Tyreek Hill, in return to Kansas City, a rare offensive highlight for Dolphins in loss
A few hours before the Miami Dolphins’ AFC wild-card game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, wide receiver Tyreek Hill sent out a message on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Today is your day,” the post read with the prayer hands emoji following.
In his return to Arrowhead Stadium for the first time since being traded from the Chiefs to the Dolphins, Hill did his part early on Saturday to live up to that declaration even though it wasn’t enough to get Miami the win.
Hill scored the Dolphins’ first — and only — touchdown on Saturday, catching a deep pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and weaving past a defender for a 53-yard touchdown to cut Miami’s deficit to 10-7 in the opening minute of the second quarter.
Miami would get no closer, losing 26-7.
“It’s tough,” Hill said of the loss, “especially with the type of team that we got. Obviously, there are high expectations of everyone. We hold ourselves to a standard. We were definitely expecting us to be a really good team this year. We definitely weren’t expecting a first-round exit. Also, the message in the locker room was simple: Whenever you’re working out, take this loss with you. Remember this feeling. Because it’s not fun being on the other side of the loss, especially when you know the season is over for you.”
Hill finished the game with a team-high five catches for 62 yards.
He has now recorded at least 50 receiving yards in each of his past 10 postseason games — two with the Dolphins, eight with the Chiefs. He is the fifth player in NFL history to do this, joining Julian Edelman, Gary Clark, Julio Jones and Jerry Rice.
Hill is also just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 1,200 receiving yards in his first 15 career playoff games, joining Rice (1,306), Travis Kelce (1,291) and Irvin (1,283).
Hill finished the regular season with an NFL-leading 1,799 receiving yards — the seventh-most in a single season in NFL history. He is the first player in Dolphins history to lead the NFL in receiving yards in a season.
He is the first player in NFL history to have multiple seasons with at least 1,700 receiving yards. His 1,799 yards this season are the most in a season in Dolphins history, breaking his own record of 1,710 set last season.
Hill spent his first six NFL seasons with the Chiefs and said it felt “amazing” to be back even if it was as a visitor.
“It’s where it all started for me,” Hill said, “so obviously being back on this field brought back so many types of memories. It was definitely fun to be a part of this game. The cold wasn’t fun, but stepping back on this field and being on the other side of the ball and seeing how things are was definitely fun.”
READ MORE: The Dolphins could use vintage performance in Tyreek Hill’s return to Arrowhead Stadium
This story was originally published January 13, 2024 at 9:13 PM.
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