Getty Miami Dolphins wide receivers Tyreek Hill (#10) and Jaylen Waddle (#17), and running back Raheem Mostert (#31).
The Miami Dolphins shared two key game status updates that the Kansas City Chiefs will make note of.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel shared on Thursday, January 11 that he’s “optimistic” that both wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (ankle) and running back Raheem Mostert (knee/ankle) will play against the Chiefs in the Wild-Card round of the playoffs.
Waddle suffered a high ankle sprain during Miami’s Week 15 win over the Dallas Cowboys and subsequently missed the Dolphins’ final two regular season games. He was limited in practice all week leading up to Saturday’s Wild-Card game.
Mostert suffered knee and ankle injuries during the win against Dallas as well and also missed the final two games of the regular season. He was also limited in practice all week.
If both players play — which it sounds like they will based on McDaniel’s remarks — that’s a big boost to Miami’s offense and a much tougher challenge for Kansas City’s defense. Waddle is the only other dynamic playmaker the Dolphins have outside of Tyreek Hill at the receiver position, so having to not face him would have made things much easier for the Chiefs’ secondary. Mostert is dynamic in the run game and provides an electric 1-2 punch alongside rookie phenom De’Von Achane in Miami’s backfield.
Patrick Mahomes Talks Dolphins Rematch
Speaking to the media on January 9, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed what Kansas City needs to do differently in the rematch versus Miami, even though the Chiefs came out of Germany with a win over the Dolphins during the regular season.
“I think we just have to have better execution throughout the entire game. We had a good first half, but in the second half we sputtered a little bit, we missed a couple of deep shots here and there,” Mahomes said during his press conference.
“They’re a good defense, they have a great defensive coordinator in Coach (Vic) Fangio who I know really well. He’s done a great job of having different schemes every time I play against him. They have a lot of guys that play extremely hard, they’ll be a great challenge for us, it’s a full team, it’s a great football team – that’s what you get in the playoffs, every team is a great football team. Whoever plays the best that day wins.”
The Chiefs-Dolphins game will take place on Saturday, January 13 at 7 p.m. Central time. The game will be available to watch on Peacock, but folks in the Kansas City area can also check their local listings.
Twitter/X Discusses Chiefs-Dolphins Rematch
Users on X, formerly Twitter, discussed the rematch of the Chiefs and Dolphins in the Wild-Card Round.
“Us Chiefs fans are never gonna hear the end of it if we lose to a banged up Dolphins team at home all while it being like 5 degrees which favors us a lot,” one user wrote.
“The Dolphins offense is going to get clamped again by our Chiefs defense. (L’Jarius) Sneed is gonna lock up Tyreek and give him a warm welcome back to KC,” another user wrote. “Can’t wait to watch Mahomes & the Chiefs get a playoff win on Saturday (why are we on Peacock though).”