6 winners (and 4 losers) from the Chiefs' gritty win over the Dolphins

Well, it wasn't exactly pretty, but the Kansas City Chiefs moved to 3-0 with a win-and-move-on 24-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

The game was closer than it perhaps should have been for most of the game, but despite what was an underwhelming performance overall, the Chiefs still managed to win a road game in hot, tough conditions, hold their opponents to just 10 points, and cover a double-digit spread in the process. Go figure.

These are the winners and losers from an imperfect trip to Florida.

Winner: Travis Kelce

I am loving Travis Kelce's resurgence.

The 36-year-old tight end has some spring back in his step, and we saw him bust off a huge 48-yard catch and run on the opening play of the game, his second catch for 45 yards or more this season.

His second target then didn’t come until one of the final plays of the game, but it was no less important. Kelce glided through a hole in Miami’s coverage and caught the game-sealing touchdown.

It’s clear that Kelce still has the uncanny ability to somehow get wide open, and it’s awesome to see that he can still make defenses pay when he does. His number of targets might have decreased from last season, but it’s obvious that he is making more of an impact when he does get the ball.

Winner: Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes is so back, baby.

Mahomes was stellar again against the Dolphins—he was 11/11 to start the game and ended the day going 20/24 for 246 yards, two touchdowns, and a 119.8 passer rating. He had an interception, but it felt more unlucky than anything else after taking two deflections before getting picked.

Mahomes made some beautiful throws against the Dolphins, and he’s on track to throw for more than 4,500 yards and 40 touchdowns this season.

Incredibly, Mahomes passed Joe Montana on the all-time passing touchdowns list on Sunday with his 274th TD, and he tied Tom Brady’s mark of 115 wins in his first 150 games thanks to Sunday’s result. What a guy.

Winner: George Karlaftis

It might seem weird to have a defensive lineman here when the Chiefs ended the game with zero sacks, but that particular stat isn’t why Karlaftis is on this list.

The fifth-year defensive end got his first career interception against Miami, coming down with a ball that was batted into the air at the line of scrimmage.

It was a great hustle play from a guy who has made a habit of relentlessly playing to the whistle, something that has been on show this season. He maintained his pass rush during the play and out-attacked the O-lineman to get the pick.

While the stats haven’t been there yet—Karlaftis has zero sacks, two hurries, and six pressures—I haven’t been able to fault his effort this season, so it was nice to see him get a reward for it.

Winner: Noah Gray

I’ve been highly critical of Noah Gray, especially after a down season last year, but he had his best game of the year against the Dolphins, highlighted by an impressive contested catch.

Gray was one-on-one in tight coverage with his defender on a wheel route, but he made a sweet grab under pressure and with a hand right in his face to pick up 24 yards.

Gray had three catches for 39 yards in Miami, the most yards he’s had in a game since Week 13 against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024.

It wasn’t a phenomenal game, but hopefully it’s a sign that he can be a more consistent and reliable part of the offense moving forward.

Winner: CBS

Looking at the schedule at the start of the season, a late-slate Week 4 matchup between the Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders seemed like it could be a bit of a fizzer, with blowout potential written all over it. But instead, we'll see two undefeated teams and division rivals go head-to-head.

For the first time ever, the Chiefs and Raiders have both started the season 3-0, and whoever wins at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday will have sole possession of first place in the AFC West.

With a lot on the line for both teams, CBS must be thrilled with the extra eyeballs this matchup will surely get given what's at stake. A flick-past game just turned into must-watch TV.

Loser: Special teams

Special teams has by far and away been Kansas City’s worst unit so far this season, and we saw why against the Dolphins.

Chris Jones will be giving me two middle fingers right now for saying this, but I’m slightly worried about Harrison Butker, who missed a 50-yard field goal late against Miami. It’s a small sample size, but he is 6-of-8 this year (75 percent) on field goals and, most concerningly, is 0-of-2 from 50-plus yards.

Yes, Butker is 7-of-7 on extra points this season, and yes, he made a clutch kick to win the game against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 as well, but I’m still not fully confident in him at the moment.

There were other mistakes as well. For the second time in three games, the Chiefs gave away an infuriating holding penalty up an infuriating holding penalty on a fair-caught punt return, and I don’t love Nikko Remigio catching two punts inside the 10 rather than letting them bounce, either.

And Matt Araiza only had one punt, but it went straight down the middle of the field and landed in the end zone for a touchback. It was as far away from the coffin corner as you could possibly get.

Special teams have been sloppy all season, and while it hasn’t cost the Chiefs a game yet, it will sooner rather than later unless things are tidied up quick-smart.

Loser: L’Jarius Sneed

I thought it was a rough day for L'Jarius Sneed.

For the second week in a row, we saw him being heavily targeted in coverage, first by the Indianapolis Colts and now by the Dolphins. In both games, it was clear that the opposition thought he was Kansas City’s biggest weak link in coverage, and I don’t think Sneed showed much to prove they were wrong.

Watching the game live, it felt like the Dolphins were looking Sneed’s way as the first read when they were passing. We know Sneed has battled knee injuries and that he’s not as fast as he used to be, and it looked like he was getting beaten pretty cleanly in coverage.

Sneed also got called for a hold on a 4th-and-3 play in the second quarter, giving away a penalty that gifted Miami a free first down.

We’ll have to wait and see what the All-22 vision and coverage charts show, but watching live, it didn’t look good. Sneed was great against the Denver Broncos in Week 1, but he’s come back down to earth the last two weeks.

Winner: L’Jarius Sneed

Hang on, didn’t I just put Sneed down as one of the losers? 

Yes, but there’s a line a former coach of mine would use all the time. “It might not be your day, but it can be your moment,” he would say. That was true for Sneed today.

Sneed might have had a rough time in coverage, but he made an outstanding play when he forced a fumble and then recovered it in the second quarter.

It was reminiscent of the forced fumble Sneed had on Zay Flowers in the AFC Championship game two years ago, with a perfectly timed and placed punch knocking the ball free.

This fumble obviously didn’t come in as big of a moment, but it did stop the Dolphins on a potential game-tying drive when they were already within field goal range, and the turnover made up for the penalty Sneed gave away on fourth down two plays prior as well.

It wasn’t Sneed’s day, but that was his moment.

Loser: Alohi Gilman

It was just the third game Alohi Gilman has played for Kansas City, but this was clearly his worst performance so far.

Against the Dolphins, he looked both slow and out of position, which are never the adjectives you want to use to describe how your safety played. It felt like he was lost on a number of plays, and he was caught in no-man’s land multiple times.

One time, when Gilman was in a good position, he had a potential interception bounce out of his hands. It was the kind of play you’d want a seven-year veteran to make.

Maybe not everything about Gilman’s performance was entirely on him. I thought Jaden Hicks had a mixed game with some poor plays too, and Sneed clearly struggled, so maybe that didn’t help Gilman. The secondary is a unit and not just one player, after all. But it was hard to watch that game and not think that Gilman played poorly.

Loser: Defensive line

We were full of praise for Kansas City’s defensive line after Week 1 when they managed to disrupt Denver’s pass game and critically generate pressure rushing only four, but things have gone downhill since then.

The Chiefs had zero sacks for the second week in a row, failing to bring Malik Willis down in the backfield even once. More than that, Willis seemed to have plenty of time in the pocket. According to Pro Football Focus, Willis averaged 2.89 seconds to throw on Sunday (slightly above average), while Kansas City’s D-line generated just three pressures for the game.

The Chiefs couldn’t get home with four or when they blitzed, which is concerning given how big of a weakness the pass rush was last year.

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