A year after going 1-15 the Miami Dolphins come to town at 9-5 and in a three way tie for the AFC East lead. The new regime that was brought in during the off season of Bill Parcells as the football czar who then signed Jeff Ireland as GM and Tony Sparano as head coach has already made a eight game improvement over last season and they are looking to be the 1st team in NFL history to go 1-15 and make the playoffs the following season.

In 1997 Bill Parcells led the New York Jets to 9-7 finish after they went 1-15 the season before but came up short of the wild card. The Dolphins will finish the season against Bret Favre and the Jets in a game that could decide the division.

The Chiefs come into this game looking for their 3rd win of the season after losing to the Chargers by one point for the 2nd time this season. The Chiefs young core of players has avoided hitting the rookie wall thus far and has shown resiliency to stay competitive after losing in close fashion so many times in a row. This week will be a real test of wills as the high for the game will be 11 degrees but with the wind it will feel like -8.

Off the field distractions will also be a factor for the team coming into this game as Clark Hunt announced Carl Peterson’s resignation on Monday and Herm Edwards job security has been thrown into question ever since. Distractions are nothing new to this team from Larry Johnson’s deactivation to Tony G’S trade demand this team has played unfazed, look for the Chiefs to embrace the cold and come out with a lot of energy for their home finale.

The Dolphins boast one of the most effective one – two RB combinations in the league with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown who is heading to the Pro Bowl, and will most certainly be looking to exploit the Chiefs 30th ranked rushing defense. The Dolphins offense does not do apposing defenses any favors they have only turned the ball over 10 times this season, the NFL record for a 16 game season is 14 set by the 1990 NY Giants.

Kansas city has averaged 27.6 points a game over their last eight games with Tyler Thigpen and the spread offense, the Dolphins have given up 24 points in their last three games all field goals. This game will come down to Chan Gailey’s play calling against this tough Dolphins defense and his ability to keep Tyler Thigpen out of the grasp of LB Joey Porter who is 2nd in the league with 17.5 sacks.

The Keys to the Game

Give L.J. the ball 20 + times: Last week the Chiefs let another winnable game slip away against the Chargers, another game where L.J. had some success in the 1st half only to see his playing time vanish in the 2nd half…..when the Chiefs had the lead and should have been running the ball. The Chiefs record when they give L.J. 20 carries is 2-2 when they don’t give him the ball 20 times they are 0-10. This should be a very simple formula for Chan Gailey to catch on to.

Stop the 2 headed beast: To say the Chiefs have struggled to stop the run this season would be a understatement, but they have especially struggled against teams with a 1-2 RB tandem. The Raiders torched them with Michael Bush and Darren McFadden, The Titans ran all over them with Chris Johnson and LenDale White. The Panthers pounded them with DeAnglo Williams and Jonathon Stewart and the Dolphins have Rricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. Hard to imagine Gunther Cunningham getting a lot of sleep this week.

Close the Game out: This squad has went through several steps of the maturation process of a young team. First they could not stop the run and they were getting blown out every week. Then they could not move ball and still were not competitive, with the exception of the Buffalo game the Chiefs have been in every contest since Tyler Thigpen’s emergence. Now the Chiefs need to use the final two weeks of the season to take the final step and learn how to win a close game. If the Chiefs would have won every game decided by a possession or less their record would be 8-6.

Injury Report

Donnie Edwards LB Knee Out

Alfonso Boone DE Thigh Questionable

Maurice Leggett CB Shoulder Questionable

Rudy Niswanger C Knee Full Probable

Dolphins Report

Channing Crowder LB Knee Questionable

Jason Allen CB Hand Probable

Weather Report: Weather at kick of will be ten degrees and windy with partly cloudy skies the temperature on the field will feel like -8

Final Score: Chiefs 17 Dolphins 24