Sunday morning can not get here soon enough. The 6-2 Miami Dolphins are in Frankfurt, Germany, preparing for a massive showdown against the reigning Super Bowl Champion and 6-2 Kansas City Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off a 24-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Mile High Stadium, which ended a 16-game winning streak for the Kansas City Chiefs against their division rival Denver Broncos.
Meanwhile, for the Miami Dolphins, they bounced back at Hard Rock Stadium with a 31-17 win over division rival New England Patriots. With this being an International Game not in the United States this week, there has been a fascinating stat thrown around on sports outlets. The team who usually travels across the country first has the advantage. This week, the Miami Dolphins traveled to Germany on Monday to get used to the time difference, tour around Frankfurt, and build close bonds with each other.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs practiced in Kansas City on Wednesday and Thursday and didn’t leave for Germany until Thursday evening. In the past three games this season, the team that travels across the country first has the advantage.
Both the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs are heading into this game tied at the top of the AFC, and this could possibly play a pivotal part in who gets home-field advantage come playoff time. The Dolphins have the opportunity to pick up a monster win over the reigning Super Bowl Champions and stop the stupid and idiotic narrative that “Miami can only beat weak teams.”
Also, a huge part of this game is players that the Miami Dolphins could be getting back from the injury report who haven’t played in the last couple of weeks. Center Connor Williams was active for the first time since Week 6 against the Carolina Panthers but didn’t play last week, and having him back would be an upgrade over backup center Liam Eichenburg.
Cornerback Xavien Howard has been absent the last two weeks against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7 and the New England Patriots in Week 8. Now, with Miami’s biggest off-season signing, Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, making his debut last week vs New England, what better game to have Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard lined up on opposite sides than in Germany against the Kansas City Chiefs? Finally, Left Tackle Terron Armstead has been activated off the Injured Reverse list and is practicing this week in Germany. Even though he might not play this week, it’s great to see Armstead back on the practice field.
You can’t talk about a game against the Kansas City Chiefs without mentioning wide receiver the cheetah Tyreek Hill. Hill was just named AFC Offensive Player of the Month, and this season has 1,014 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Tyreek Hill spent six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, and this will be the first time since joining the Miami Dolphins in March 2022 that Tyreek Hill will face his former team, the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Chiefs wide receiver is fired up for this week’s matchup. Fellow wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said during Wednesday’s Press Conference that Tyreek is treating this as a business trip and is locked in.
Finally, there is a lot to be excited about heading into this game with the amount of Pro Bowls and All-Pro caliber players on the field, the records of both these teams this season and the number of stakes in this game. However, in my opinion, the biggest matchup to watch in this game is Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel against Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Yes, we can talk about Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Tight End Travis Kelce all day long, but the Kansas City Chiefs defense is very underrated and not talked about enough.
Kansas City has the 4th overall defense as far as yards per game with 287.5 yards allowed per game, 3rd overall passing defensive with a good secondary with Cornerbacks L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie and safeties Justin Reid and Bryan Cook. The defensive line for the Chiefs can be very disruptive as well, with Chris Jones, who has 5.5 sacks on the season, Michael Danna with 5.5 sacks, and George Karlaftis with six sacks on the season.
With questions with the Miami Dolphins offensive line, this could play with the passing game and getting to the Quarterback if Tua Tagovailoa does not get the ball out quickly enough. There is a lot of the line this Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany, and the big possibility of the Miami Dolphins being able to shock the world by beating the Kansas City Chiefs and being at the top of the AFC.
