The Beard is No More: Dolphins vs. Chiefs

MIA   31              KC   3

The game was wrong from the moment the national anthem ended. After the token home of the CHIEFS! moment, I looked up and there was no flyover. I continued to look and not until about 15 seconds later did the fighter jets make their way over. It was a sign of things to come.

The Chiefs scored on their opening possession and then not again.

The Dolphins punched the Chiefs in the mouth, Chan Gailey style. And with this kind of performance, we are reminded of the Chiefs first two weeks, and we are terrified. But the good thing is the Raiders and the Chargers lost this weekend, so the Chiefs are still tied for first place in the AFC West (should I thank God for Tebow or Tebow for God?).

I can't overlook a home loss to a winless team, however, and I will break down the good and the bad.

What we did well

• The Chiefs didn't turn the ball over. 
• We scored on our opening possession.
• Our wide receiving trio of Bowe, Baldwin and Breaston looked good, with Breaston going over 100 yards for the first time this season.
• We dominated time of possession, having 34:39.

What we could have done better

• There wasn't much we did well today. We got dominated at the line of scrimmage, giving up 5 sacks; we made Reggie Bush look like he was still at USC, allowing 92 rushing yards and a TD and 50 receiving yards; made Brandon Marshall look like he was still playing in Denver, allowing 106 yards and a TD; and made Matt Moore look like Tom Brady, allowing 17/23 for 244 yards and 3 TDs.
• Besides our defense looking like they weren't too interested in playing, our offense could never get things going. Granted, the Dolphins entered the game with a pretty staunch rush defense, and they proved why. Battle only had 40 yards rushing on 14 carries, a 2.9 ypc average. Second in rushing was Matt Cassel, with 38 yards (that should tell you what kind of a day the offensive line was having).
• Speaking of Matt Cassel, he had his second mediocre game in a row, and his sixth of the season. No, he didn't turn the ball over, but he wasn't effective passing it either. He was overthrowing, underthrowing, misthrowing, mistiming, etc. He was experiencing a lot of pressure from the Dolphins defense, but he's not a rookie, and should be able to handle it a little better than a 20/39 completion day. 

At the end of the day, we lost in all phases of the game, but are still in first place. As long as we don't lay another egg next week, hopefully we can gain control of the division.