Some important things to keep in mind from first Dolphins-Chiefs matchup. And Fins notes
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Tuesday, on a day the Dolphins added three veteran pass rushers as they prepare for Saturday’s Dolphins-at-Chiefs wild card playoff game (8 p.m., NBC 6, Peacock):
▪ Some offensive takeaways to keep in mind from the Chiefs’ 21-14 win against the Dolphins on Nov. 5 in Germany:
The Dolphins’ pass protection was good that day, although center Connor Williams — now out for the year — played in that game. His absence has been a huge loss. Guard Lester Cotton gave up Miami’s only sack in that Nov. 5 game, but he won’t be in the starting lineup this week…
PFF said Cotton was Miami’s best run blocker than day, followed by Terron Armstead.
Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie spent the most time covering Tyreek Hill that day, and all six passes thrown to Hill with McDuffie in coverage were caught, but for just 45 yards, per PFF. And McDuffie didn’t allow any big plays and tackled Hill on the reception that Hill fumbled and the Chiefs returned for a touchdown, giving them a 21-0 lead....
Jaylen Waddle, who’s expected to play Saturday after missing two games with an ankle injury, caught only three of six targets for 42 yards. L’Jarius Sneed torpedoed both of Waddle’s targets with Sneed in coverage...
Hill said the Chiefs’ good work against Miami’s offense was a result of execution, not trying anything unusual....
The Chiefs blitzed Tagovailoa on 13 of his 37 dropbacks and he completed 8 of 11 passes for 66 yards with two sacks (87.7 passer rating).
When the Chiefs didn’t blitz Tagovailoa, he completed 13 of 23 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown and a sack (a 97.4 passer rating)...
Tagovailoa completed just one pass of 20-plus air yards that day (in three attempts), with that completion going to Cedrick Wilson Jr. for a 31-yard touchdown in the third quarter…
▪ A few defensive takeaways from the Dolphins-Chiefs game Nov. 5 as it applies to Saturday’s playoff game:
With Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard both available for that game, the Chiefs targeted Kader Kohou nine times and he yielded eight completions for 89 yards and a touchdown. They will assuredly go after Kohou and Eli Apple on Saturday...
The Chiefs completed two of three passes against Ramsey for 13 yards and two of four passes against Howard for 8 yards. Howard isn’t expected to play on Saturday…
Safety DeShon Elliott permitted all four passes thrown against him to be caught for 59 yards…
PFF said Howard, Sieler, David Long Jr., Ramsey and Andrew Van Ginkel were Miami’s best defenders that day. But Howard and Van Ginkel are injured and out Saturday…
The Dolphins blitzed Mahomes on 17 of his 32 dropbacks, and he was 13 for 16 for 88 yards and a touchdown and one sack on those plays (a 110.4 passer rating).
When Mahomes wasn’t blitzed, he was 7 for 14 for 97 yards and a TD and a sack (96.4 passer rating)...
Mahomes was just 2 for 8 for 8 yards when pressured in that game in Germany. Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, both injured and sidelined, had Miami’s only two sacks. Zach Sieler hit him twice.
▪ The Dolphins found encouragement in the fact they outscored Kansas City, 14-0, in the second half of their 21-14 loss in Germany.
Christian Wilkins said defensive coaches made changes at halftime, and Austin Jackson said halftime offensive “adjustments in the run [game] helped us.”
Long attributed Miami’s strong second half to a mentality that “we didn’t travel that long to come up with an L. It was more mentality and energy. We turned it around.... We can play with those guys.”
Incidentally, Wilkins said there’s no hangover from Sunday’s loss to Buffalo: “We’ve already put it aside. It’s a short week already. I’m excited for what’s ahead. We’ve done what we needed to do to earn playoff football.”
▪ Though cornerback Eli Apple had an interception on Sunday against Buffalo, his overall work wasn’t good: Nine completions in 12 targets for 141 yards; Stefon Diggs caught both targets against Apple for 41 yards…
Ramsey was on Diggs for three targets, and the Bills Pro Bowl receiver caught two of them for 28 yards…
Quarterback Josh Allen continued to torch the Dolphins inside linebackers. He completed all 12 of his targets for 101 yards against Duke Riley, Long and Jerome Baker.
Entering that game, the Bills had a 149.6 passer rating (34 for 40, 390 yards, 5 TDs, no interceptions) when targeting Miami’s inside linebackers since the start of the 2022 season.
PFF rated Wilkins, Baker and Brandon Jones as the Dolphins’ top three players on defense against the Bills. Baker will miss the playoffs after wrist surgery.
▪ Liam Eichenberg allowed three pressures but no sacks against Buffalo; offensive tackles Jackson and Armstead each permitted a pressure.
Guard Robert Hunt didn’t allow a pressure in his first game back after missing four in a row with a hamstring injury. PFF graded him Miami’s best offensive lineman on Sunday.
▪ The Dolphins will alter Jevon Holland’s practice involvement this week to determine if he can take on a bigger role Saturday. Because of sprained MCLs in both knees, Holland played just 27 of Miami’s 78 defensive snaps against Buffalo.
“Our plan is to kind of adjust the way we’ve done the work week and see how that will relate to the game,” McDaniel said. “The idea is he’s able to fully be himself for the entirety of the game, so we’ll probably try a little different formula to try to get a better solution.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 3:35 PM.
