KC Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins: NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview and Predictions
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action, this time for postseason football.
Andy Reid's team hosts Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins on Saturday in a matchup featuring some of the coldest temperatures either franchise has ever played in. Conditions will be ugly, and the visitors have quite the injury report as the game approaches. Wild Card Weekend's second game is one of the must-watch outings, with the winner punching its ticket to the Divisional Round against a to-be-determined opponent.
How will Saturday's game unfold? The Arrowhead Report crew makes their predictions.
Joshua Brisco: I was fully prepared to pick against the Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs if necessary, but they may have gotten a perfectly timed matchup with Miami. The Dolphins' decimated pass rush shouldn't be able to capitalize on KC's underwhelming tackle play. The Chiefs' much-maligned wide receivers will go up against a banged-up secondary that could allow for the big plays that have eluded the Chiefs to return at the right time.
Defensively, L'Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie provide great answers for Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle while also being tremendous tacklers on the outside, preventing Miami's run game from gashing KC too often. The Chiefs have lost to worse teams due to self-inflicted wounds this year, but they have a larger margin for error and some key matchup advantages in this particular showdown.
Prediction: Chiefs 20, Dolphins 17
Jordan Foote: Contrary to most of what I've seen this week, the Dolphins do have a chance to win on Saturday night. With that said, they're an extremely banged-up team with an offense that hasn't shown to be nearly as productive down the stretch of the season. If Kansas City can stay out of its own way — a major "if" this year — it stands a very decent shot to take care of business. I'll bank on a slightly improved offense from an efficiency standpoint and a defense that has consistently been a top-five group this season. The Chiefs keep their season alive on Saturday night in a close game.
Prediction: Chiefs 23, Dolphins 20
Mark Van Sickle: This is going to be another rough one to watch. Before the season we’d have expected these two teams to be high-flying and high-scoring but as we saw in the first game these two teams played, on a neutral site field in climate-controlled conditions, that just isn’t the case. The Chiefs' defense is going to be the best unit on the field today. The weather will be frigid, one of the coldest games in NFL history. It’s going to be a struggle on offense.
Expect a lot of running from both of these teams. It will come down to who can force a turnover or two and who can make the tackles at first contact. I like Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco to have a big game. No one wants to get in his way when he’s barreling down the field like a bowling ball. I also anticipate Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to re-kindle that fire that lost a little spark the second half of the season. Look for a few big third-down conversions between those two that ultimately end up with the Chiefs getting points on those drives. I will never pick against the Chiefs at home in a playoff game.
Prediction: Chiefs 20, Dolphins 13
Zack Eisen: The Chiefs are playing on Wild Card Weekend? The Chiefs are playing on Wild Card Weekend. It’s still weird to say, as it’s only the second time in the Mahomes era. At least the playoffs will have some familiarity as the game is at Arrowhead, like every other AFC playoff game in the Mahomes era. It is projected to be one of the coldest games in NFL history. That should slightly favor the Chiefs, who are used to playing in cooler temperatures than a team from Miami. Last week, the Dolphins looked scared to tackle in perfect weather. Hopefully, the Chiefs give them plenty of Pacheco and force them to bring him down in frigid weather.
Prediction: Chiefs 27, Dolphins 13
Marlow Ferguson Jr.: Even after the up-and-down regular season the Chiefs produced, there remains an expectation that surely, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes will come together to right the ship in the postseason. Round 1 in Germany didn’t quite live up to the high-scoring shootout that many anticipated, and but that game could provide some level of blueprint for how the Chiefs win here as well. The Chiefs’ strengths and what they can do to force Tua Tagovailoa out of his comfort zone still align, as does Kansas City’s weather advantage in what figures to be one of NFL history’s colder games. Factoring in how many of the Dolphins’ skill position players have yet to shake the “questionable” tag, and there are just too many uncertainties surrounding Miami. The Chiefs should advance in an entertaining duel.
Prediction: Chiefs 27, Dolphins 19
