The Chiefs were in their element on Saturday.
On a bitter cold night, Kansas City's most dominant unit -- its defense -- nullified Miami's high-octane offense, holding the Dolphins to 264 total yards and a single score in a 26-7 statement win to reach the AFC Divisional Round for a sixth straight season.
"I think physicality," defensive tackle Chris Jones told NFL Network's James Palmer about how the Chiefs shut down one of the league's best offenses. "We played together, and guys just committed, man. Committed. We knew it was going to be a tough battle coming in. We knew how high-powered the offense is and played disciplined physical football."
The temperature at kickoff was -4 degrees with a -27 wind chill, the fourth-coldest game in NFL history and the coldest ever at Arrowhead Stadium.
While the speed-sapped Miami seemed to languish in that atmosphere, Kansas City's second-ranked defense in both scoring and yards thrived, bullying Tua Tagovailoa and Co. to a night of repeated ineffectiveness.
The Fins' lone breakthrough came on a 53-yard pass to Tyreek Hill, who caught a ball thrown from midfield by Tagovailoa at the 16-yard line and weaved through a pair of his former team's defenders to the end zone.
Hill led all Miami receivers in both receptions and yards with five for 62. Outside of that single play, he managed just nine yards on four receptions.
The Chiefs didn't allow the running game to compensate for a sputtering passing performance by Tagovailoa, either. They gave up 33 yards on the ground to Raheem Mostert, the league's rushing TD leader, and held his backfield mate De’Von Achane to 1.5 yards per attempt on six totes.
With Miami's stars held in check, K.C. stalled nine of Miami's 11 drives at 29 yards or less and riddled the Dolphins on third down to allow just one conversion on 12 tries.
Following the lone TD surrendered to Hill (and not counting Miami's 18-second possession to end the first half), the Chiefs forced three punts on drives of single-digit or negative yardage and thrice turned the Dolphins over on downs across the next six times on the field.
In doing so, the defense allowed Patrick Mahomes to methodically build an insurmountable lead. From its first drive in the second quarter to its first in the fourth, the offense scored four field goals and a touchdown in six times controlling the ball.
It was more than enough, and the way they were able to move the ball in conjunction with a defensive stonewalling resulted in the Chiefs' best collective outing in months.
"I talked about it, I think, in training camp," Mahomes said in his postgame news conference. "I was like, 'I really would not wanna play our defense.' I mean, we have great players. We have great players all around. Every single level, you have players, you have depth. The guys rotate in. Can do it all. And then you have Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) and this scheme. All the guys are so well-coached in the scheme that they use it to their advantage, and you never know where they're at. ... It's hard to get a beat on what they're doing."
The talent across all levels of the defense was as apparent to all on Saturday as it was to Mahomes back in August.
Mike Edwards delivered in the secondary with an interception, while L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie combined to quiet Hill. Nick Bolton navigated the frozen turf with ease to lead the team with 10 tackles. On the line, George Karlaftis had 1.5 sacks, sharing half of one with Jones.
It was the latest statement in a season full of them for Kansas City's D, which will either host the red-hot Texans or travel to take on the Bills in the Divisional Round.
No matter the opponent, when asked if the Chiefs can ride this defense throughout the postseason as they did in years past with their offense, Jones had all the confidence in the world.
"Absolutely, man," he said. "Absolutely. In defense I trust, baby. In Spagnuolo, I trust."
