The first road trip of the 2026 regular season was an interesting one for the Kansas City Chiefs. The offense came out firing with two touchdowns in two drives, and tight end Travis Kelce put the game on ice with a highlight-reel touchdown catch in traffic.
Everything in between the strong start and the strong finish was touch and go. The Miami Dolphins’ offense kept the pressure on the Chiefs all game by staying on the field and winning the battle for time of possession (34:21 to 25:39).
The Chiefs
prevailed 24-10, but the team’s leader on the field knows it could have been a more comfortable victory. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes talked about the 14-point victory after the game at the podium.
“Obviously, we didn’t play to our standard that we would hold for ourselves, especially in that middle part offensively in the game,” Mahomes told reporters. “But we found a way to come together at the end of the game, we had two great drives at the beginning of the game and now it’s about learning the in-between.
“It will be a learning experience for us to know that we have to come with our A-game every single time in order to win.“
Sandwiched between the successful opening drives and Kelce’s game-sealing score, the Chiefs’ offense scored just three points over five possessions. While Kansas City’s offense struggled, the defense failed to get off the field.
Mahomes pointed to the game’s location and start time as things affecting the NFL’s third-youngest roster as of Week 1.
“We’re young, we’re a young football team,” Mahomes reminded the media. “So guys have to learn that. There will be learning experiences throughout the season; luckily enough for us, we still won the football game.
“You have to continue to press that this is a long season,” Mahomes continued. “Just because we had the first two weeks, good weeks against two really good opponents doesn’t mean you can relax when you’re playing a 12 o’clock game. A lot of these guys, [it was] their first 12 o’clock game, first time traveling and having that experience in the NFL, so for them, learn how to get themselves ready to go faster we can go out there and play better football.”
For most of the game, Mahomes captained an offense that averaged over seven yards per play. He averaged over 10 yards per pass. The numbers — along with a first-half interception thrown behind wide reciever Rashee Rice — made the 24-point output feel underwhelming.
“At the end of the day, we left a lot out there,” Mahomes said. “We’re not going to be mad about winning. We won the football game. You think about last year, we were losing some of these games… we’re going to look at the tape hard and find ways to get better for next week.”
“I wouldn’t say I feel disappointed; I’m happy for the win,” Mahomes said later. “I think last year taught me that you can’t be disappointed when you win football games… but I know we can be better. I know we can get better, and that’s going to take watching the tape, going out and having a better week of practice, communicating throughout the entire offense and the entire team. We’re going to enjoy this victory, but if we want to get to where we want to go, we have to continue to get better and better, and so we’ll do that.”
As Kansas City learns from the third consecutive win to begin this season, Mahomes reflected on the benefits of a training camp ran by head coach Andy Reid.
“We had such a great training camp, but it wasn’t always pretty,” Mahomes remembered. “We have a lot of young guys, and we’re all building chemistry together. It wasn’t always the prettiest, but guys pushed through. I think that built that up for games like this. It wasn’t always pretty on both sides of the ball… we have a lot of stuff to clean up, but I was proud of how our guys finished the game.”
