Cold, Wind, and more Cold; A Look at Saturday’s Dolphins-Chiefs Wild-Card Game
Photo Credit: Alex Grimm, Getty Images
Saturday night’s contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium is going to be one of the coldest NFL games in recent memory. There are projected temperatures hovering around zero degrees throughout.
The hot topic for Saturday’s game is how Miami can’t handle the cold, as the Dolphins are 8-19 when playing in sub-40-degree games over the last 20 seasons. On the other side, the Chiefs have played their fair share of ice-cold playoff games over the last decade, so they’re no stranger to this.
This environment is going to be much different than the first time these two teams met back in November across the water in Germany. These two teams also look much different than how they did in November, as the Dolphins are crippled with injuries and the Chiefs have been not playing anywhere near their standards.
In that Week 9 matchup, Kansas City jumped out to a 21-0 lead at halftime and held on at the end to win 21-14. Patrick Mahomes threw for two scores, and the defense added a third on a scoop and score right before halftime.
Miami is looking for their first playoff victory in over 23 years (!!), with the last win coming on Dec. 30, 2000, in a 23-17 overtime victory against Indianapolis.
One of the big keys for Miami is the ability to get pressure, which helped them get back into the game in Germany when Linebacker Bradley Chubb strip sacked Mahomes in the second half. However, Chubb is injured and out for the season. Miami will also be missing Jaelan Phillips and Andrew Van Ginkel, so their pass rush will be very depleted.
Miami also needs to keep the flow going on offense. Mike McDaniel’s offense is designed to avoid big Chris Jones in the middle of Kansas City’s defense with lots of field-stretching run and pass concepts, but they might be without two key pieces. Wide Receiver Jaylen Waddle and Running Back Raheem Mostert are both listed as questionable for the game.
Those two have combined for 25 touchdowns on the year, so their absence will be a huge blow to Miami’s high-powered offense if they can’t go.
For Kansas City, they need to get Travis Kelce going early and often. He hasn’t scored a touchdown since November 20th and has been held to under 45-yards in each of Kansas City’s last three games. The whole world knows that when he’s in a groove, this Chiefs offense is difficult to stop.
The Chiefs also need to establish a presence on the ground with Isiah Pacheco, who averaged 5.3 yards per carry last postseason, and comes into Saturday averaging 4.6 yards per carry this season. Throwing the ball in this weather is one of the hardest things to do in sports, and leaning on the ground game will help Kansas City control the time of possession and keep Miami’s offense on the field.
Saturday night will also be Tyreek Hill’s first time at Arrowhead Stadium as a visitor. Hill is the NFL’s leading receiver, tallying 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns receiving this season. Mike McDaniel has so many creative ways to utilize his world-class speed on the field, so look for the Chiefs to bracket him in coverage, especially if Waddle is out.
Hill has had less than 90 receiving yards in every game Miami has lost this season. In every game the Dolphins have won, Hill has had at least 95 yards in all but one. Shutting Hill down tends to be one of the major keys to shutting down the Dolphins offense.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast exclusively on Peacock, with kickoff coming at 8 p.m. ET. Many football fans are not happy with the game not being on traditional television, and many people expect the ratings for this game to be one of the lowest for a playoff game in recent memory, despite how great of a matchup it is. Mike Tirico will be on the call with Jason Garrett and Kaylee Hartung.
