Here were some of the comments that stood out after the 29-13 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, along with some perspective:
— Head Coach Adam Gase has been high on the big-play potential of wide receiver Jakeem Grant, who put it on full display against Kansas City when he turned a slip screen into a 65-yard touchdown. Grant had scored on a similar kind of play (that one a quick slant) in the preseason, which led to the notion he would become heavily involved on offense in 2017. As Gase explained, the one problem with that idea is that it was difficult to get playing time in a receiving corps featuring Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker. But, as Grant showed Sunday, he just might have too much explosiveness for the Dolphins to not force themselves to get him more involved moving forward.
— Head Coach Adam Gase was asked to explain what went wrong for the Dolphins in 2017, and his answer basically came down to a lack of consistency in all phases. By complementary football, Gase was talking about the offense, defense and special teams playing well at the same time. That didn't happen often enough for the Dolphins in 2017, which is why they find themselves out of the playoff picture heading into the final week of the regular season.
— Ndamukong Suh quickly dismissed the idea that the Dolphins will have a hard time getting motivated for their regular season finale against the Buffalo Bills next Sunday. In addition to facing an AFC East opponent, Suh also pointed out he wants to give the fans at Hard Rock Stadium a strong performance to close out the regular season. An added incentive for the Dolphins could be the idea of ending any playoff hopes for the rival Bills.
— Jay Cutler bemoaned the offense's inability to take advantage of its opportunities against Kansas City, evidenced by the Dolphins going 0-for-2 in the red zone and losing two fumbles in Chiefs territory. Given the explosiveness of the Kansas City offense, the Dolphins needed to be at their best in terms of maximizing their opportunities. For example, the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal after a holding penalty negated a 12-yard run by Kenyan Drake that would have given them a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. The Dolphins also had a chance to put points the board late in the first half and cut into Kansas City's 17-13 lead after taking over at their 29-yard line with 1:43 left. Instead, the Dolphins went three-and-out and the Chiefs then took advantage of a short punt to add to their advantage and make it 20-13 at halftime. After the defense stopped KC on fourth-and-1 in a 23-13 game late in the third quarter, the Dolphins had some momentum, but it went away when Kenny Stills fumbled at the end of a 14-yard completion inside Kansas City territory.
