The Kansas City Chiefs left Miami Gardens with a 24-10 win and a 3-0 start to the 2026 season, but the afternoon never felt nearly as tidy as the final margin.
Miami hung around, hit enough plays to keep Kansas City honest and forced the Chiefs to work for nearly everything. The scoreboard says comfortable. The game itself said otherwise.
The biggest swing came in the third quarter, when the Dolphins had the Chiefs pinned near their own end zone with Kansas City clinging to a 14-10 lead and facing third-and-9. Chop Robinson got to Patrick Mahomes and landed on him, drawing a roughing-the-passer flag for 15 yards and a first down.
The officials had also flagged Miami for defensive holding on the play, which would have extended the drive anyway. Kansas City then got a huge 24-yard catch from Noah Gray, and that sequence set up a field goal that pushed the lead to 17-10.
From there, Miami’s next drive ended on downs despite converting 8 of 16 third and fourth downs to that point.
The opening minutes made it look like Kansas City might cruise. On the first play of the game, the Dolphins crashed on play-action and Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a 48-yard completion. Three plays later, Kenneth Walker was in the end zone.
Miami answered fast and stayed on schedule. The Chiefs gave up four third-down conversions on the next drive, including an illegal-use-of-hands penalty on Nohl Williams on third-and-18 and a completion to Ryan Miller over Mansoor Delane. Later in that march, Kansas City’s front seven opened up on third-and-9 in the red zone and allowed an 11-yard first-down run to Ollie Gordon, with De’Von Achane injured.
Kansas City responded with a drive that featured a 17-yard leaping catch by Tyquan Thornton to get into the red zone. Mahomes was sacked on third-and-2 at the 9-yard line, but an illegal-contact penalty kept the drive alive. Walker then finished it with a crafty shovel-pass touchdown to give the Chiefs the lead back.
The Chiefs’ defense did get a stop on Miami’s next possession, with Delane breaking up a fourth-down pass near midfield. But Kansas City couldn’t cash in, and two Walker runs came up short of the line to gain. Khyiris Tonga, who had logged four offensive snaps in each of the first two games, stayed off the field on both of those short-yardage snaps deep in Miami territory.
Kansas City seemed to have momentum when L’Jarius Sneed forced and recovered a fumble, but Mahomes handed it right back. After beginning 11 of 11, he tried to throw behind Rashee Rice, and the tipped pass landed with Dolphins linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
Steve Spagnuolo had expected trouble from quarterback Malik Willis, and that concern proved justified. Willis looked comfortable in the pocket for much of the game, despite entering with more sacks than any quarterback in the league.
That comfort, along with Kansas City’s coverage lapses, produced three explosive plays for Miami, including a 42-yard catch by Greg Dulcich over Jaden Hicks to start the second half. That set up a Dolphins field goal and cut the lead to 14-10.
After the third-quarter break that changed the feel of the game, the Chiefs added another field goal to move ahead 17-10 and later got a touchdown pass to Kelce. George Karlaftis then effectively put it away with the first interception of his career, off a batted ball from Chris Jones.
There was plenty for Kansas City to like in the result and plenty to sort through as well. The Chiefs held Miami to 10 points, but the Dolphins still produced 329 yards against a defense that did not consistently pressure Willis and was shaky in coverage.
Miami entered averaging 271.5 yards per game, fifth-worst in the league, and still found enough offense to make Kansas City sweat. The Chiefs also had to survive a Dolphins defense that stiffened in the red zone and kept the game alive longer than the final score suggests.
Walker’s numbers mattered too. Miami limited him to 18 carries for 70 yards, a 3.9-yard average, and that kind of resistance is going to be part of the formula for beating Kansas City in 2026.
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