The Chiefs left Miami with a 24-10 win and a 3-0 start, but the scoreboard didn’t tell the full story. Kansas City had to work for it, and a Dolphins team that came in 0-2 made things uncomfortable long into the afternoon before the visitors finally separated in the closing minutes.
That kind of game leaves a lot to sort through, and there was no shortage of takeaways from the Chiefs’ Week 3 trip. Some things look like real strengths. Others are still waiting on answers.
The biggest reason Kansas City can feel better about where it’s headed is Kenneth Walker. He was the engine for the offense again, scoring the Chiefs’ first two touchdowns and finishing with 18 carries for 70 yards.
More than the raw production, it’s the way he changes how defenses have to play Kansas City. For years, opponents could mostly key on Patrick Mahomes and the passing game.
Now they have to account for the run first, and that opens the entire operation.
Walker’s ability to break tackles has become a weekly problem for defenses, too. Ron Kopp pointed out that Walker has broken 12 tackles or more per game so far this year, and no other running back has even broken 10 in a single game so far in 2026. That’s not just useful production - that’s a feature that can tilt the whole offense.
Travis Kelce belongs in that same buy column. At 37, he’s still a centerpiece, and Sunday showed why the Chiefs continue to lean on him so heavily.
He opened the game with a 48-yard catch and later added an 11-yard touchdown grab that helped put the game away. Mahomes still hasn’t found a new player to fully take over that role, but Kelce keeps giving the offense a reliable anchor.
There’s also a clear reason to expect help on defense soon. Chamarri Conner is working his way back after missing three straight games to begin the year with a knee injury suffered late in training camp.
He returned to practice earlier this week, and the Chiefs will welcome him back whenever he’s ready. Alohi Gilman and Jaden Hicks have been asked to play every snap, so Conner should ease that load.
He also brings better instincts and intelligence to the back end, and Kansas City needs that after Miami found some success attacking the current setup. If he’s back against the Raiders in Week 4, that would be a boost.
The secondary, though, still has some moving parts. L’Jarius Sneed has now been targeted heavily for two straight weeks, and opposing offenses have found ways to work him into the action.
Daniel Jones of the Colts and Malik Willis of the Dolphins both had success going after him, and Steve Spagnuolo will have to weigh whether that usage is becoming too easy for offenses to exploit. Sneed has clearly lost a step after years of quad and knee injuries, and teams are trying to use speed to create mismatches against him.
Still, he isn’t just hanging on. He came through with a big play in Week 3 by forcing and recovering a fumble from Willis on a scramble, and that turnover mattered in a game that was tighter than expected.
The Chiefs will keep sorting out the best way to use him, but the conversation should stay grounded. There are concerns, yes, but his leadership and instincts still matter.
The same kind of mixed picture applies to the short-yardage game. Kansas City leaned on Khyiris Tonga and bigger personnel packages in Week 1 against Denver and had no trouble moving the chains.
Against Miami, though, the Chiefs couldn’t finish several short-yardage chances, including a turnover on downs at a key moment. That’s the sort of thing that can’t keep happening, and it’s fair to expect the coaching staff to revisit how those situations are handled in practice.
The young corners deserve a spot in the buy column, too. The Chiefs gave up some damage on defense, which stings even more considering De’Von Achane was injured and Miami doesn’t have the same overall talent as many other teams.
But there’s real upside in the group. First-round pick Mansoor Delane played his first full NFL game and made a couple of spectacular plays.
Nohl Williams continues to look like a Pro Bowl performer in his second season. Neither was perfect, but the long-term picture on the outside looks encouraging.
What doesn’t look worth praising right now is special teams as a whole. Harrison Butker is reliable.
Matt Araiza is a strong punter. Beyond that, the Chiefs kept finding ways to create their own headaches under Dave Toub’s units.
There were too many silly mistakes, too many questionable decisions, and too many moments that had to be cleaned up. At this point, the better move is to stop treating that phase like a strength.
And up front, the Chiefs are still waiting on better health. Kahlil Benson has done a solid job as a rookie free agent filling in for Josh Simmons, who has now missed three straight weeks with a back injury.
But Sunday also showed the problem clearly: Benson and Jaylon Moore were beaten outside repeatedly, and Mahomes took major hits because of it. Kansas City needs last year’s first-round pick back sooner rather than later.
So the Chiefs leave Week 3 with the best possible record and a long list of lessons. Some of the answers are encouraging.
Some are not. But 3-0 is still 3-0.
In Other News...
Former Chiefs LB Leo Chenal In Frightening Injury Situation
Leo Chenals exit from the Commanders Week 3 game against the Seahawks brought a sobering pause to a matchup that had already been demanding physically. The former Chiefs linebacker, now in Washington after four seasons in Kansas City, suffered a neck injury and was taken off the field on a stretcher, turning immediate attention away from the scoreboard and toward his health.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn later said Chenal has feeling in his extremities and is undergoing further testing at the hospital, which offered at least some initial relief after a frightening scene. For Chiefs fans who watched Chenal develop into a reliable piece of their defense, the update is hard to process, and it leaves Washington waiting for more clarity on a player they invested in with a three-year deal. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Broadcast Had An Awkward Taylor Swift Moment Sunday
Taylor Swift had a perfectly good reason to miss the Chiefs-Dolphins game Sunday, since she was in Los Angeles at the MTV Video Music Awards for the debut of her Agent Zero video. Back in Kansas City, Travis Kelce still gave the home crowd something to celebrate, finding the end zone in a game that, for plenty of viewers, had one eye on the field and another on the broadcasts reaction shots.
The awkward part came on the CBS telecast, where the crew briefly went looking for Swift at the stadium without realizing she was halfway across the country. For Chiefs fans, it was a small but familiar reminder of how much attention follows the Kelce-Swift orbit, even on nights when the biggest pop star in the picture is nowhere near the building. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Just Got Dragged Into Another Officiating Firestorm
The latest Chiefs game has once again put the officials under a microscope, this time after a play in which a Kansas City defender grabbed and pulled at Malik Willis helmet while bringing him down, yet no penalty was flagged. The no-call quickly became a flashpoint, with fans across social media zeroing in on what they saw as a clear miss and another example of how every close call involving Kansas City seems to draw instant scrutiny.
For the Chiefs, it is the kind of controversy that has started to follow them even when the football itself is only part of the conversation. Any play like this feeds a larger debate around perceived officiating favoritism, and the reaction was immediate enough to ensure the clip would keep circulating well after the game ended. Whether the league or officials address it directly is one thing, but the bigger issue is that these moments now arrive with built-in suspicion attached. [Read more 🡒]