Tyreek Hill in one-on-one coverage against Xavien Howard. Mecole Hardman returned a punt for a touchdown but also fumbled downfield after a long reception.
On the other side, the quarterback pressures still need to come more consistently. The Chiefs’ defense absolutely bossed the Dolphins at times — Tua Tagovailoa’s first NFL interception, a safety, and less than 3 yards allowed per play for a time — but did not finish strong, which is looking vaguely trend-ish.
These points are more nitpicking than freaking out, but the standard is Super Bowls (plural) so these things are worth mentioning.
In a week, the Chiefs play a road game against the betting favorites to win the NFC. The Chiefs’ strengths and weaknesses will be tested in ways they have not yet been.
But we know the Chiefs will test the Saints in new ways, too, and that beating the Chiefs means winning more often than in bursts.
