The Kansas City Chiefs ended the Miami Dolphins’ season Saturday night, defeating Miami 26-7.
Miami lost three games in a row to end what had been a promising season.
The Dolphins had a chance to forget that de-facto AFC East championship game against Buffalo the week before, but the injuries were just too much.
Their defensive edge rushers couldn’t get pressure without Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb, and tackling was poor. The banged-up offensive line couldn’t protect quarterback Tua Tagiavialoa — who often didn’t know where to go with the ball — and many of Miami’s drives ended with three-and-outs.
Team improvements and important decisions will need to be made in the offseason. Will defensive tackle Christian Wilkins will be resigned? Will the Dolphins pick-up Tagiavialoa’s fifth-year option? Is Jaylen Waddle a Dolphins wide receiver for the future? How will the offensive line be fixed? Who will the team draft? Head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier are capable of checking every one of these items of the checklist.
Other Playoff Games
Houston Texans 45, Cleveland Browns 14: The Houston Texans dominated the Cleveland Browns.
The Joe Flacco Cinderella story ended and C.J. Stroud showed why he is the Texans future quarterback for years to come.
C.J. Stroud’s numbers against this Browns’ defense were remarkable, throwing for 274 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Stroud finished the day with a quarterback rating of 157.2, less than one point from a perfect score.
Stroud and first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans took a Texans team that went 3-13 last season to the second round of the playoffs. Whatever happens from here really is just icing on the cake.
Green Bay Packers 48, Dallas Cowboys 32: The Green Bay Packers dismantled the Dallas Cowboys. The score makes the game seem closer than it was. In reality at the half, it was 27-7 and the Packers cruised from there.
Jordan Love continues to impress and it seems the Packers have found another quarterback of the future.
Detroit Lions 24, Los Angeles Rams 23: It was a tight game, but the Detroit Lions finished with their first playoff victory in more than 30 years.
Buffalo Bills 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 17: The Pittsburgh Steelers kept it close until the fourth quarter, but the AFC East champion Buffalo Bills pulled away to advance to the next round. The game was moved from Sunday to Monday afternoon after severe weather and snow forced a postponement.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 32, Philadelphia Eagles 9: The Philadelphia Eagles bombed the last third of their season, going from 10-1 in November to an embarrassing loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round.
What makes this ending even more bitter for the Eagles is the fact that their star center, Jason Kelce, has played his last season in the NFL. He announced his retirement to his teammates after Sunday’s game. Kelce is the brother of Kansas City Chiefs start tight end Travis Kelce.
The first round of the playoffs is over some shocking results especially in the form of blowouts.
