The Dolphins are doomed by a botched snap loss to the Chiefs in Germany
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes, safety Bryan Cook had a 59-yard fumble return and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 21-14 on Sunday at Deutsche Bank Park.
The Chiefs (7-2) did just enough to slow the NFL’s top offense in their first-ever regular season game in Frankfurt, but almost blew a big lead.
Miami’s comeback failed when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa failed to handle a snap on fourth-and-10 at the Kansas City 31 with 1:03 to play.
Mahomes connected with scoring passes to Rashee Rice and Jerick McKinnon in the first half as Miami (6-3) repeatedly found itself stuck in third-and-long situations. Even against teams with winning records, the Dolphins lost to a 3-0 record this season.
Mahomes finished 20 of 30 yards for a season-low 185 yards in his European debut, but the Chiefs offense struggled in the second half. Tight end Travis Kelce had just three catches for 14 yards.
Three Chiefs players gave Kansas City a 21-0 lead just before halftime with one of the best defensive plays of the season.
And it came at the expense of former teammate Tyreek Hill.
As the Dolphins gained momentum late in the first half, cornerback Trent McDuffie stuffed Hill on a short pass in the flat and took the ball away from the All-Pro receiver. Mike Edwards grabbed the ball and after Hill tried to tackle him, Edwards passed to Cook, who passed it back for the score.
Hill finished the game with a team-high eight catches for 62 yards.
Taylor Swift was not present, nor was Miami’s starting offense. The only thing more surprising than Miami’s problems on offense in the first half was that referee Clay Martin declared a “false start” in German in the first quarter.
Miami had not been suspended in the first half of a game since Week 2 of the 2021 season.
But Tagovailoa started the comeback with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Wilson Jr. in the fourth quarter.
Bradley Chubb’s strip sack of Mahomes then gave Miami the ball at the Kansas City 27-yard line, and Raheem Mostert ran in from 13 yards out after unnecessarily tackling Chris Jones on a third-and-20 pass to keep the drive alive. Mostert had 12 carries for 85 yards.
Tagovailoa finished 21 of 34 for a season-low 193 yards.
