Chiefs roll as Dolphins’ offense goes cold
Patrick Mahomes threw for 262 yards and a touchdown, had his helmet shattered when he took a hit in the second half, and proceeded to lead the Chiefs to a 26-7 rout of the Dolphins in the fourth-coldest game in NFL history Saturday night at Kansas City, Mo.
The reigning league MVP found Rashee Rice eight times for 130 yards and a touchdown in the wild-card playoff game, and Isiah Pacheco added 89 yards rushing and a score, sending the Chiefs (12-6) past the Dolphins for the first time in four postseason meetings.
Harrison Butker added four field goals for the defending Super Bowl champs.
“Guys came with that attitude, that mentality — we knew it was going to be cold,” Mahomes said. “All week we were preaching, ‘Let’s come in there with that fire and just get after it and see what happens.’ ”
The injury-depleted Dolphins (11-7) looked nothing like the dynamic offense that led the league in yards during the regular season. Tua Tagovailoa was pressured relentlessly by the NFL’s second-ranked defense, wide receiver Tyreek Hill had a 53-yard TD catch but was otherwise shut down in his return to Kansas City, and the Dolphins finished with just 264 yards.
They have not won at Arrowhead Stadium since Nov. 6, 2011, nor won a playoff game since Dec. 30, 2000.
The Chiefs won their 15th straight home playoff game — not counting three Super Bowls. But they will go to Buffalo next week if the Bills beat the Steelers Monday in a game pushed back a day by a blizzard. Otherwise, the Chiefs will host Houston.
It was minus-4 degrees at kickoff, setting a record for the coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium.
But wind gusts whipping through at more than 25 miles per hour and driving the wind chill to a bone-rattling minus-27 degrees made it truly miserable.
The previous record for the coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium was 1 degree, set in 1983 against Denver and matched in 2016 against Tennessee.
The coldest game in league history was minus-13 (wind chill minus-48) for the 1967 NFL championship, when Green Bay beat Dallas at Lambeau Field.
Hill, the league’s leading receiver playing in Kansas City for the first time since his old team traded him to Miami two years ago, warmed up in a shortsleeved shirt, then beat All-Pro corner Trent McDuffie for his TD early in the second quarter.
But the Dolphins’ offense otherwise struggled.
Kansas City was far more efficient, scoring on four of its six first-half drives. Mahomes capped the first with a TD toss to Rice. Butker added three field goals for a 16-3 lead at the break.
The Chiefs added another field goal in the third quarter, but it was still a two-possession game early in the fourth when the Dolphins appeared to force another field goal. But a late flag on Christian Wilkins for roughing the passer on third down gave Kansas City a fresh set of downs, and Pacheco plowed into the end zone moments later. Texans 45, Browns 14 — Rookie C.J. Stroud threw for 274 yards and three scores in becoming the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game, and Houston returned two interceptions by Joe Flacco for TDs in a wild-card rout of visiting Cleveland.
Stroud, the second pick in the draft last April, is also the highest-drafted rookie QB to win in the postseason. He picked apart Cleveland’s vaunted defense, throwing TD passes of 15 yards to Nico Collins, 76 to Brevin Jordan, and 37 to Dalton Schultz.
At 22 years, 102 days, Stroud passed Michael Vick, who was 22 years, 192 days in 2002 when his Falcons beat the Packers.
Stroud threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns before halftime as the Texans built a 2414 lead. Then the defense took over, with Steven Nelson and Christian Harris returning interceptions for touchdowns on consecutive drives in the third quarter to extend the lead to 38-14.
With the Texans up, 45-14, with nine minutes to go, Stroud’s work was done, and he was replaced by Davis Mills.
It’s the Browns’ worst playoff loss since a 34-0 rout by the Baltimore Colts on Dec. 29, 1968.
Houston is in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and Stroud’s stellar play and the leadership of Ryans, who’s in his first year, transformed the Texans (11-7) from NFL laughingstock to AFC South champions.
Flacco, who turns 39 on Tuesday, came off the couch to go 4-1 as a starter to end the regular season. Playing his first playoff game in nine years, Flacco had 307 yards and had a TD pass in the first half, but mistakes under pressure in the third quarter were too much to overcome.
Collins had six receptions for 96 yards and a TD, and Devin Singletary ran for 66 yards and a late score for Houston.