The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season.

Kansas City, of course, is 2-0 and looking to continue its hot start in its first road game of the season, heading to Miami at Hard Rock Stadium. The Dolphins, 0-2, are looking to start their home opener and the Jeff Hafley era with a bang with an upset. The Chiefs are not underestimating the Dolphins heading into this game. Instead of focusing on records and narratives, they’re focused on themselves and where they can improve.

“I think you’ve got to focus on getting better,” Reid said. “We have too much to worry about; just getting better, plenty of room for that. So, that’s what I focus on. I don’t worry about all the outside noise and that. I’ve got to get better, and the rest of the guys, we need to get better. And so, that’s where we’re at.”

You never get too high or too low during the NFL season, and even though this game looks like one Kansas City should win handily, the Chiefs expect the Dolphins to put their best foot forward and give them a big test on Sunday.

With that in mind, what can we expect to see from K.C. in this game?

Patrick Mahomes should surpass Dan Marino in his house

There’s been a lot of talk after the Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts about doing a better job converting red-zone opportunities into touchdowns. The Chiefs have the most red-zone drives in the league, yet they rank only 18th in the NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage. The short of it is that Mahomes wants more touchdown passes, and he has a big reason to want them in Week 3 against the Dolphins.

With at least three touchdown passes on Sunday, Mahomes will have 49 career games with at least three touchdown passes. He can surpass both Peyton Manning and Dan Marino (48 games) for the most games with at least three touchdown passes by a player in his first 10 seasons in NFL history.

Keep in mind, Mahomes’ first season was spent on the bench behind Alex Smith. fact that he’s able to accomplish this with however many games left to go in his 10th NFL season says a lot about how impressive a player he is and has become. Having the chance to surpass an all-time great like Marino in his own house in Miami tells you exactly what trajectory No. 15 is on.

The Chiefs’ pass rush should feast against Miami’s offensive line

In Week 2 against the Colts, Kansas City did not record a sack. The Chiefs did affect the quarterback and speed up Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, but they didn’t get him down on the ground. That should be a little bit different this time around going against Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis.

Through the first two games of the season, the Dolphins have allowed the most sacks in the NFL, with nine. They’ve also allowed the second-most quick pressures with 25. Their 43.1% pressure rate allowed is the fifth-highest in the NFL through two weeks. With the Chiefs looking to get right and get back to being a menace against opposing quarterbacks, this is the perfect matchup for them to regain their mojo.

Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis spoke about the desire to get back in the sack column ahead of practice earlier this week.

“Yeah, we missed some opportunities there, and that’s something that you know we emphasized in the offseason,” Karlaftis said. “Obviously, we watched the film like, ‘Alright, where can we improve in order to make those impacts?’ And we did affect the quarterback in other ways, I feel, but we’ve just got to get home, and you know we’re going to do our best to get that done.”

Take Tyquan Thornton for an anytime touchdown

Generally speaking, the Dolphins have done a good job defending opposing wide receivers. They’ve allowed just 220 receiving yards to opposing receivers through two games. Despite that fact, I think this week could be one where we see Tyquan Thornton go off for another big game. He’s coming off a solid performance against the Colts, but the road game means something more to him.

Thornton returns to his hometown of Miami, a place where he grew up watching the University of Miami and guys like Aldarius Johnson play at Hard Rock Stadium. Despite playing for the New England Patriots early in his career, he has never played a game at Hard Rock Stadium. It’s something he’s dreamed about for a long time. He’ll have several family members in attendance, and it could be the spark he needs to keep stacking good performances.

“A lot, a lot,” Thornton said. “I mean, I got a big family, but some are going to be out there tailgating, you know, them tickets are kind of expensive.”

It feels like a good week for Kansas City to get the new guys some action

For the first two weeks of the 2026 NFL season, the Chiefs have had several newcomers designated inactive. Those players, like offensive tackle Diego Pounds, defensive end Jack Pyburn, and defensive tackle Bryson Eason, joined the team via trade or waiver claim. By the end of Friday’s practice, they will have had about 12 or 13 practice sessions with their new team, which is more than enough to prepare them to participate and play.

It remains to be seen whether Chiefs head coach Andy Reid will keep some of these guys active this week, but it feels like a good opportunity to get them live-game reps with their new team and see what they’re all about. Kansas City could realistically fit them all onto the active game-day roster without making too many rash decisions, while also providing some rest for other players currently considered role players. All three could make an impact as depth pieces off the bench.

Chiefs-Dolphins final score prediction

This is a game that should be won in the trenches, with Kansas City holding an advantage in rushing the passer and protecting the QB. At the same time, it’s the Dolphins’ home opener, with temperatures expected to be 85 degrees and humid at kickoff. This game might look uneven early on, but I expect the conditions to play a part and let Miami find some success and scoring. I think the Dolphins score more in a single game than they have all season, but the end result remains the same.

Chiefs 38, Dolphins 19