Not just regular cold. Frigid cold. Penguins wearing parkas cold. Not a great environment for human football players to perform their best.
And each team needs some level of best to make it to the next round. The Dolphins need Tua Tagovailoa to show up and be the top tier quarterback he’s capable of being. They need Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert, who have been sidelined with injuries, to perform well in concert with Tyreek Hill, who also needs to have a big game.
The Chiefs need to cut down on the drops and mistakes, especially from their receivers (which was also true in the regular season). The Chiefs also need tight end Travis Kelce to become a stud again, a level of play that has eluded him lately.
It will be hard for any of this to happen in the bitter cold. Until the NFL can control the weather (they’ve probably been working on that for years in a secret lab), the players and coaches will have to make it work.
Follow along as Yahoo Sports provides the latest news, scores and highlights from NFL Wild Card Saturday.
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Alas, a third fourth-down attempt falls incomplete. Time to log off Peacock unless you really want to see some Chiefs celebrations.
A second fourth-down conversion! They still need 19 points in four minutes.
Dolphins driving again, just converted a 4th-and-6 with 4:21 remaining. Time is not their friend.
The Chiefs and their people are having a good time.
They don’t get it. Chiefs ball at their own 22 and this one is just about over.
Trent McDuffie just crushed Tyreek Hill on a screen. Dolphins now facing 4th-and-16.
Dolphins avoid disaster on a bizarre play. Tua Tagovailoa tried to throw what looked like a backwards pass, but the ball hit a helmet on the way out and bounced out of bounds before the Chiefs could recover. It was initially ruled a fumble, but the Dolphins successfully challenged to make it an (incomplete) forward pass.
And then Tua Tagovailoa connects with Cedric Wilson for their first third-down conversion of the game.
Wheels beginning to fall off for the Dolphins. They take a delay of game penalty to turn a 3rd-and-6 into 3rd-and-11.
The drive was extended by a borderline roughing-the-passer penalty on third-and-20.
Isaiah Pacheco caps a 72-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown. Chiefs lead 26-7 and are in complete control.
Rashee Rice continues to make plays. 28-yard gain here gains a first down on second-and-18. So far, he has eight catches for 130 yards with a touchdown.
The third quarter’s over with Kansas City in control with a 19-7 lead.
The Dolphins punt again after a nine-yard drive. Outside of a fluky Tyreek Hill touchdown on an underthrown pass, their offense has got nothing for these conditions.
Mahomes seemed fine. He stayed in on the next play, and the Chiefs failed to convert on third-and-goal. Kansas City kicked a field goal to extend its lead to 19-7.
Patrick Mahomes’ helmet just broke. A chunk of it broke off on a hit by DeShon Elliott, and they had to replace it.
The Chiefs then ran two plays before officials took notice. Eventually they stopped play so Mahomes could get a backup helmet.
The Chiefs are threatening again on their first drive of the second half. First and goal at the Miami 3-yard line.
The Dolphins got the ball first to start the second half. They punted after a three-and-out.
Meanwhile, here’s Andy Reid’s frozen mustache:
The Dolphins try to get into field goal range before the end of the half, but come up short. They go into halftime trailing, 16-7.
Chiefs come up empty on third-and-7 to set up a Harrison Butker field goal attempt. Butker connects for a third time from the 32-yard line in less than optimal conditions. Chiefs lead, 16-7.
Kansas City’s back in business. A 39-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to Rashee Rice has the Chiefs back in the red zone in the final minute of the first half.
Chiefs defenders collapse on Tua Tagovailoa on third down to force a punt. Kansas City will have another chance to score before halftime. George Karlaftis gets the sack.
Kansas City can’t take advantage of good field position. Chiefs punt from the Miami 48-yard line after a three-and-out. Miami has the ball back with 3:02 remaining in the half, trailing 13-7.
Raheem Mostert just dropped a normally easy screen pass on third-and-2. Tua Tagovailoa’s ensuing fourth-down pass to Tyreek Hill falls incomplete on a pass breakup by Trent McDuffie. The Chiefs take over on downs near midfield.
The cold weather is making an impact on the game.
A Jawaan Taylor block in the back negated a would-be Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass to Rashee Rice. The Chiefs settle for a field goal after the penalty and lead, 13-7 with 6:25 left in the first half.
Penalties have plagued Taylor all season. The Chiefs tackle tallied 17 in the regular season.
Kansas City goes for it on fourth-and-four from the Miami 38 instead of opting for a 55-yard field goal in the cold. Patrick Mahomes delivers with a 28-yard scramble to set the Chiefs up in the red zone.
Tyreek Hill’s used to the Kansas City conditions. The Dolphins receiver broke free for a 53-yard touchdown on an underthrow ball from Tua Tagovailoa to get Miami on the board. After a slow start in the cold, Miami trails, 10-7 early in the second quarter.
The Dolphins may be down another key defender:
Injury Update | Eli Apple has a foot injury and is questionable to return.
Mahomes gets pressured and throws it away. Chiefs settle for a 28-yard field goal from Harrison Butker to go up 10-0.
First quarter ends with the Chiefs up 7-0 and facing a 3rd-and-6 at the Dolphins’ 10-yard line. Big play coming up to open the second quarter.
Chiefs win the challenge. First down in the red zone.
Andy Reid drops the challenge flag, here we go.
And now Rashee Rice falls just short on third down. Chiefs line up to go for it, then call timeout as the play clock ticks down. Replay is showing that a challenge on the spot would probably go well for the Chiefs.
OOF. Mahomes finds a wide-open Travis Kelce 10 yards in front of the end zone but the pass slips right between his hands.
Dolphins CB Eli Apple is down with an injury. Not what an already shorthanded defense needed in a 7-0 hole.
Isiah Pacheco is still running angry. He’s up to 51 yards on six rushes. Tackling him at -4 degrees doesn’t look fun.
INTERCEPTION
Tua Tagovailoa sails a pass too high and it reaches Mike Edwards in the Kansas City secondary. Chiefs take over at their own 42. They have definitely looked more comfortable in this weather so far.
Tua Tagovailoa just matched his longest run of the year, at nine yards. The Chiefs bit on a fake toss and left him enough room for a first down.
Mahomes had Mecole Hardman open and way deep, but the wind was not his friend there. It falls just incomplete and the Chiefs are punting right back.
Dolphins open with a three-and-out, with two ineffective runs, a false start and a shallow pass that finishes well short. Chiefs will get good field position with the ball on their own 43-yard line.
The Chiefs open strong in the cold. Patrick Mahomes finds Rashee Rice for an 11-yard touchdown to cap a 69-yard opening drive. Kansas City leads, 7-0 early in the first.
Taylor Swift, meanwhile, gets an icy view from an Arrowhead Stadium box.
The weather’s not scaring the Chiefs away from their pass game. They open with three straight passes including a third-and-10 conversion from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce.
Miami won the toss and will defer. The Chiefs have the ball first with a kickoff windchill at -27 degrees. Stay warm, Kansas City.
Another angle: Yep, still cold.
This does not look pleasant:
Some Dolphins players including De’Von Achane opting to go without sleeves:
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