Looking past the German game for a moment, we have a good record and did some remarkable things so far this year. We only lost 3 out of 9 games, so let’s focus on that positive.
We have 8 games to go, and only a few of them are against formidable opponents, meaning that even if we lose to Dallas, Buffalo, and the Ravens, we could easily end up at 11-6. Assume the Bills lose another game in the next 8 weeks, and the AFC East is ours!
Now I cannot avoid the inevitable, and I must write about how Tyreek Hill handed a free win to his team today. I don’t know if his heart is still in Kansas, but our MVP picked a really really bad time to become the Chiefs’ MVP instead.
I’m not even talking about his disastrous fumble that cost us the game. I’m talking about earlier, when Tua threw a perfect pass to him that hit Hill’s fingertips. For the first time in his Dolphins’ career, Hill showed a remarkable lack of effort. He looked like DeVante Parker, refusing to extend, or dive, or make any kind of all-out effort. That one burned me. Berrios or Craycraft make that catch. It’s rare of Hill to give up on a ball, but he did so there, and I must assess him honestly and call him out on it. I guess he didn’t give up, but that desperate burst of extra effort wasn’t there, and it killed us. Dropping that TD against the Eagles hurt too, and makes me question was Hill is at his worst in the big games?
I give mixed grades to Mike McDaniel. He waited too late to make offensive adjustments, but at least he did. Right before halftime, down 14-0, he called an excellent drive. Until he didn’t.
The screen pass that Hill fumbled should never have been called…not when our vertical passing was just beginning to get in sync. We were driving to make it 14-7 and then get the ball back after halftime, and McD should NOT have gotten cute on a screen pass that hasn’t worked in months.
The call itself, combined with Hill’s miscue, sealed our fate.
But I like how we mounted a comeback at least and put some fear into them.
I LOVE how the defense stepped up. Only giving up 14 points to the Chiefs should win you a game every single time, but unfortunately, McD and Hill hurt us today.
Also, I know hindsight is 20-20 and I know I didn’t mention this during the week, but I truly felt this way: McD made an enormous mistake bringing the Dolphins to Europe early. I understand the concept of trying to get acclimated to the time zone and all of that, but there is more to it.
The Chiefs were home practicing while the Dolphins were out touring Frankfurt. All week long, the media was at the Chiefs’ practice facility asking the Chiefs about the upcoming game and how they were prepping for the Dolphins. Meanwhile, the same media were asking the Dolphins about their souvenirs and struedel.
In other words, to sum up why I think McD blew this, he treated this game like a gigantic overseas spectacle, while the Chiefs treated it like an important AFC battle for top seed. You saw the result. Let’s hope McD learns another lesson here.
Sleep scheduling sounds good on paper, but you have to toss that out the window and face reality. The Chiefs showed up for a road game–keeping the same schedule they always do–played the game, and now heading home with a win. Dolphins showed up for vacation and are now heading home sour.
Defense played out of their minds today, definitely happy with how they looked. Totally agree with your Hill assessment, he 100% blew the game with that dropped long ball and the fumble/TD. Haven’t watched the post game interviews, but that 3rd down miss to Wilson at the end was brutal and I want to know if it was a bad route or a bad throw or maybe both. The 4th down play had no hope even if Tua gets that snap clean, had the whole Chiefs defense in his lap immediately. Overall very happy with the 6-3 record, at least we’re beating the teams that we’re “supposed” to beat. Really would be nice to get one of these big games, maybe if we got one at home sometime it would be different!
Also want to add that unless I’m mistaken, we’ve pretty much removed the plays that we were running with Mostert and Achane on the field together since he got hurt, those were usually big gainers and his absence has really hurt the offense. Hoping after the bye he gets back and we start gashing teams again
Yes, when he got hurt, I thought the loss of Achane would be more damaging than the loss of Armstead or Williams upfront. Mostert has some nice runs, but Achane is absolutely electric. I heard Hill after the game say that he played well, everyone has drops, and he had fun today. After being a perfect player for 2 seasons, he looked bad today and made it worse with his refusal to look in the mirror. Glad you had fun today, Tyreek!!
