Trent McDuffie, Chiefs defense put on clinic against Dolphins in first half

In case there was anyone left in the National Football League who was not yet a believer that the Kansas City Chiefs defense is an elite unit these days, all you needed was the first half of the team's game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 9 to convince you. That's because the defense is putting on a clinic in real time through the first 30 minutes of the game.

Through two quarters, the Chiefs are presently up by 21 points and 7 of those points are courtesy of the defense as well. Not only that but the Chief-ense—can we call it that?—has shut out the league's most exciting offense at the same time in a truly smothering effort of Mike McDaniel's team.

Coming into the game, the talk among analysts and fans was all about the NFL's export of two of the league's most exciting offenses clashing on an international stage in Frankfurt, Germany. Yet it's the Chiefs who have come out on top by three scores and most of that is due to the team's overwhelming defense on all three levels.

In case you've missed the action so far, the Dolphins were forced to punt on five of six drives in the first half. Yes, let's write that out again: the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and company punted on five of six drives in the first half. On that "other" drive, this happened:

Yes, that's future Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie sniffing out the play to Tyreek Hill about seven or eight yards back. He not only stops the play for negative yards, but he ends up forcing Hill to fumble the ball. Just like that, the Chiefs get the ball back when Mike Edwards picks it up. But to add insult to injury for the Fins, Edwards decides to take a chance and laterals the ball to fellow safety Bryan Cook who runs it in the Chiefs' third touchdown of the day.

Coming into halftime, the Dolphins only have 110 total yards and they have yet to convert a single third down (0-for-5). Tagovailoa is only 11 of 18 for only 89 yards in the first half. It's been a brutal half of football for Miami, and while there's a lot of football left and nothing is decided—of course—it's been an eye-opening exhibition for the Chiefs.

Let's not forget that K.C. is also without their leading tackler, Nick Bolton, right now and they won't get him back until the postseason gets close in mid-to-late December.

It will be interesting to see how McDaniel adjusts his game plan in the face of these first-half results.