The NFL season is off and running. The final wave of home openers around the league takes place this week, including Miami's. As Hard Rock Stadium prepares to host its 40th Dolphins home opener and the first regular-season NFL game since 2025, the team is preparing for the Chiefs with a rugged, never-quit mentality.

Scouting the Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs arrive in South Florida with a 2-0 mark for the season and plenty of hardware from past accomplishments. The key pieces of the three Super Bowl titles are intact, but one newcomer has added another wrinkle to an already difficult-to-stop offense.

Head Coach Jeff Hafley on RB Kenneth Walker and the Chiefs offense – "He adds such a dynamic dimension to their offense, right? Obviously, the quarterback is one of the best quarterbacks in this league, has been for a very long time. They have receivers, multiple receivers who can fly. They have one of the best tight ends in the league who's done it time and time again. And they're o-line's solid. So now you add one of the premier backs in this league who's currently leading the league in rushing, it's all right, you want to load the box, and you want to stop the runner. Well, then they got guys who can run by people, and they have a quarterback who can keep it alive and throw the ball down the field."

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks – "Probably one of the top five teams in the league right now. It's good to see if we can bounce back from Week 2 to Week 3 against a great opponent and measure ourselves up against an opponent like that. So it's a challenge for everybody going out there, coaches, players, all included, to go out there and perform, execute, and come away with a W."

Playing from the opening kick to final whistle

The Dolphins are the youngest team in the NFL by a considerable margin. With that comes mistakes and valuable lessons, but one thing that's non-negotiable under Hafley is effort. From the first snap to the final whistle, the expectation is the same: relentless strain and physicality.

Hafley – "When you're in the huddle and I'm in the huddle with those guys and the game's out of reach and I'm looking them in the eye and they are so intent and they're playing as hard as they did the first snap of the game, that's important to me. And it shows that those are the right guys and isn't like that everywhere. That's why I appreciate the leaders that we have on this team and the vets that we have on this team, because they're doing that. And it's important for them to do that so the younger guys see what it's supposed to be like so as we do build this thing, that's the mentality that we have. Because I do think there's some rareness to that in the NFL."

Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slowik – "The standard we're going to hold everybody to the first play of the game is the same standard we're going to hold guys to the last play of the game. Are we displacing people? Are we finishing people when the ball carrier is getting tackled by multiple people? Are we adding into the pile and making sure that we're creating the surge forward for two, three yards? I believe in that wholeheartedly. Obviously, Coach Hafley has talked about it numerous times. He believes in that wholeheartedly. And I think our team has really embraced that."

Home sweet home

Week 3 marks the home opener for the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Players are excited for another opportunity to put on the classic white Miami jersey, especially in front of the South Florida fans.

Quarterback Malik Willis – "I'm excited. I think it would be cool, just like the preseason was cool. I mean, being on the sideline and just having the Fins fans in the building. It was cool and I just expect that to be doubled or tripled. A lot more people want to come to regular (season) games than they do preseason."

Hafley – "I'm looking forward to our players getting a chance to play in front of our fans, to have some energy brought into the stadium. I think that's always fun when they run out into the field, playing in front of our crowd for the first time."

For more on Dolphins-Chiefs, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield, available wherever you get your podcasts.