The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Miami Dolphins 21-14 on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany.  

Tua Tagovailoa completed 21/34 for 193 yards and a touchdown.  Raheem Mostert led the Dolphins on the ground with 85 yards on 12 carries.  Tyreek Hill led all Miami pass catchers with 62 yards on 8 catches. 

Here's what I liked and what I didn't… 

What I liked: 

– Getting off the field quickly on the Chiefs' second offensive drive.  The first was basically the Chiefs reenacting General Sherman's march to the sea against the Dolphins' defense, but Miami forced an incompletion with pressure, shut down Isaiah Pacheco at the line of scrimmage, and forced a short completion to get off the field.  Good recovery after a terrible start. 

– Seeing Jaylen Waddle get back on the field and look fast after leaving on the first drive with a knee injury.  He took a reverse for a 12-yard gain on the Dolphins' second drive. 

– Zach Sieler had a nice pressure late in the first quarter to force a third down and eventually a punt.  Could have been intentional grounding, as Mahomes basically spiked it into the ground to avoid a sack, but the officials felt that Pacheco standing five yards away was close enough. 

– Christian Wilkins tackled Mecole Hardman for a 7-yard loss on first down early in the second quarter.  Xavien Howard had a nice pass break up on Justin Watson the next play, and the Dolphins' defense got off the field two plays later.  

– The Dolphins got the Chiefs off the field pretty quickly on Kansas City's first drive of the second half.  Andrew Van Ginkel got good pressure on third down and forced a holding penalty that ultimately forced Kansas City to punt it away – although Mahomes almost weaved his way for a first down on third-and-17. 

– Cedric Wilson, Jr.'s 31-yard touchdown from Tua.  The line created a nice pocket, and Tua lobbed a ball up for Wilson to go outjump Trent McDuffie for the football in the end zone in a one-on-one look.  Simple pitch and catch, but very nicely executed.

– A sack-fumble on Mahomes by Bradley Chubb was recovered by Sieler at the KC 27-yard line.  Chubb just slung the KC left guard out of the way to get to Mahomes.  A massive play to shift the momentum of the game in the third quarter. 

– Chris Jones with a penalty with Miami in third-and-20 gave the Dolphins an unbelievable first down instead of fourth and long.  Jones simply shoved Austin Jackson down after the play.  Raheem Mostert scored on the next play to draw to within 21-14.  A true gift, but one that the Dolphins cashed in. 

– Miami followed that by stalling the Chiefs near midfield and forcing a punt.  Tight coverage by Kader Kohou on a pass intended for Marquez Valdes-Scantling on third-and-9 highlighted the stop.  

– Willie Gay, Jr. punched the ball out from Mostert, but Chase Claypool was on the spot and made a game-saving recovery.  A huge exhale there from Dolphin fans, although Miami had to punt it away later. 

– Chubb forced Mahomes to throw it away on third and less than a yard with around two and a half minutes left.  Inexplicable that the Chiefs didn't try to run it, but Miami played it well and forced a punt. 

– Miami's defense did its job for the game, holding the Chiefs to 66 yards in the second half.  It also effectively held the Chiefs to 14 offensive points for the game.  A masterclass job by Vic Fangio and Miami's defensive personnel, all things considered.  Unfortunately, the Dolphins' offense couldn't hold up their end of the bargain. 

What I didn't: 

– The end of the Chiefs' opening drive.  It was always going to be hard to stop the Chiefs offense.  The key is keeping them out of the end zone when they get into the red zone.  After Justin Watson's touchdown catch was overturned, the Chiefs called a screen to Rashee Rice, who split a handful of Miami defenders and stepped out of an attempted tackle by Chubb for an easy touchdown. 

– A four and out by Miami's offense on its first drive.  After a first down catch by Waddle on the opening play, the Chiefs bottled up Mostert and Hill near the line of scrimmage on back-to-back plays and forced a third and long, which resulted in a sack by Jaylen Watson on a blitz. A very bad overall start for the Dolphins. 

– Miami had a long first down throw to Waddle wiped out for an illegal shift penalty on third down.  Instead of being way inside Jason Sanders' field goal range, Miami was stopped and had to punt.  A bone-headed penalty that took points off the board. 

– An intentional grounding call on Tua killed good field position near midfield.  Tua was pressured and either had to dump it or take a sack, and unfortunately it ended up landing too far away from Mostert to avoid a flag.  

– The Chiefs' second touchdown.  Jerrick McKinnon was completely unaccounted for, and he took an easy drop off and raced untouched for a touchdown.  Kelce crossed in front and took three Dolphins with him, and McKinnon crossed to where he vacated with no one left there.  Brilliant play call, and Miami took the bait hook, line, and sinker. 

– The backbreaker came in the final minute of the first half.  Trent McDuffie stripped Hill, which was recovered by Mike Edwards, who then lateraled it to Bryan Cook for a long touchdown return.  It looks like Hill might not have had complete possession, but the play stood and the Dolphins were in a massive hole down 21-0 going into the locker room. 

– Miami only totaled 117 first half yards, with just 89 passing yards.  Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes completed 12 of 19 passes for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns. Still, it was a relatively close first half until the Chiefs added two touchdowns in the final 3 minutes. 

– Clay Martin seemed to be making the game about him and his crew.  Flags came flying on what seemed like every other play.  The fans came to watch the teams, not the officials.  Disappointing. 

– The second half started as badly as the first did, with Connor Williams picking up a holding penalty on second down that effectively killed the drive and forced a three and out. 

– Miami picked up its first third down conversion of the game with 6:30 left in the third quarter.  It was that kind of day, at least until the latter part of the second half came along and the Dolphins woke up. 

– Robert Jones suffered a brutal knee injury where he had to be helped off the field with tears in his eyes.  The broadcast team said the replay was too brutal to show.  Sickening. 

– Gay tackled Salvon Ahmed for a 6-yard loss with around six minutes left.  The next play, Steve Spagnuolo brought pressure off the edge, and Tua was sacked for another 10-yard loss.  An incompletion on the next play led to a punt with 4:22 left. 

– On third-and-10 from the KC 31-yard line, Tua had Wilson streaking wide open to the end zone.  The ball only got halfway there.  An inexplicable throw in that moment.  It wasn't clear at first if it was a miscommunication or a slip, but the Dolphins had a touchdown there and couldn't connect.  Tua mentioned that it was a miscommunication after the game, but also said that he needs to throw a better ball there.  

– And on the next play, a bobbled snap ended it.  Spagnuolo dialed up an all-out blitz, and the snap looked off as a result.  Possibly catchable, but it was pulled sideways by Connor Williams and was off target.  An incredibly deflating ending to a promising comeback and ending.  

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