Dolphins face potential elimination from post-season today in Kansas City

The Miami Dolphins are hoping for an early Christmas present today as they face the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. A loss will end their season next week.

Several things must happen today for the Dolphins to remain alive for a potential playoff spot. The Rams must beat the Titans. If they don’t the Dolphins are out. The Bills must beat the Patriots. If they do the Dolphins are out. Miami must beat the Chiefs. If they don’t, it won’t matter what else happens in the NFL today.

In addition to the Titans and the Bills, the Dolphins could use some AFC East love from the New York Jets who host the Chargers. A Jets win puts Miami one step closer to a potential showdown next week with the Bills. That is if everything else mentioned above comes true.

For the Dolphins however it is what they can control that matters the most. Miami must beat the Chiefs on the chilly field in Kansas City. Temperatures are expected to be around 28 to 30 degrees at kick-off but Miami escapes the potential for snow. Maybe a light flurry at best.

This will be the second weekend in a row that Miami has faced the cold weather. Last week they played in Buffalo with similar temperatures and flew home with another loss. They must find a way to leave the mid-west with a win.

To stop the Chiefs Miami must play well on both sides of the ball. The sometimes anemic offense has to be playing at the same level they did against the Patriots three weeks ago. Jay Cutler has to play mistake free football against a good secondary and Miami’s offensive line needs to control the trenches and open running lanes for Kenyan Drake.

Then, Adam Gase has to call another really good game. While the Chiefs defense is going to be a problem, the real issues lies on the Dolphins side of the defense where Miami must play at a top-level or risk being embarrassed by the Chiefs offensive weapons.

It’s unclear if Travis Kelce will play for the Chiefs. He missed practice time this week due to an illness but it does appear that he will play. The Dolphins have struggled against top tight-ends. Miami’s real problem will be with rookie runner Kareeem Hunt who is in the hunt for the AFC Rookie Offensive Player of the Year honor. Hunt is a hard runner with a good field of vision and he can break tackles. Kiko Alonso needs to make tackles instead of just trying to knock the ball carrier down. Hunt isn’t going down if he isn’t wrapped up.

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If Hunt is kept in check, the Dolphins have to worry about speedy wide-receiver Tyreek Hill who has been outstanding the last two seasons. A dual threat in the passing game and on special teams, Hill can break open a game on his own and he has been known to run the ball on occasion.

Miami is not built well to stop speed guys and that has to be a priority today. Miami must control the line of scrimmage and make quarterback Alex Smith throw passes he doesn’t want to throw. He can be rattled easily and this is where Miami can change the game.

Forcing Smith into mistakes means that Miami has to capitalize on those mistakes. The Dolphins need to start scoring touchdowns instead of settling for field goals. Which ties into Jay Cutler and the offensive line doing their job.

Finally Miami needs to fix the pre-snap penalties that have plagued them all season. The Kansas City crowd is one of the loudest in the NFL and they will make it difficult for Cutler to call out signals. Silent snap counts could be the best option for Miami if the game is close.

Regardless of what happens around the NFL today, the only thing Miami controls is today’s game against the Chiefs and if they can’t handle this game, it won’t matter what else happens in the league. A loss will give Adam Gase a losing season regardless of what happens next weekend.

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