Who should Kansas City Chiefs fans watch as the champs take on the Dolphins?
The Kansas City Chiefs head back to Hard Rock Stadium this Sunday, which was the site of their Super Bowl LIV victory earlier this year. Hopefully, the nostalgia doesn’t keep the Chiefs from doing what needs to be done and knocking off the sneaky Miami Dolphins, who are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
These four Chiefs need to have good games when the champs head back to Miami for a date with the Dolphins.
Frank Clark
Where has Frank Clark been this season? He’s had four sacks through 12 games and the pass rush in general has been non-existent as of late. It’d be nice to see Clark get after rookie Tua Tagovailoa and make the kid uncomfortable and the Dolphins have allowed the 11th-most sacks this season (you have to add Tua’s sacks with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s sacks to get to the 11th spot).
Clark has not registered a sack since Week 9 against Carolina and before that, it hadn’t happened since Week 4. In fact, three of Clark’s four sacks came in the first four weeks of the season and he’s done very little since then.
This matchup against Miami is a chance for Clark to get back in the sack column and win everyone in Kansas City some Big Macs.
Mecole Hardman
Speaking of disappointments this season, Mecole Hardman hasn’t done much in year two as a pro. I get that he’s behind the likes of Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, and sometimes Demarcus Robinson, but there have been moments for Hardman to shine this season and he simply hasn’t done that.
One of his biggest whiffs was against the Buccaneers when he dropped what would have been at least an 80-yard touchdown. He had nothing but green ahead of him had he made that catch. The mistakes continued on Sunday night versus the Broncos, as Patrick Mahomes targeted Hardman for a first down and Hardman dropped the ball once again.
Mahomes seemed frustrated after that drop — a rare sight indeed — and Cris Collinsworth said that Mahomes was telling Hardman to “come back to him” to complete the catch. Hardman needs to have more than just one reception against the Dolphins this weekend. It’s time for him to step up and have a big game.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
After battling an illness all week, Clyde Edwards-Helaire was active for the game on Sunday night, but he never took the field. Maybe he was still feeling sick, but whatever the reason, the Chiefs had Le’Veon Bell and Darrel Williams lead the way in the run game.
No one running back stood out, but the Chiefs run game totaled over 100 yards rushing with Bell leading the way with 40 (Williams had 38, for what it’s worth). All the while, Edwards-Helaire didn’t touch the ball or see the field for a single snap.
Edwards-Helaire’s job isn’t in jeopardy, but it’d be nice to see him have a big game. He’s been a little quieter in the recent stretch of games and the Dolphins’ run defense is in the middle of the pack as far as rushing yards per game go. Hopefully CEH can break off a few big runs in what’s going to be a competitive game between two playoff teams.
Patrick Mahomes
I don’t usually put Patrick Mahomes on here because he’s the quarterback — Of course we’re going to be watching him. The reason he makes an appearance this week is because the Dolphins defense is sneaky good. They’re especially good at taking the football away, sitting second in the league in takeaways.
Throw in that Xavien Howard leads the league in interceptions with eight and Mahomes is going to have his work cut out for him. The Chiefs signal caller has just two interceptions on the year, but there’s a good chance he throws his third and maybe even his fourth against the Fins.
The Dolphins haven’t faced a quarterback as good as Mahomes this year and it’ll be interesting to see how this emerging defense does against the potential MVP of the league. Because of their ability to take the football away, Mahomes makes my list of players to watch this week.