The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third year in a row, looking to become the first team ever to three-peat.
We know all about the major pieces on the roster. Your Patrick Mahomeses and your Travis Kelces and your Chris Joneses. At this point, most people even know guys like Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis and the offensive linemen and the receivers like rookie Xavier Worthy. Everybody knows Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo, too.
But what about the other guys that helped get Kansas City to this spot? We’re here to identify some of the more under-the-radar moves that helped the Chiefs get back to the biggest stage in football. (And yes, we know that finding under-the-radar moves for the two-time defending Super Bowl champs is pretty difficult, so we went off the board a bit here.)
The offensive line has been a huge part of this recent run of Chiefs excellence, and Heck obviously plays a significant role in that every season. But this year may be his piece de resistance. With left tackles Wanya Morris and Kingsley Suamataia struggling, the Chiefs decided to sign D.J. Humphries. When he got injured, they kicked star left guard Joe Thuney outside to tackle and brought Mike Caliendo in to replace him at guard. And Kansas City’s offensive line has barely missed a beat in this new alignment. It’s a credit to the players, of course, but also to the guy who gets them ready to play.
Over the course of his three-year career, Chenal has quickly become one of the league’s most versatile players. He’s essentially a hybrid middle linebacker and edge rusher, which makes no sense on almost any level. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 106 snaps on the left edge, 95 on the right edge, 2 at defensive tackle, 154 as an inside linebacker, and 111 as an outside linebacker this season. That’s insane. He’s a massive, moveable piece for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
Speaking of massive pieces on defense… the difference in Kansas City’s passing-game performance this season in the games where Watson has been healthy and those where he wasn’t is enormous. He was kind of an afterthought as a seventh-round pick in a draft where the Chiefs selected five defensive backs, but he’s become a terrific outside corner and figures to play a huge role in the Super Bowl against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Hunt was on the street when the Chiefs signed him earlier this season in the wake of Isiah Pacheco’s injury. At first, it didn’t seem like he would have all that much of a role. Kansas City liked Carson Steele and he played quite a bit in the game where Pacheco got injured. But then Steele fumbled on the first drive of Pacheco’s first game out, Hunt got a shot and he excelled in relief. He hasn’t broken hardly any big runs this season, but he’s done a good job of converting in short yardage and avoided negative runs, and that’s what the team needed with its starter out and then not fully healthy upon return.
