Chiefs' X factors for Super Bowl LIX

Kelce’s 823 yards led Chiefs receivers this year but marked a career low for the 11-year veteran. Buffalo held Kelce to two catches for 19 yards in last week’s AFC Championship Game, and that won’t do if Philadelphia scores anywhere near the 35 points it has averaged in this year’s playoffs.

Steve Spagnuolo | DC

Fortunately, Spagnuolo’s defense allowed 19.2 points per game in the regular season, the fourth-best number in the league. Spagnuolo has been with the Chiefs since 2019 but spent eight years with head coach Andy Reid when both were with the Eagles.

Spagnuolo helped Kansas City overcome a 24-14 halftime deficit by holding Philadelphia to 11 second-half points in Super Bowl LVII. This time, he’ll need to find a way to stop running back Saquon Barkley, who led the NFL with 2,005 yards in 2024.

Isiah Pacheco | RB

Pacheco missed 10 games after suffering a fractured fibula in Week 2, but so far, fresh legs haven’t helped the third-year running back. After returning to the lineup in Week 12, Pacheco averaged just 3.5 yards per carry and tallied 175 yards. 

He rushed for 18 yards against the Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs and 12 yards in the AFC Championship Game. Kareen Hunt, meanwhile, has seen 25 carries in this year’s playoffs with a touchdown in each game.

Hunt has been a pleasant surprise, but to beat the Eagles on Sunday, the Chiefs will need Pacheco to play like the running back who averaged 5.1 yards per carry in Super Bowl LVII.

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown | WR 

A first-round pick of Baltimore in 2019, Brown signed a one-year, $7M “prove it” deal with the Chiefs in the offseason but had little chance to prove anything after suffering a shoulder injury in the team’s preseason opener. 

Considering teammate DeAndre Hopkins, also a pending free agent, has only one catch for 11 yards in this year’s playoffs, there’s plenty of room for Brown to earn another contract.

He had nine catches for 91 yards in two regular-season games and three catches for 35 yards in two postseason games. He had eight catches for 78 yards and a touchdown against Philadelphia as a member of the Cardinals in 2022, numbers he’d love to have on Sunday.