Dolphins visit KC in AFC wild-card rematch of Germany game won by Chiefs

MIAMI (11-6) at KANSAS CITY (11-6)

Saturday 8 p.m. EST, Peacock

OPENING LINE: Chiefs by 4, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Dolphins 10-7; Chiefs 9-7-1.

SERIES RECORD: Tied 16-16.

LAST MEETING: Chiefs beat Dolphins 21-14 on Nov. 5, 2023, in Frankfurt, Germany.

LAST WEEK: Dolphins lost to Bills 21-14; Chiefs beat Chargers 13-12.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE: OVERALL (1), RUSH (6), PASS (1), SCORING (2).

DOLPHINS DEFENSE: OVERALL (10), RUSH (7), PASS (15), SCORING (22).

CHIEFS OFFENSE: OVERALL (9), RUSH (19), PASS (6), SCORING (15).

CHIEFS DEFENSE: OVERALL (2), RUSH (18), PASS (4), SCORING (2).

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Dolphins plus-2; Chiefs minus-11.

DOLPHINS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Tyreek Hill. Few teams were willing to give him a chance when Kansas City spent a fifth-round pick on him in 2016. He rewarded the Chiefs with four 1,000-yard seasons in six years and helped them win a Super Bowl ring. Hill has continued that success after his trade to Miami, catching 119 passes for 1,710 yards and seven scores last season, then catching 119 for a league-leading 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.

CHIEFS PLAYER TO WATCH: CB L'Jarius Sneed may have been one of the biggest Pro Bowl snubs in the NFL, and he will have a chance to prove it when he is matched up against Hill on Saturday night. Sneed helped the Chiefs limit him to eight catches and just 62 yards and no scores when the teams met in November.

KEY MATCHUP: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes against the Miami pass defense, which limited the reigning NFL MVP to just 185 yards passing when they met in Frankfurt, Germany. Mahomes had two TD passes and no picks in the game, but he also failed to get Kansas City on the scoreboard in the second half, when its defense had to hang on for the 21-14 victory.

KEY INJURIES: Dolphins OT Terron Armstead (knee), S DeShone Elliott (calf), CB Xavien Howard (foot) and S Jevon Holland (knee) missed practice time this week. Chiefs LT Wanya Morris (concussion) is unlikely to play, though regular starter Donovan Smith should be back from his neck injury.

SERIES NOTES: While the series is tied 16-all, and the Chiefs have won four straight matchups, the Dolphins have won the games that mattered the most. They won a double-overtime AFC divisional-round playoff game in 1971 that remains the longest game in NFL history, then won wild-card games over Kansas City in 1991 and 1994. The Dolphins' most recent win over the Chiefs came on Nov. 6, 2011, before Andy Reid took over in Kansas City.

STATS AND STUFF: The Chiefs and Dolphins along with the Bills and Steelers are the only teams with winning records each of the past four seasons. ... Miami is in the playoffs for the second straight season for the first time since 1997-2001, when it went five consecutive years. ... The Dolphins led the NFL in total offense at 401.3 yards per game for the first time in 30 years. ... Miami has lost 10 consecutive games when the temperature at kickoff is 40 degrees or lower. QB Tua Tagovailoa is 0-4 in such games. ... Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 yards passing this season. The most recent Dolphins QB to do that was Dan Marino in 1992. ... Miami has only three road playoff wins in franchise history and one since 1972. That was on Jan. 9, 2000, in the final game played by Seattle at the Kingdome. ... The Dolphins enter the playoffs with an 11-game takeaway streak, the longest in the NFL. ... The Dolphins are 9-0 when holding opponents to 20 points or fewer. Kansas City scored 21 in beating them in November. ... Miami led the NFL this season in plays of at least 10 yards (255) and 50 yards (12). ... The Chiefs are playing their 15th consecutive playoff game at home, not counting the Super Bowl, a streak that dates to Jan. 15, 2017. ... The Chiefs are AFC West champions for the eighth straight time, the second-longest streak in NFL history. ... Kansas City allowed 20 points or fewer in 13 of its 17 games this season. ... The only team that allowed fewer offensive points than the Chiefs (271) was top-seeded Baltimore (261). ... Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had 984 yards receiving, ending his streak of seven straight 1,000-yard seasons. He could have extended it had he played in a meaningless Week 18 game against the Chargers. ... Kelce needs 19 catches to pass Jerry Rice (151) and seven TD catches to pass Rice (22) for those NFL playoff records. ... Reid has 22 playoff wins, second only to Bill Belichick (31) in NFL history. ... Mahomes needs 4 yards rushing to pass Marcus Allen (386) for the Chiefs postseason record. ... Mahomes has 35 playoff TDs, eighth most in NFL history. He needs two to pass Ben Roethlisberger (36), three to pass Drew Brees (37) and six to pass Peyton Manning (40) for the top five.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL