We have one of the best playoff games on Saturday Night and the Dolphins playing the Chiefs brings a lot of storylines. It will be around 0ºF game with wind in the night so Arrowhead will be rocking. One of the biggest stories this weekend is Tyreek Hill coming back to Kansas City to play against the Chiefs. It’ll be interesting to see how he is welcomed and the Cheetah will be trying to silence that intimidating crowd. The Dolphins had the division within grasp but a couple slip-ups in the last few weeks means they have to travel to a freezing Missouri instead of playing at warm Miami. This should be a tight one between Tua Tagovailoa and Patrick Mahomes.
The end of the regular season for Miami wasn’t great and they allowed the 2nd seed to fall through their hands. Instead of playing in Florida as the 2nd seed, they have to travel to a cold climate as the 6th seed. The injuries they’ve suffered haven’t helped and now they play the reigning Super Bowl champs. The encouraging news for them is that Mostert and Waddle are expected to play which is big for their offense. Waddle can complement Hill against the tough KC defense and give Tua more options. Kansas City will probably double coverage 1 of them and that’ll give more room for the other. For Miami’s defense, this is a huge test for them against the magical Mahomes. I expect KC’s defense to quiet Miami’s offense and Miami’s defense has to match that. Mahomes gets on another level in the playoffs and the Fins’ defense has to play well. They played the Chiefs in Germany earlier in the season and they’ll have to play much better in this game.
The Chiefs haven’t been great this season but they won the AFC West for the 8th straight time. The receivers have to get better and leading the league with 44 drops doesn’t look good (sporting news). Toney has made some awful drops and that’s the case with all the receivers. The offense can’t get going with these momentum-killing drops and this has to get fixed in time for the playoffs. I feel that Pacheco will have a monster game and he’ll exploit a lot of gaps in Miami’s defense. He runs really well and I think he’ll be the difference in this game. On the defensive side, teams have been able to slow down the Dolphins in the last couple of games and I think Steve Spagnuolo’s defense will do a terrific job. I feel that they’ll be able to handle the speed and force some turnovers from Tua. It’s not been the Chiefs we’re used to seeing but I think they will hit top gear in the playoffs.
My prediction for this game is that the Chiefs will win 27-17. Miami’s not playing great football at the moment and a roaring Chiefs crowd doesn’t help. I think we’ll see some turnovers from the Dolphins offense and the Chiefs defense will be the story of the game. I really like Isiah Pacheco and I have a feeling that he’ll get tons of yards in this game. Points will be hard to attain on a cold Saturday night from the Midwest and I feel that the Chiefs are better suited for a low scoring battle. You can watch this game exclusively on Peacock at 8:00 PM EST on 1/13/24 from Arrowhead Field in Kansas City, Missouri.
We have plenty of stars in this primetime matchup and it’ll be a nail biter. Will Andy Reid’s Chiefs continue their playoff success or will the Miami Dolphins pull of a stunner in Chiefs Kingdom?
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