Chiefs beat Dolphins 24-10 as Kenneth Walker III scores twice
Kansas City improved to 3-0 as Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes and Kenneth Walker III scored on the ground and through the air in a 24-10 win over the winless Miami Dolphins.
Chiefs grind to 3-0
Kansas City beat Miami 24-10 at Hard Rock Stadium to move to 3-0, and 1-0 in the division. Patrick Mahomes went 20 of 24 for 246 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Kenneth Walker III did the heavy lifting on offense, scoring on a rushing touchdown and catching a touchdown pass, and finished with 70 yards on 18 carries.
Miami fell to 0-3, 0-1 in the division, even though the numbers were close. The Dolphins actually had more first downs, 19 to 18, and out-rushed Kansas City 119 yards to 88. Kansas City held the edge in total yards, 334 to 329, and won the turnover battle two to one.
How the scoring went
Walker opened the game with a 10-yard touchdown run at the 12:54 mark of the first quarter for a 7-0 Kansas City lead. Miami answered before the quarter ended when Ollie Gordon II scored on a 3-yard run to tie it 7-7 with 3:27 left.
Walker struck again in the second quarter, hauling in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes with 12:58 remaining to make it 14-7, a lead Kansas City would not give up. Miami's Riley Patterson kicked a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the gap to 14-10. Harrison Butker's 34-yard field goal early in the fourth made it 17-10, and Mahomes closed it out with an 11-yard touchdown throw to Travis Kelce with 2:55 to play.
Stat line stragglers
Rashee Rice led all receivers with seven catches for 88 yards. On the other side, Malik Willis threw for 210 yards on 20-of-36 passing with an interception and also paced Miami's ground game with 56 yards on nine carries. Chris Bell caught four passes for 67 yards for the Dolphins. Jordyn Brooks led all tacklers with 10 stops, and Kansas City's Nick Bolton was close behind with 11.
The injury column got long
Miami's day got harder early when De'Von Achane left with a knee injury that ended up requiring ACL surgery and a trip to injured reserve. The Dolphins were also without Caleb Douglas (ankle), Jaylen Wright (foot, stinger) and Robert Beal Jr. (hamstring). Kansas City had its own list, with Josh Simmons (back) and Chamarri Conner (knee) out, Cooper McDonald landing on injured reserve with a knee injury, and Omarr Norman-Lott out after knee, ACL surgery.
Mahomes summed up the effort plainly afterward: "We're not going to be mad about winning." Andy Reid kept it just as simple: "We knew it'd be four quarters of football."
Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.