Three keys to a Miami Dolphins victory: Week 13 vs Kansas City Chiefs

How do the Miami Dolphins dethrone the Chiefs?

The Miami Dolphins sit at 8-4 on the season and right in the thick of the playoff race. After two straight wins against AFC bottom feeders, Miami finds themselves welcoming the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, to the stadium where they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy just ten months ago. The Dolphins are looking for their first playoff appearance since their starting quarterback was in high school, and a win against the champs would help that dream immensely. What do the ‘Phins need to do to pull off the upset?

Up-tempo offense

When head coach Brian Flores benched Tua Tagovailoa against the Denver Broncos, he cited needing a spark on offense. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick came in and ran some hurry-up offense, which gave the offense a glimmer of hope. On Sunday, Miami elected to run some hurry-up offense to open the second half. The offense immediately improved. The common denominator for that spark was tempo, not a quarterback change. If Miami wants to stay on par with one of the greatest offenses the world has ever seen, they need a continuous spark. Better playmakers would be great, but some up-tempo play calling will have to do for right now.

Win with four

How do you stop Patrick Mahomes and this offense? Tough question, right? They’ve got weapons galore with Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The only way to cover all those guys is to win your pass rush matchups. The Dolphins need to find a way to put pressure on Mahomes with just four pass-rushers. Whether it be bringing on lighter and faster players to rush the passer or even running multiple stunts and twists. The Dolphins also have the ability to continuously rotate pass rushers throughout the game and keep guys fresh. While the Dolphins can trust their defensive backs enough to blitz every now and then, but eventually Mahomes will put a deep ball on your head if you bring too many rushers.

Field goals will not do it

Jason Sanders has allowed the Dolphins to become complacent. Knowing that sending him out is essentially a guaranteed three points, has made the Dolphins less aggressive on fourth down. There have been multiple situations this year where the Dolphins have had the ability to leave the offense out on the field, but have elected to send out their star kicker. Well, that is not the move this weekend. If Brian Flores decides to keep settling for three points, the Dolphins will get the doors blown off of them this afternoon.