Dolphins Put Up Game Effort, But Fall Short Against Chiefs
The Miami Dolphins defense succeeded where all Kansas City Chiefs opponents have failed when it comes to forcing turnovers, coming up with four takeaways at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
The problem was that they couldn't prevent the Chiefs offense and special teams from putting points and the result was a 33-27 loss.
The loss was only the second in nine games for the Dolphins since they began the season at 1-3. They're now 8-5 heading into a Week 15 game against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Dolphins came up with four takeaways against the Chiefs, who hadn't committed more than one turnover in any of their first 12 games.
“The turnovers were good," head coach Brian Flores said. "I think we played well in spurts. It’s a good offense, so they moved it, moved the ball at times. We made some plays. I thought the guys played hard. I thought we executed, again, in spurts, but against a team like that, one misalignment, one miscommunication, and they take advantage. That was the case today.”
Cornerback Xavien Howard came up with his NFL-best ninth interception of the season in the fourth quarter after fellow corner Byron Jones and safety Eric Rowe had first-quarter picks and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill had a fumble recovery in the third quarter.
The interception was Jones' first since 2017.
“It felt good," Jones said. "It was fun to see our defense get a lot of turnovers like that throughout the game. A little frustrating because we gave up some easy stuff but we’ve got a really good opponent coming in next week, so that’s where all our focus and attention will be on.”
This no doubt was a disappointing loss for the Dolphins, but their defense did what it's done all season with the turnovers and the also showed a lot of fight after considering how short-handed they were.
The three interceptions tied a career high for Mahomes, but he threw touchdown passes to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
Hill also scored on a 32-yard run and the Chiefs also got a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown by Mecole Hardman, a safety by defensive tackle Chris Jones on a sack in the end zone, and a game-clinching 46-yard field goal by Harrison Butker.
Tight end Mike Gesicki scored two touchdowns for the Dolphins before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent shoulder injury.
Kansas City scored 30 consecutive points after Miami took a 10-0 lead, but the Dolphins mounted a valiant comeback effort in the fourth quarter — without starting wide receivers DeVante Parker and Jakeem Grant, who both left the game with injuries and partly with Gesicki.
Rookie Tua Tagovailoa had the first 300-yard passing game of his NFL career, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for the Dolphins, who also got two field goals by Jason Sanders.
“I’m very confident with whatever guys that I’m playing with," Tagovailoa said. "I get to get a good amount of reps with a lot of the guys because starters, they go one hard rep, and sometimes they’re nicked up. So for timing purposes, they take one rep, two reps here, and then I’m with these other guys. I think those guys did a great job stepping up in this game because a lot of guys were down, but I mean, regardless, it’s just never a good feeling when you lose no matter who’s in there.“
The Dolphins came into the game short-handed after starting linebackers Kyle Van Noy — the Week 13 AFC Defensive Player of the Week — and Elandon Roberts were declared inactive after being listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week.
The Dolphins also were missing their leading rushers — Myles Gaskin, Matt Breida and Salvon Ahmed.
After Sanders had only his second missed field goal attempt of the season when he was wide right from 45 yards out, the Dolphins took a 7-0 lead shortly after linebacker Jerome Baker sacked Mahomes for a 30-yard loss.
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Baker finished the game with a career-high 2.5 sacks.
"Jerome is obviously a heck of a player," defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said. "He plays sideline to sideline. He did a good communicating and everything today. He did his part from the standpoint."
The Dolphins increased the lead to 10-0 after Rowe intercepted Mahomes when his pass bounced off the hands of running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Kansas City needed only four plays on the next drive to move 75 yards and get right back in the game when Hill scored on a jet sweep.
The Chiefs took the lead late in the first half when Mahomes threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kelce to cap a 74-yard drive.
Kansas City scored twice in 1:02 early in the third quarter to take a 28-10 lead, with Hill getting behind the defense for a 44-yard touchdown before Hardman scored on the punt return.
Clark's sack, which made it 30-10, came after Hardman fumbled at the end of a 26-yard reception and the Dolphins recovered at their 7-yard line.
“This is an explosive team, and they went on a little bit of a run there in the second half, really the end of the second quarter, got the ball back, punched it in, got a return," Flores said. "It was just a quick spurt there, and that’s kind of how they’re built. They go on runs. They went on one there in the end of the second quarter to beginning of the third quarter. We had to settle in and collect ourselves. I thought our guys did a good job of that and playing with some poise and got ourselves back in the game. But we’ve got to limit those big plays, and we weren’t able to do that today. Ultimately, that was the difference.”
The Chiefs appeared poised to build on their lead with a first-and-10 at the Miami 24-yard line when Mahomes tried to connect with Hill at the goal line, but Howard leaped in front of him to make the one-handed interception in man coverage.
It was his fifth consecutive game with an interception, following an earlier four-game streak earlier this season.
“I feel great about it, man," Howard said. "I’ll just keep getting the ball for the offense and putting the ball in their hands and making plays. As a team, we want to win, and as a defense, we’ve got to keep making plays and clean up some of the stuff that we messed up on today.”
The Dolphins' comeback attempt began with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Gesicki, but the defense couldn't come up a stop after Tagovailoa's score with 4:15 remaining.
The Chiefs all but clinched the victory when they converted a fourth-and-1 from the Miami 40-yard line with 2:31 left when Mahomes had a 22-yard completion to Hill.
That drive ended with Butker's field goal with 1:08 remaining.
Sanders kicked a 44-yard field goal with 16 seconds left, but the Chiefs recovered the onside kick to seal the outcome.
“I feel like this team, we don’t give up," Howard said. "We keep fighting. That’s one thing we preach about at practice. We keep fighting no matter what. We didn’t come out good on the end, but we kept fighting.”
