Dolfan Radio | Week 3 Preview
By Brad Michaels • September 25, 2026
Sit down a minute. We have been on the road for two Sundays and we have not won one. Sunday they open the gates at Hard Rock and the first one that counts is against Kansas City, who look like themselves again. I have loved this building since I was a boy. I also know what walks through those tunnels when the other fellow is 2–0 and whole. The question mark in the title is not cute. It is the afternoon.
Hard Rock Stadium, Sunday, September 27, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS. We are 0–2. They are 2–0. The board has Kansas City minus 10 and a half to 11 and a half, total around 45 and a half. That is a two-score favorite in our house, and I am not going to dress it up. I wrote 4–13 before a snap was played. I still think this year is going to be rough. That does not mean I am staying home, and it does not mean these kids get written off because Mahomes is coming down I-95.
Sunday, Sept. 27. Hard Rock Stadium. 1 p.m. ET. CBS. Home opener. Chiefs’ first road game.
Chiefs −10.5 to −11.5. Total 45.5. Miami moneyline in the +500s. Double-digit dog at home.
Chiefs 27, Dolphins 16. Compete for a half. Finish the day. Do not confuse a home crowd with a finished roster.
You know the picture if you have been here. The lot fills early. The aqua shows up. Somebody’s uncle is already arguing about the kickoff temperature. For two weeks we have been guests — Allegiant, then Levi’s — and the building has been someone else’s. Sunday it is ours. That matters to a young team more than the television people will admit. It does not tackle Kenneth Walker. It does not cover Travis Kelce. It does give a locker room a chance to hear itself.
I have been walking into Miami home openers since I was five in 1970. Some of them felt like a beginning. Some of them felt like a warning we refused to read. This one sits in between. We have shown, for thirty minutes at a time, that we can play football. We have also shown what happens when the other fellow is ready after the break. Santa Clara was 14–6 at half and 21–0 in the third. Eighteen plays, five yards after the break. I wrote that hard because it was true. I am not taking it back. I am also not going to pretend these kids invented losing. This year was always going to ask more of them than it gave back.
Week 1 in Kansas City was the run game hiding a quarterback still finding his knee. Patrick Mahomes, first game back from the December ACL and LCL, threw for 184. Kenneth Walker III ran for 173 and Denver never found the edge. Final was 31–10. That was the old Chiefs without the old Mahomes.
Week 2 on Sunday night was the picnic. Mahomes went 32-of-47 for 382 yards and three scores, no pick. Kelce, 36 years old, caught nine for 101 and a touchdown. Walker added 117 on the ground. They needed overtime and Harrison Butker to finish the Colts 33–30, which tells you the defense is not a wall every snap. It also tells you they still find a way. Andy Reid’s teams have been doing that longer than some of our rookies have been alive.
Through two they are averaging 32 points and 469 yards. Walker is the engine. Kelce is the safety valve. Rashee Rice practiced in full all week. Mahomes practiced in full on the knee. That is the old picture, walking into our house on a one o’clock kick.
The good news first, because these kids have earned a sentence that isn’t a scolding. Chop Robinson cleared the protocol. Full practice Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. No game designation. He missed Santa Clara with the concussion and we did not sack Brock Purdy once. He said he will wear a Guardian Cap. Third concussion in two seasons, fifth of his playing life if you count Penn State. I am glad he is playing. I am also glad he is protecting the head that has to last him. Uche, Herring, and Andre Jones Jr. — the one we signed off Buffalo’s practice squad Monday — are the rest of the edge. Robert Beal Jr. is Out with the hamstring.
The other column. Caleb Douglas is Out. Ankle, right one, from late in the 49ers game. He had 5-for-94 in Vegas and we were going to keep throwing it his way. We will not, not this week. Hafley said Chris Bell is expected to play. Ryan Miller, who took one 77 yards last Sunday, is Questionable after a full Friday. Jaylen Wright is Doubtful with the stinger and the foot. JuJu Brents is Questionable. Washington, Tolbert, Coleman Jr., and Bell are the room. Willis threw an interception in Vegas and none last week, and he has not punched a red-zone trip. Achane is still the offense when the offense is an offense.
Kansas City’s Friday sheet: Josh Simmons Out again, third straight, back. Chamarri Conner Doubtful, and Andy Reid said he will be deactivated. Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed were limited all week and carry no designation, which means they are expected. Mahomes, Rice, no stamp. Their left tackle is the backup. That is the only soft spot I can point at without lying to you.
| Miami | Kansas City | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Points | 13 and 13 | 31 and 33 |
| Last week | L 13–35 at San Francisco | W 33–30 OT vs Indianapolis |
| QB | Willis 14-23-197-1-0 last week | Mahomes 32-47-382-3-0 last week |
| Feature back | Achane 20-74 vs SF | Walker 173, then 117 |
| The other skill | Douglas Out. Miller Questionable | Kelce 9-101-1 vs Indy |
| Edge | Chop expected. Beal Out | Jones expected on a calf |
| Friday stamps | Douglas Out, Beal Out, Wright Doubtful | Simmons Out, Conner Doubtful / deactivated |
The first question is Walker. If we cannot tackle him in space, Mahomes never has to be the old Mahomes. He can hand it off and let the clock do the work. The second question is Kelce on early downs and on third-and-medium, because Rodriguez is going to see a lot of that big tight end and I like the kid enough to want him to pass the exam. The third question is the one I asked after Santa Clara. Can they come out of the locker room ready. Fifteen minutes at the break. Whatever was said in that room last week did not travel back onto the field. Hafley is Year 1. New is not a shield. It is also not a hanging. I want to see the first-half team for sixty minutes, not thirty.
The standard underneath does not need a speech. You do not quit the work in the middle of the day. You finish a red-zone trip. You get the quarterback on the ground at least once. Chop being back is the chance to do the last one. Douglas being out is the reminder that this roster is still thin in the places that hurt.
Chiefs 27, Dolphins 16. Home helps. Chop helps. Neither one turns Kansas City into a team we are supposed to beat in September of a rebuild. I like these kids. I wrote the year at 4–13 because I live here, not because I enjoy being grim. If Willis takes care of the ball, if Achane gets enough touches, if the front gets Mahomes down even twice, you can leave Hard Rock at 16–27 with your head up and not feel small. If the second half is five yards again, it will look like the number on the board, and I will not dress that up.
1993 stays in the featured slot. We have not won one. I am not moving the furniture because the gates are open and the aqua is in the building. Be ready. That is all the Coach ever asked. Leave the score you have in the comments. I will be here after. Same chair. Same team.
Friday, Sept. 25 final. Miami: Douglas Out (ankle), Beal Out (hamstring), Wright Doubtful (stinger/foot), Miller Questionable, Brents Questionable. Chop full all week, expected, Guardian Cap. Kansas City: Simmons Out (back), Conner Doubtful / Reid said deactivated. Jones and Sneed limited, no designation. Mahomes, Rice full. Pick stays Chiefs 27, Dolphins 16.