Some surprising personnel choices in Miami’s playoff loss. And Dolphins notes by position

The Dolphins’ season-ending 26-7 loss in Kansas City included several surprising playing time decisions:

▪ Miami used undrafted practice squad rookie Ethan Bonner as its No. 4 cornerback on Saturday, bypassing second-round pick Cam Smith (who was a healthy scratch), veteran Justin Bethel and Nik Needham, who made 27 starts (many at cornerback, some at safety) in four seasons before Vic Fangio’s hiring as defensive coordinator this season.

When asked recently where Smith must improve, Fangio reeled off a list of areas. It has been clear all season that Miami trusted Eli Apple and Kader Kohou far more than Smith, who flashed throughout training camp with his instincts and ball skills.

But that Fangio also trusted Bonner more for this game was surprising. Tyreek Hill has claimed that Bonner is the Dolphins’ second fastest player. Bonner played 11 snaps on Saturday -- the exact number of defensive snaps that he logged during the regular season.

Meanwhile, Smith ended his rookie season playing just 20 defensive snaps.

Bonner forced a fumble that was recovered by Da’Shawn Hand and allowed one target to be caught for seven yards. Pro Football Focus rated him Miami’s best player on defense on Saturday.

▪ In a game where the elements suggested that running the football would be prudent, fullback Alec Ingold played only 12 of Miami’s 61 offensive snaps. That’s partly a byproduct of the Dolphins trailing for the entire second half. But after running well for a time, Miami abandoned the run on 3rd and 2 and 4th and 2 calls in the first half; both passes were unsuccessful and the Dolphins turned the ball over on downs.

▪ Hill, who this season played his fewest offensive snaps since 2019, logged only 40 of Miami’s 61 offensive snaps - just two more than Cedrick Wilson Jr.’s 38.

Jaylen Waddle, returning after missing two games with an ankle sprain, played 41 snaps. Braxton Berrios, who looked like Miami’s No. 3 receiver early in the season, played only 13 offensive snaps and Chase Claypool 4 – both far less than River Cracraft’s 23. Robbie Chosen was inactive for the game.

The Dolphins’ October acquisition of Claypool didn’t work out; including the playoff game, he played just 51 offensive snaps in 10 games and had four catches for 26 yards.

NOTES BY POSITION

▪ Quarterback: Tua Tagovailoa - who finished 20 for 39 for 199 yards and a poor 63.9 passer rating - had a 70.7 passer rating on 28 throws when he wasn’t blitzed and 46.8 on 11 throws when blitzed. He completed only 4 of 11 passes, for 38 yards, when the Chiefs blitzed him.

▪ Running backs: The Dolphins gave 27 offensive snaps to Raheem Mostert, 23 to De’Von Achane and 13 to Jeff Wilson Jr. But Wilson didn’t get a carry and Miami ran only 18 times, compared to 41 passing plays - partly a byproduct of Miami trailing throughout the second half.

Achane, who set an NFL per-season record with 7.8 yards per carry during the regular season, was held to 1.5 per carry (9 yards on 6 carries). But Miami averaged 4.2 yards per carry, with Mostert averaging 4.1 on his eight carries.

▪ Tight ends: Durham Smythe played 54 offensive snaps and Julian Hill 17. In a recurring theme this season, Miami got only 12 yards in receptions from its tight ends (all from Smythe).

▪ Outside linebacker: With Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Andrew Van Ginkel and Cameron Goode all sustaining season-ending injuries over the past seven weeks, here’s how the Dolphins distributed outside linebacker snaps:

Melvin Ingram played 55 (of 79), Emmanuel Ogbah 38, Malik Reed 31, Justin Houston 22 and Bruce Irvin 12. Reed, Houston and Irvin were all signed last Tuesday and had no quarterback hurries (or sacks) in 36 combined pass rushing snaps.

Ingram had two quarterback hurries and Ogbah one. Miami didn’t have a sack in the game.

▪ Inside linebacker: Duke Riley played all 79 snaps and David Long Jr. played 76. Long was torched in pass coverage, yielded four completions in four targets for 70 yards.

The No. 3 inside linebacker, Channing Tindall, played no defensive snaps after playing just 12 all season.

▪ Safety: With Jevon Holland unable to play because of knee injuries, Brandon Jones played all 79 defensive snaps and DeShon Elliott (dealing with a calf injury) played 61. Elijah Campbell played 18.

▪ Cornerback: Beyond Bonner’s 11 snaps, Jalen Ramsey played 74 of Miami’s 79 defensive snaps, Apple played 73, Kohou 48 and Needham 1. Bethel played only on special teams.

Per Pro Football Focus, Kohou permitted all four passes against him to be caught for 70 yards; he finished the season with one of the worst passer ratings against in the NFL. Apple relinquished three completions in six targets for 21 yards and a touchdown.

Ramsey allowed three of six targets to be caught for 12 yards.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Per PFF, right tackle Austin Jackson permitted five pressures and a sack, while center Liam Eichenberg yielded four pressures and a sack. Guard Robert Hunt was the only Dolphins offensive lineman who didn’t permit a quarterback pressure.

▪ PFF rated Cracraft, Hunt, Achane, Hill and Jeff Wilson as Miami’s top five players on offense on Saturday and offensive linemen Jackson, Eichenberg and Robert Jones as its worst players on offense against the Chiefs.

▪ PFF rated Bonner, Hand (20 snaps), Houston, Reed and Zach Sieler (67 snaps) as the Dolphins’ top five players on defense on Saturday and Elliott, Irvin and Long as the worst.

▪ With a kickoff temperature of minus four degrees, Saturday’s loss was the coldest game in Dolphins history. The previous record was 10 degrees, in a Dolphins victory, on Dec. 21, 2008, also in Kansas City.

This was also the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. The record is minus 13 for a Dallas-Green Bay game in 1967.