First of all I blame Admin for sleeping in and not making the game day chat. The team relies on him to guide us. We did our best without leadership but you saw the result.
Don’t forget Hill got a penalty on a big catch to Waddle in the first half when driving. I think it was illegal shift. I’ll give him a pass as he’s been so great but his head wasn’t into this probably too much going on in his mind.
Tua’s 3rd down throw he said he read blitz and the receiver was supposed to cut the route off. Wilson kept going so miscommunication. We all know Tua could have made the endzone throw but they were on a different page.
I fully believe that they are a young team and they’ll use the bye to fix a lot of this. Perfect timing. Get healthy especially oline and let’s roll. Achane back as well.
Forgot to mention the chiefs D was tired at the end they ran it down their throats and MM stopped running 4 straight passes? I bet if they ran at least 2 of 4 downs they score. Either way disappointed as they could have had this game without the errors and Hill fumble. Mahomes was rendered useless in the 2nd half so if this D continues to improve watch out the O won’t have all the pressure anymore.
Blame Roger Goodel and his stupid 6 am game times! Actually, my wife was traveling today and I had an overly busy morning. Every time I check into the game, something bad was happening, and I didn’t get a chance to sit down and actually pay attention until later.
McD’s playcalling was a factor in this loss. Early in the year, our successful drives came when we ran guys in motion all over the place on almost every play. Today, there were a lot of motionless sets. They showed a play where Hill got jammed at the line. So simply send him in motion, and that cannot happen. It’s that simple.
4 straight, predictable at the end doomed us. Sprinkle in a run or two, just like you said, against that exhausted defense, and we might have seen a different result…
Just harassing you Admin although we missed you presence. I’ve been away a lot too I’ll actually be in Vegas for Formula 1 with Miami playing in Miami next morning at 10am…will be rough!
I guarantee you that if they pounded the run at least twice on the final set of down they would have scored or first down killing clock at same time. Chiefs were gassed!
How many times have we seen McD try to get too cute with his play calling, and it costs us. When you have success – (Mostert gashing their D) on the last drive, then why the hell would you not stick with that (at least once or twice) on the last 4 plays ? It boggles the mind why McD hasn’t learned that yet.
And I don’t know how Achmed got so many (wasted) touches in the game, to me he’s our 4th string RB, and once Achane returns, watch how little Achmed plays, so why give your 4th string RB that many plays ? Another head-scratcher that killed us.
AJ, Ahmed has been a reliable backup when the starters need to rest for a play or two. Granted, he hasn’t excelled this year, but I still think he’s reliable, knows the offense, etc. He got some playing time lately because both Achane and Brooks are on IR. I suspect he’ll be on the practice squad next week when Achane comes back. They’re going to keep Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostert active, for certain. That leaves either Achane or Ahmed as the third RB, and it’s an easy choice.
Well, I was filled with mixed reviews on this game. Yes, they pretty much didn’t give Kelce any free space, guy didn’t break a sweat. That was good-even tho I like Kelce a lot… got to shut you down. Mahomes was not the dynamic Mahomes we all know and have seen, he just seemed off…maybe a bit of jet lag or not grounded in the surroundings but just didn’t seem comfortable as usual. With that being said, at 21-14 Dolphins had a very good position to making them a bit uncomfortable bec the next score would tie the game…which is what I was…in my hopeful mind, thinking this team SHOULD be able to do, bec after all the hype they have gotten from the media, maybe I’m not giving them enough credit bec I’m so used to them not coming through in clutch parts of the game!!! The rest my Fin friends is what we saw and got. The D is finally appearing to mesh together albeit slowly but I’m giving that some time with new coach Fange’s schemes. I was also disappointed with the play calling and if McD was/is handling that, put that game plan in the shredder! THill was not the usual THill either…he’s got the bye week to reset. Tua was ok to fair… I see a passes here and there that are great but I’m not seeing the flashes of brilliance that the Tua factor was going to bring to this team. But when you have Hill, Waddle, and others catching for you, they make Tua look better than he is. Don’t misunderstand, I love Tua as a person, teammate etc. he’s awesome! But he hasn’t lived up to what I feel I was sold.
