Chiefs vs. Dolphins: Kenneth Walker III Scores Twice as Mahomes and KC Grind to 3-0 in Week 3

Patrick Mahomes got a little deja vu in Miami this weekend: his hotel room was the same one he had the week he won his first Super Bowl. "You feel that on the field and seeing the stadium where you won your first Super Bowl," Mahomes said. "It was cool to be back here."

No confetti this time, just another notch in the win column. Kenneth Walker III scored once on the ground and once through the air, Mahomes completed 20 of 24 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns, and the Kansas City Chiefs outlasted the Miami Dolphins 24-10 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon to move to 3-0. Miami is 0-3 and, after losing De'Von Achane on the opening drive, starting to look snakebitten.

Fast Start, Long Middle, Firm Finish

The Chiefs opened like a team that had been averaging more than 450 yards and 32 points, because they had been. Travis Kelce turned the first snap of the game into a 48-yard catch-and-run, and three plays later Walker bulldozed in from 10 yards out. Miami responded with a 17-play, 91-yard drive that chewed up 9:27 and ended with Ollie Gordon II scoring from 3 yards, but it came at a brutal cost: Achane, a Pro Bowler, hurt his knee on an 11-yard run during that march and left the game.

Kansas City went right back down the field, 10 plays and 65 yards, and Mahomes flipped a 5-yard touchdown to Walker for a 14-7 lead. At that point the Dolphins' defense looked headed for a repeat of the previous week, when San Francisco scored touchdowns on its first five possessions.

Instead, the game turned into a slog. Miami failed on fourth down, the Chiefs failed on fourth down, L'Jarius Sneed forced and recovered a Malik Willis fumble, and rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez answered with a diving interception of Mahomes before halftime. Miami's best stretch came out of the break: a nine-play, 56-yard drive fueled by a 42-yard catch from tight end Greg Dulcich and capped by Riley Patterson's 37-yard field goal. Suddenly it was 14-10, and the Chiefs had gone quiet.

Their answer was a grown-up drive. Pinned at their own 4, they went 80 yards in 13 plays and 6:36, and Harrison Butker's 34-yard field goal made it 17-10 with 11:35 left.

Walker Runs Hard, Mahomes Runs the Show

Walker's line, 18 carries for 70 yards, won't jump off the page, and it snapped his streak of 100-yard games to open the season. Context matters, though. The Chiefs credited him with 12 broken tackles, and he still leads the NFL with 360 rushing yards through three weeks. Every one of those 70 yards felt like it came with a defender attached.

Mahomes was surgical: 20 completions on 24 throws at 10.3 yards per attempt. Kansas City's play-action game was ridiculous, too: per the Chiefs, he went 11 of 12 for 183 yards off play fakes. His two touchdown passes moved him past Joe Montana for 20th on the NFL's career list, the kind of company that never gets old. Rashee Rice led the receivers with seven catches for 88 yards.

Kelce's day was a two-act play with a long intermission: the 48-yarder on the first snap, then no catches and no targets until the fourth quarter, when he caught the touchdown that sealed it. On defense, Nick Bolton led the way with 11 tackles, rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane added 10, and George Karlaftis grabbed the first interception of his career.

For Miami, Willis was gritty but sloppy, throwing for 210 yards and running for 56 more while committing two turnovers. Rodriguez, with an interception and three tackles for loss, looks like a keeper.

Fourth-and-5, Then Kelce Ices It

The game hinged on one Miami possession. Trailing by seven, the Dolphins took over with 11:35 left and spent 5:39 driving to near midfield before facing fourth-and-5. Cornerback Nohl Williams broke up the pass, and that was the last real chance Miami had.

Kansas City needed five plays to cover 47 yards, and Mahomes found Kelce in the end zone from 11 yards out with 2:55 left. On the next series, Chris Jones batted a Willis pass at the line and Karlaftis caught it. Butker missed a 50-yarder late, which nobody in red will remember by Tuesday.

Stats That Matter

• 0: Sacks by either team. Mahomes was never taken down, and neither was Willis.
• 0 for 3: Miami on fourth down. Kansas City went 0 for 1.
• 34:21: Miami's time of possession. The Dolphins ran 67 plays to Kansas City's 49 and still lost by two touchdowns.
• 5th: The Chiefs are 3-0 for the fifth time with Mahomes as their quarterback, joining 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2024.

What It Means: KC Wins Ugly, Miami Is Bleeding

The Chiefs are unbeaten, but their own players were the first to say this wasn't vintage. "Obviously we didn't play to our standard that we would hold for ourselves," Mahomes admitted, before landing on the bigger picture: "We're not going to be mad about winning." Andy Reid struck the same tone. "We've got plenty of things to work on, but it's great to be 3-0," he said. Next up is a road trip to Las Vegas.

Miami's problem is bigger than one loss. The Dolphins have now dropped all three games by double digits, and coach Jeff Hafley said the early word on Achane did not "sound optimistic." That leaves Gordon, the third-string back, carrying the load after a 17-carry, 41-yard day. Rodriguez, at least, sounded like a guy who sees something forming. "I'm pleased with the physicality of this defense and of this team," he said, before adding the necessary caveat: "Now, we have to get better at the football part of it." Next stop: Minnesota.

Closing Take: Winning the Ones They Used to Lose

The best teams in the league don't need every Sunday to be a highlight reel. They need the 1 p.m. road grinder against a winless team to end in a win. Mahomes put it in perspective by pointing back to last year, when in his words "we were losing some of these games." Not this version. This version found a way, and maybe that hotel room deserves a little credit.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and Chiefs.com.