3 Kansas City Chiefs who need to hit another gear to achieve Super Bowl threepeat

The Kansas City Chiefs sure feel inevitable right now. It doesn't matter who's hurt, or how clunky things can get at times, or how little style points they racks up along the way. They still have Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, and they still know how to do exactly what's needed in any given moment to win games — especially in January. After turning away Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills yet again in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, it would easy to assume that there's simply no way to beat this team.

But while Kansas City is now just one win away from an unprecedented Super Bowl threepeat, the last hurdle figures to be their toughest of the year — and maybe of this entire run. The Philadelphia Eagles might have, on paper, the league's most loaded roster, with stars up front on both sides of the ball and Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert terrorizing opposing defenses. The Chiefs are king until someone takes their crown, but it's safe to say that if they want to get past this Philly squad, they're going to need an even better effort in the Super Bowl than they got against Buffalo. Here are three players in particular who need to step up.

3. RB Isiah Pacheco

While Kareem Hunt's resurgence has been a boon for Kansas City's offense over the last few weeks, this unit just feels different when it has Pacheco at full strength rampaging into the second level. But we haven't seen that player in months, ever since he went down with a fibula fracture back in September.

Pacheco has been back for two months now, but he still doesn't seem like himself, and he's an afterthought in the Chiefs backfield, getting just five carries in the win over Buffalo. While Hunt is a perfectly fine player, Pacheco has more juice and more tackle-breaking ability, two things that will be awfully helpful against such a ferocious Philly front seven.

2. LB Nick Bolton

Credit to Bolton: He showed up big when it mattered most on Sunday, including that controversial 4th-and-1 stop on Josh Allen's keeper in the fourth quarter. But for as valuable as he is as both a leader and flying downhill against the run, Bolton has always been a bit of a liability in coverage, and that got exposed at times against Buffalo.

Which could spell trouble against an Eagles team that ran Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner ragged in the NFC Championship Game with both RPOs and outside runs. Wagner had a hard time keeping up with Barkley's speed to the edge, and Philadelphia will no doubt look to exploit Bolton in the same way. He needs to be at his very best to slow down this dangerous offense.

1. G Trey Smith

Heroes abounded for the Chiefs offense on Sunday, from a vintage Mahomes performance to Xavier Worthy's breakout. But the interior of the offensive line was a bit of a concern, most notably Smith, who got pushed around by Bills DT Jordan Phillips and finished with a 49.5 grade according to PFF.

That is ... less than ideal, considering who Kansas City will be facing in the Super Bowl. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter are two of the nastiest defensive linemen in all of football, and if Smith (and fellow guard Mike Caliendo) aren't ready for a fistfight, the Chiefs' offensive game plan could be short-circuited before it even gets off the ground. As we saw against the Tampa Bay Bucs years ago, the best (maybe only?) way to slow Mahomes down is to harass him early and often, especially up the middle.