3 moves that got the Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl 57

The Kansas City Chiefs have made it to the Super Bowl for the third time in the last four years. How did they pull it off this season?

Having a one-of-a-kind quarterback like Patrick Mahomes always helps, but the Kansas City Chiefs also made a series of shrewd moves in the 2021 offseason to set themselves up for the success.

Last year’s chatter surrounded the unforeseen departure of Tyreek Hill, who was traded to Miami for a windfall of draft picks. Hill wanted top-of-the-market money and a mega-extension that the Chiefs ultimately weren’t willing to give him, and in the end, dealing Hill was the best thing Kansas City could have done to maintain a sustainable winning culture in the long term.

In the short term, the Chiefs made several critical moves that year to fill in the hole Hill left behind and continue fortifying a Super Bowl-caliber roster.

Let’s take a look at three of them.

3. Kansas City Chiefs drafting Isiah Pacheco

Many of the Chiefs’ 2022 draft picks stood out this season, but perhaps none as much as seventh-rounder Isiah Pacheco.

The former Rutgers running back took some time to get his engine going, yet Pacheco steadily increased his snap count to become the Chiefs’ undeniable No. 1 running back by the end of the season. First utilized as a special teams gadget player, Pacheco usurped Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon for the workhorse role in the running back room and burst onto the scene as an explosive surprise.

While Edwards-Helaire can boast his pass-catching abilities and McKinnon has gotten consistent end zone touches, Pacheco is the beating heart of the Chiefs’ ground game and, particularly in the postseason, is the reason the Chiefs were able to get this far.

In 2022, the Chiefs could always count on Patrick Mahomes to generate a productive passing game even without Tyreek Hill in the lineup. Their glaring need was at running back, where they lacked a powerful and angry ball-carrier capable of pushing through piles on early downs and safeguarding the ball.

Enter Pacheco. In the regular season, the rookie racked up 830 rushing yards and five touchdowns; in the playoffs, he added 121 yards and ran for an average of 5.5 yards per carry.

When Mahomes hurt his ankle in the divisional round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pacheco and the Chiefs’ running attack stepped up to make up for Mahomes’ injury-related shortcomings.

In the AFC Championship win against the Cincinnati Bengals, Pacheco didn’t enjoy the most efficient night but did put the offense on his back on many occasions, taking a sizeable burden off of Mahomes.

Pacheco is the embodiment of a running back who runs “angry,” and the Chiefs will need more of his tenacity and fearlessness to beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.