KC Chiefs exhibit Super Bowl upside and self-destructive issues vs Dolphins

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 21-14 on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany. It was a much-needed win for the Chiefs after KC's loss to the Denver Broncos last week highlighted many of the issues that they have had this season. While that game mainly highlighted the negatives for the Chiefs, this win featured both KC's Super Bowl-caliber ceiling as well as more of the issues that continue to keep them from fully reaching that ceiling.

We'll get to both the good things that K.C. needs to build around after their bye and the issues they must find a solution for in a moment. First, I think it's important to acknowledge that this was a huge win for the Chiefs. It ensures they will enter their bye week sitting atop the AFC despite the fact that you can make a strong case that they haven't played their best football yet.

The Dolphins came into this game with a 6-2 record that matched K.C.'s and hopes of claiming the top spot in the AFC for themselves. They now find themselves a game back of KC with a head-to-head loss, which means they need to make up two games on them in the second half to get the top seed in the playoffs. That's huge and no Chiefs fan should lose sight of that even as we acknowledge that the Chiefs still have some issues to fix.

As we move into the specifics of the good and bad of Sunday's game, the overall mindset of Chiefs Kingdom should be that their team is talented enough to already be on top of the AFC while they are still trying to fix their issues. Their upside was on display in this game (and other times throughout the season) and I will still argue that they have the highest ceiling in the NFL.

So let's break down what we saw in this game that should give fans hope and what KC must clean up over the bye.