The Kansas City Chiefs walked onto their home GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium facing bitterly cold, sub-zero weather but they didn't have any trouble heating up.
The defending Super Bowl champions defeated the Miami Dolphins handily, 26-7, in their AFC Wild Card matchup and will advance to the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs next weekend. Patrick Mahomes led the way for the Chiefs, airing it out for 262 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for another 41 yards.
The Chiefs' rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice also hauled in eight receptions for 130 yards, while Isiah Pacheco rumbled his way to 89 rushing yards and one touchdown. Harrison Butker went 4-for-4 in field goals, connecting on three of them in the first half.
Kansas City jumped on Miami from the game's opening drive, where Mahomes manufactured a nine-play, 69-yard drive ending in a TD pass to Rice.
And the Chiefs never looked back, always leading. Although the Dolphins only trailed 16-7 at halftime on the strength of a 53-yard touchdown reception from Tyreek Hill in the second quarter, those are the only points they mustered as the Chiefs' defense shut them down the rest of the way through.
The Chiefs took a 19-7 lead into the fourth quarter following Butker's fourth field goal of the game. They then blew the game open with Pacheco punching in his touchdown to make it 26-7 with just over 11 minutes left as the score stood.
Just like that, the Chiefs' quest to become back-to-back Super Bowl champs gets off to a dominant start.
Here's how the entire Chiefs-Dolphins' Wild Card game went.