NFL Super Wild Card Weekend Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 26, Miami Dolphins 7

The Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins played the fourth-coldest game in NFL history on Saturday night, with temperatures for the wild-card playoff clash reaching as low as -4° Fahrenheit (-20° Celsius).

The gusts up to 27 m.p.h. made for a wind chill of -27° Fahrenheit, so you could perhaps forgive both teams for their mishaps in this one. The Dolphins offense averaged just 4.5 yards per play, almost a full 2.0 yards short of the mark they put up through the regular season, while the Chiefs missed several big-play opportunities throughout the game.

Rashee Rice and Isiah Pacheco found the end zone for the Chiefs in their playoff debut, with the remaining points coming courtesy of four Harrison Butker field goals. The Dolphins scored only once, though it came from a superb 53-yard play from Tyreek Hill, where he gained separation almost immediately off the line, secured the pass through heavy contact and forced a couple of missed tackles on his way to the end zone. 

For as rocky as things have seemed for Kansas City of late, this was one of the team's better offensive performances of the season. Patrick Mahomes finished 23-of-41 for 262 yards and a touchdown and has now passed Troy Aikman, Aaron Rodgers and Roger Staubach for the eighth-most career playoff wins in NFL history (12).

The Bills will face either the Buffalo Bills or the Houston Texans in the divisional round next week.

Offensive spotlight: Patrick Mahomes was made for January football, and he showed that once again on Saturday with a solid performance that propelled his team to victory. He completed 23 of his 41 pass attempts for one touchdown and no interceptions, though that stat line would have been better if not for the two drops from tight end Travis Kelce. 

Mahomes recorded an 8.5-yard average depth of target on the night and finished 7-of-13 for 153 yards on passes he threw 10 or more yards downfield. He added 41 rushing yards on two carries, with his biggest play as a runner coming via a 28-yard scamper on fourth-and-4 in the second quarter. 

Defensive spotlight: Chiefs interior defensive lineman Chris Jones recorded a hit and two hurries against the Dolphins, but he produced another six pass-rush wins that would have resulted in pressure had Tua Tagovailoa not gotten the ball out before Jones could get there.

Rookie spotlight: Rashee Rice is thriving in his newly established role as the Chiefs WR1, and he marked his preseason debut with eight catches for a team-high 130 receiving yards and his first postseason touchdown reception. Rice racked up 77 yards after the catch, adding to his already lofty season total in that metric, and moved the chains five times.

Box Score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving