Biggest Winners and Losers From Chiefs' 24-10 Win Over the Miami Dolphins

The Kansas City Chiefs are 3-0, and Sunday's 24-10 win over the Dolphins in Miami’s home opener at Hard Rock Stadium was exactly what it needed to be, even if it did not feel that way.

Double-digit wins are hard to come by in the NFL, and the offense remained explosive at 6.8 yards per play, and the game never felt in genuine doubt. That said, the performance was sloppy enough that the usual suspects had to carry the load once again to get Kansas City to victory.

They already have half as many wins as they did all of last season, with 14 games still to play.

Here is a full breakdown of the biggest winners and losers from Sunday afternoon’s 14-point win.

Winners

Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback

This was a quieter performance than the previous week, but the efficiency was remarkable. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished 20-for-24 with 246 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, and his lone interception came on a pass that either trailed Rice or was intentional, depending on whether he expected Rice to settle into the zone.

What makes this performance stand out is the context underneath the numbers. He had just one incompletion in the first half, opened the game by finding Travis Kelce 48 yards downfield on the very first play from scrimmage, and completed every single play-action pass he threw, going 14-for-14 for 201 yards, according to ESPN.

The Chiefs ran the ball on more than half of their offensive snaps, which set up that play-action efficiency, and Mahomes took full advantage of every window it created. Nine months removed from tearing his ACL and LCL, he looks as close to 100 percent as he possibly could be.

Rashee Rice, Wide Receiver

For the first time this season, the Chiefs found a pass catcher outside of Travis Kelce to run the offense through. Wide receiver Rashee Rice had a season-high seven catches for 88 yards on nine targets, leading the team by a wide margin in all three categories.

The next closest in targets was tight end Noah Gray with three. Rice had 55 yards after the catch, and his average depth of target was over seven yards, a dramatic departure from the 2.5-yard average routes he was being targeted on in Week 1.

It looked like the Rice that Chiefs Kingdom fell in love with in late 2023 and early 2024, finding soft spots in zone coverage and generating chunk plays after the catch. Over the first two weeks, it felt like the coaching staff was manufacturing touches for Xavier Worthy and others.

Sunday made it clear that when the matchup is right, Rice is the designed wide receiver one in this offense. That is an encouraging development heading into a more demanding stretch of the schedule.

Mansoor Delane, Cornerback

Cornerback Mansoor Delane totaled just three snaps through his first two games, one of which produced a first-career interception before a shoulder injury cut his debut short. He suited up against the Colts but did not play a snap, and Sunday was his first opportunity to show what a full game looks like.

He delivered like you would want a top pick to show up for a young defense. Early in the game, he broke up a pass to Malik Washington in trail coverage on a slant, showing excellent closing speed. Later, he flew into the backfield to make a tackle for loss on a halfback screen to Ollie Gordon, turning a potential gain into a five-yard loss.

He was targeted seven times and allowed five catches, but for just 24 yards, according to PFF, and finished second on the team with 10 tackles in his first full game in a Chiefs uniform. The sixth overall pick is starting to look like exactly what defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo envisioned when Brett Veach gave up a significant haul to move up and get him.

Losers

The Third-Down Defense

Miami didn't score much, but they moved the ball well enough to keep Kansas City's defense on the field nearly 10 minutes longer than their offense did. Malik Willis went 20-for-36 for 210 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception, with a team-leading 56 rushing yards on nine carries. It was perhaps his best performance he has had all season.

Running back De'Von Achane exited early with an injury, but the Dolphins still rushed 31 times for 119 yards, matching what Jonathan Taylor and Indianapolis produced a week ago. Miami converted 50 percent of their 16 third-down attempts while the Chiefs converted just three of seven on their own.

The pass rush was a core issue. Kansas City generated 12 pressures but recorded zero sacks for the second straight week and hit Willis just once. Spagnuolo's unit has now gone back-to-back games without getting home on money downs after their dominant Week 1 showing against Denver.

With Kirk Cousins and tight end Brock Bowers coming to town next week, that trend needs to reverse quickly, or it is going to be a long Sunday afternoon in Week 4.

Safeties Alohi Gilman and Jaden Hicks

Chamarri Conner practiced in limited fashion all week but did not suit up Sunday, and Spagnuolo could not have his most trusted safety back soon enough. A lower-level Miami receiving group found the back end of the Chiefs' defense a few times in the afternoon.

Gilman missed an assignment against Malik Washington that turned into a 30-yard gain, with most of that coming after the catch. Hicks allowed a 42-yard deep shot downfield to tight end Greg Dulcich.

Both played well against the run, but the upcoming matchup with Bowers is a different conversation entirely. If Conner is not back for Las Vegas, Gilman and Hicks will need to provide significantly better support over the slot corners and linebackers, or Cousins will find ways to make them pay more often than Willis did.

Left Tackle Kahlil Benson

This one feels unfair given what Kahlil Benson has done over three weeks as an undrafted rookie camp tryout, making starts in the NFL. He could have been listed in the winners column each of the first two weekends.

But Sunday was the first game where Josh Simmons' absence was genuinely felt, and it came against a below-average pass rush. Mahomes was not sacked, but he took four hits, and three of them came from Benson's side, according to PFF, with Chop Robinson and Joshua Uche doing most of the damage.

Next week, Maxx Crosby is coming, and Benson's assignments will only get harder as he faces better pass rushers and more teams have tape on him. What he has accomplished this season has been remarkable for a player in his position. But Simmons cannot return soon enough if this offense is going to show its true ceiling.

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