- Tua to Hill for a 53-yard TD. Despite the pass being underthrown and Hill being interfered with, he made a nice adjustment on the ball and outran the Chiefs’ secondary for the TD.
- Ethan Bonner. Two tackles in limited play, including a forced fumble. One wonders if he should have been playing ahead of Eli Apple or Kadir Kohou, who struggled mightily again.
- Inability to stop the run. No injury excuse here. It was simply mano y mano, and the Chiefs ran 34 times for 147 yards for a solid 4.3 average. In the prior meeting, the Fins held the Chiefs to only 93 rushing yards. This inability certainly made things easier for Patrick Mahomes to play action and find open receivers.
- Pass rush. Injuries saved this from being in the Ugly column. No Phillips, no Chubb, no Van Ginkel so we all get it. But Mahomes had ALL day to throw for most of the game except when Vic Fangio sent his all-out blitz. I’m sure Fangio will be criticized, but he really had no other option than to send the houses and hope they get there. Unfortunately, the blitz didn’t arrive in time.
- Coach McDaniel’s offense (3 weeks in a row). For four weeks in a row, this has been the biggest disappearing act since DB Cooper jumped out of an airplane in 1971. The Dolphins put up another goose egg in the second half against KC marking the second consecutive game they failed to score in the second half. How is that even possible with the weapons he has at his disposal?
What happened, coach? I have a few reasons, most of which, have been documented right here in the Ugly column for the past couple of weeks. Those reasons reared their collective ugly heads once again against the Chiefs. Reliance on Tyreek Hill. At game’s end in garbage time, the ball was spread around more as Tyreek was in and out. Still, he led with 8 targets. He led last week with 13 targets (the next highest was 3). Against the Ravens? He had 12 (next highest 5). Against Dallas he had 14 (next highest 5). We know it; the opposing defenses know it. Single, double, or triple covered, the ball goes to Hill. Far too predictable.
- Propensity to run on first down. Last week, McDaniel ran the ball on first down 12 of 15 times including 11 in a row! This week, he predictably starts the game with a run. Five of the first eight first-down plays were runs.
- Conservative nature of play calling. Or, in other words, a lack of aggression. Tua threw the ball 39 times. How many of those were either behind the line of scrimmage or within five yards of it? Gotta be at least 30. Predictable, conservative, and easily defended.
- I’m sure there are some nuances from week to week based on the opponent, but they didn’t scream out at me watching this offense every game? Where is the ingenuity? Everything is so scripted. Does that placemat play sheet ever change? Is the coach trying to exploit what the other teams’ weaknesses are, or is it the same old routine week to week? Barring one or two trick pays, which normally fail, I don’t see it. The Chiefs were ready for this offense, and it showed.
- Inability to (apparently) have the team ready to play a big game (see mental mistakes below). It’s a broken record. 1-6 vs. winning teams. 0-4 on the road.
https://dolphinstalk.com/2024/01/chiefs ... -the-ugly/