KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miami had a chance to win the AFC East and clinch the No. 2 seed in the conference for the upcoming NFL playoffs.
But the Dolphins couldn’t get the job done Sunday night at home against the Buffalo Bills, who stole away the division title with a 21-14 victory.
Miami’s reward is a mid-January trip to the frozen tundra of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, where the wind chill for next Saturday’s Super Wild Card weekend showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs is expected to plunge below zero.
It’ll be a far cry from South Beach.
Kansas City won a Nov. 5 meeting against Miami in Frankfurt, Germany, 21-14, but neither team was firing on all offensive cylinders in that game.
The Dolphins’ defense has lost at least two key contributors, defensive ends Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, since that game.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are relatively healthy, though the offense has been stuck in the mud much of the season, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes has developed rapport with rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice as the season has gone along.
Kansas City’s defense is the best Andy Reid’s squad has taken into the postseason during Mahomes’ tenure.
Will it be enough to slow down Tyreek Hill, who was traded before the 2022 season from Kansas City to Miami? We’ll find out in the fourth postseason meeting between the two franchises.
The Chiefs and Dolphins have played three previous times in the playoffs, but the last meeting was in 1994.
Kansas City has never beaten Miami in a postseason game — including a 27-24 double-overtime Christmas Day loss in the 1971 Divisional Round, the longest game in NFL history.
The Chiefs also lost 17-16 at the Dolphins in a 1990 Wild Card game.
Kansas City blew a 16-3 lead in that game, which featured a controversial holding penalty late in the fourth quarter that cost the Chiefs valuable field position before Nick Lowery’s potential game-winning 52-yard field goal came up short in the closing seconds.
Four years later, Dan Marino outdueled Joe Montana in a lopsided 27-17 Dolphins win in the 1994 Wild Card Round.
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