Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid talks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The Chiefs won 44-21. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) received a semi-bye in Week 18 after securing the AFC’s No. 3 seed. Andy Reid, the Chiefs’ head coach, rested many of his team’s key starters and still upset the Los Angeles Chargers 13–12.
However, the Chiefs did not learn their Wild Card round opponent until the Buffalo Bills upset the Miami Dolphins 21-14 on Sunday Night Football. With this loss, the Dolphins missed out on winning the AFC East, a title the team hasn’t had in 15 years. Instead of being the second seed and having home field advantage, Miami will go to Kansas City for the first round of the playoffs.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel didn’t want to dwell on the costly defeat. He promised Miami will put everything they got into beating their next opponent.
“I’m very confident that our players and coaches will turn their attention, full bore, to Kansas City,” McDaniel said. “Because that’s all we can do. This is a feeling that I can’t console or fix it with the team. It hurts. It should. We lost a game we thought we were capable of winning. Hats off to the Buffalo Bills… But we’ll focus on Kansas City because that’s the only way you can get through something like this.”
While the Dolphins finished the regular season with an 11-6 record, they are 1-5 against teams with a winning record. McDaniel said of the sobering stat, “My opinion on winning football games against records that aren’t above .500, it’s irrelevant. That narrative will occur until you do things to change it.”
The Chiefs face the Dolphins on Saturday, January 13 at 8:15 p.m. ET. The game will stream exclusively on Peacock.
