The Kansas City Chiefs are set to hit the road for the first time this season with a matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Here are five things to keep in mind heading into game day.
1. Here's a look at the final injury report for both teams.
The Chiefs will be without offensive tackle Josh Simmons (back), while safety Chamarri Conner (knee) is listed as "Doubtful," but in some good news, cornerback Mansoor Delane (shoulder) is set to take on a larger role after not seeing the field last week.
As for the Dolphins, they'll be without rookie wide receiver Caleb Dougals (ankle), who hauled in five catches for 94 yards in Week 1 before getting hurt last week.
2. The Chiefs displayed some incredible offensive balance last week.
Kanas City racked up 523 yards of total offense on Sunday, marking the Chiefs' highest tally since the 2022 season, and what stood out was the balance.
The Chiefs recorded more than 350 passing yards (371) and 150 rushing yards (152) for the first time since the 2018 season on Sunday, and among all teams, it was just the fourth such performance since the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
Tailback Ken Walker followed up his historic debut with another tremendous performance on Sunday, recording nearly 180 scrimmage yards for the second week in a row, and the ripple effects of that production were evident in the Chiefs' play-action passing game.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 14-of-17 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns while using play-action against the Colts, tallying the most completions off play-action in his brilliant career.
For some more context, the Chiefs ranked last in the NFL in terms of play-action passing yards in 2025 with just 396. Kansas City already has 113 passing yards on play-action through just two games this year, amassing 30% of last season's production in just 12% of the time.
It's all helped Mahomes record his best start in numerous areas through two games since the 2022 season, including team points (64), passing yards (566), passing touchdowns (5) and passer rating (103.8).
Walker, meanwhile, leads the NFL in rushing yards (290), scrimmage yards (369) and broken tackles (29) through two weeks, and his yards from scrimmage total is the second-best by any player in their first two games with a new team in the Super Bowl Era.
Additionally, only three teams (other than the Chiefs) have more total rushing yards than Walker, whose rushing total through two weeks is the highest for any player since the 2012 season.
It's all to say that the Chiefs offensive balance – which has led to the No. 1 total offense in the league through two weeks – is nothing short of special, and they'll have a chance to put together another comprehensive performance on Sunday.
3. Veteran Malik Willis is the man at quarterback for Miami.
Willis, who played well when called upon as the Green Bay Packers' backup over the last two seasons, earned a contract from Miami over the offseason, and he presents his fair share of challenges.
Notably, Willis is a dynamic player who rushed for 261 yards on 42 attempts in 11 games (3 starts) for Green Bay, and he showed that ability in Week 1 of this year, tallying 39 yards on six carries.
An issue for Miami this season though has been protecting its new quarterback. Willis has been pressured on 43.1% of his dropbacks this season, according to Next Gen Stats, with marks the third-highest rate in the NFL. He's also been sacked a league-most nine times.
Willis is also working with the youngest roster in the NFL, as the Dolphins' 845 total snaps by rookies so far marks the most in the league (and 340 more than any other team).
That slew of young players makes the Dolphins dangerous, however, if the Chiefs don't attack this game with the same intensity they displayed through the first two weeks of the season.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes talked about that reality – and the Chiefs' mindset – prior to practice on Wednesday.
"All offseason, we heard about how bad we were, so the guys were super hungry and came in with a [certain] mentality. I think that's why we've had the success that we've had these first two weeks, and now it's about keeping that hunger," Mahomes said. "One thing we're preaching is that we're nowhere near where we want to be at. We're still early in the season. There's still so much for us to learn from and for us to get better at, so we have to have that mentality week-in and week-out if we want to have success."
4. Kansas City can't let tailback De'Von Achane have a vintage performance.
If the Chiefs find themselves in a close game on Sunday, Dolphins' tailback De'Von Achane will likely be the reason why.
Achane is one of the most explosive players in the NFL, as evidenced by his league-best 5.67 yards-per-carry average in 2025. Achane ripped off 40 runs of 10+ yards last season – the most in the NFL – and his average of 114.9 scrimmage yards-per-game ranked fourth among all players.
The speedy Achane has yet to top 100 scrimmage yards in a game so far this season, however, and that's due in part to the Dolphins' tendency so far to fall behind early in games. Miami has tallied the fewest rushing attempts (16) in the second half of games so far this year as the Dolphins have faced sizable deficits, forcing the offense to become one-dimensional.
Kansas City will need to do the same on Sunday to avoid Achane making a major mark on the game.
5. It'll be a hot one on Sunday.
Fall weather has (finally) arrived in Kansas City, but Miami is still pushing triple-digit heat indexes on a regular basis.
Sunday is projected to feature a top heat index of 96 degrees, pairing significant heat with considerable humidity. Fortunately, this is where the Chiefs' grueling days up at training camp in St. Joseph can serve a major benefit.
Kansas City endured one of its tougher training camps in recent memory over the summer, and while Sunday's conditions won't be exactly comfortable, it shouldn't be anything the Chiefs aren't already used to overcoming.
