Chiefs must make Dolphins one-dimensional
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Charles Goldman
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are getting plenty of recognition ahead of the Week 9 tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany.
The Chiefs’ players and coaches know that disrupting the rhythm of the Dolphins’ passing game needs to be a huge point of emphasis on Sunday.
“Huge,” Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo told reporters. “It’s a rhythm passing game and he’s (Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa) really good at it. What I think is really challenging – I was just talking to (The Voice of the Chiefs) Mitch (Holthus) about it as I was coming in here – it’s one thing to be a drop-back team and be rhythm because you know as soon as the lineman pass set, you’re in a pass rush mode as a d-line and then you go from there. This team has a lot of play-action rhythm passing. Everybody up front has to at least respect that it could be a run, and then, boom, all of a sudden it’s a pass play and he’s getting the ball out really quick. That’s what he's really good at. I think that’s one of the main reasons for the success and the high percentage completion rate.”
What would ultimately be best for Kansas City in this game is if the defense was able to make the Dolphins one-dimensional. As Steve Spagnuolo says, Miami has a potent and dangerous rushing attack, too.
“We’re talking about the pass, they run the ball as good as anybody,” Spags said. “We have to begin there, if there is a way somehow some way, we can get the game one-dimensional then we have the chance to do what you’re talking about, up until that point it’s going to be a little difficult. We’ve got to play it honest, stop the run first, hopefully, get them in longer down-and-distances, so we know what they’re going to do, then try to disrupt them.”
Limiting either the rushing game or the passing attack will pay dividends, but no matter what the defensive trenches and secondary will have their work cut out for them.
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The offense is “very fixable” per Matt Nagy:
The offense hasn’t been right this season. They might rank like a top-5 offense in the NFL, but they haven’t met the standard that we’ve come to know from the Kansas City Chiefs over the past several years. Chiefs OC Matt Nagy spoke on the issues on Thursday, and he seems to think that this team should be able to get back on the right track against the Miami Dolphins in Week 9.
“It’s very fixable,” Nagy said. “There’s not panic – it’s there for us to understand. A few things, when you look back a few weeks ago, we put a pretty good game together. The players played well, they executed, we played complementary football with the defense (and) the special teams. This past weekend against Denver – in any football game, you can’t turn the football over, and we did that. We did it three times in the first half. We were not very good in the red zone when we got down there and didn’t turn the ball over. We didn’t score whether it’s a turnover or a field goal or just not getting a touchdown. We were I think one-for-eight in two games against that defense, so you’ve got to give them credit, but at the same point in time, we know we can be better.”
It’s back to the drawing board for Kansas City and the offense this week. Nagy best understand that when he says the issues are very fixable, Chiefs Kingdom will be holding him to those comments.
Only Weird Games - Chiefs offense can exploit Dolphins’ defense:
Nate Taylor, Seth Keysor, and Joshua Brisco look ahead to the Kansas City Chiefs matchup in Germany with the Miami Dolphins and discuss some key storylines heading into the game.
Wednesday Injury Report:
Chiefs:
Dolphins:
Quick Hits:
- The Chiefs ruled out RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire ahead of their trip to Germany. What does it mean for the RB situation?
- One Chiefs player is wearing some international game-inspired cleats on Sunday.
- The Athletic’s Nate Taylor goes deep into what makes Travis Kelce the NFL’s best tight end.
- Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling is not a fan of traveling overseas to play a game
Important Dates Ahead:
- Nov. 5: Chiefs vs. Dolphins - Week 9 - Frankfurt, Germany
- Nov. 6 - Nov. 12: BYE - Week 10