No more games Europe please! A disruption to teams. I thought it was the right choice for them to go early but it may have been too disconnected to playing a football game vs. a game in any other NFL city when they depart on a Friday. I’m not totally into it at 9:30 am myself. Your thoughts as always.
I hate the European games in general, but if we’re forced to do it, I want it done right. At least this year was a road game. We did not have to sacrifice one of our precious home games this time around. I HATE how McDaniel handled the travel. As I mentioned, the Chiefs stayed home, practiced their asses off all week, and jumped on a plane Friday morning…just like a normal road game. They treated it like a football game. The Dolphins, however, fell into Roger Goodell’s trap and treated it like a spectacle. While the Chiefs were grinding at practice, the Dolphins were out exploring the German countryside.
I’m still burned by Tyreek’s press conference. Very first thing he said was that he had fun today. Second thing he said was “I think I played well.” That rubs me the wrong way, but I know it’s only words. Just doesn’t sit right when you talk about how much fun you had losing.
If you watch the Hill fumble play where the Chiefs scored, pay attention to Smythe at the top of the screen. This play is still Hill’s fault, but Smythe caused the whole disaster by utterly missing his block. Wilson is in motion to take out CB #1, and Smythe’s assignment is CB#2, the guy who ultimately caused the fumble. Smythe was so late getting to his man that we didn’t have a chance.
Regarding Tyreek’s comments, I think far too many players seem to have that same attitude towards the game, which is this : #1 – $ is the top concern, just like the league and its owners. #2 – records that you can set (like 2,000 yds) – regardless of which team you happen to be on, just as long as you’re still in the league, making top $. #3 – winning, and yeah, a SB ring would be nice, but Not as important as #’s 1 and 2.
Many fans (like us) are WAY more passionate and loyal to their teams – than far too many players, in the NFL today.
Totally have seen a shift in attitude since the salaries have gone crazy. I’ve watched this game for many years, was a season ticket holder back in the Orange Bowl days when season tickets were $50.00 for the year. Griese and the whole Shula era; Marino etc. They played for the love of the game. The NFL started to change with ownership, luxury boxes, and so forth, players union and corporate sponsors and more and more the money was becoming the factor for players. It’s what the sports world has evolved into. Agree that we the fans seen to be more team devoted than the players.
Yes, the $$$ has ruined the game. By the way, to be fair, I don’t think Tyreek Hill is happy to have lost. He did not purposely help the Chiefs. But he also didn’t think twice before speaking. Sure, playing football is fun. But don’t talk about IMMEDIATELY after you fumbled the ball and cost your team the game. If Hill put his head down in shame and said, “It’s never fun to lose, and I played like garbage,” then I personally would respect that, but I’d also be the first one to say that Hill’s words cannot go back in time and change the game.
Admin, I don’t think he was “happy” to lose….probably happy to play his former team and see teammates…can’t blame him on that-he’s built friendships etc. It would have been humbling to hear him say he didn’t play Cheetah-like, that he takes responsibility for how I played. So, we move on to the bye week and hope they either rest up a bit,, spend some time with their families and get their heads back on with going forward for the long haul remaining. Going to the playoffs is a goal, but not “the” goal.
The way I look at it is we lost to the two Super Bowl teams and a division rival who regularly beats us. We are good.
That’s a positive AND accurate way to look at things. I’m certainly not panicked. Winning football takes time, and Step One is to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat. If we lost to Carolina or the Giants. I’d have a whole different narrative. But losing to 3 different quality teams–all of which when we missed key starters–not the end of the world.
Exactly and the KC and Philly games were both winnable. Plus the Bills have lost some bad games of late. Anything can still happen. We need to score big in the first half so that we don’t have to rely on comebacks.
Our Dolphins have had an excellent Bye week. A Buffalo loss tonight would be icing on the cake.