Meet the Kansas City Chiefs' 3 Unsung Heroes Powering NFL Playoff Charge
These aren't your older brother's Chiefs
This is part of an ongoing series profiling the unsung heroes of each team as they clinch a berth in the NFL Playoffs. Each feature includes insight gleaned from conversations with sources across the league. To ensure you don’t miss out on any of the in-depth analysis, be sure to become a subscriber to Between The Hashmarks Today!
Death, taxes, and Patrick Mahomes in the clutch.
Those are the three guarantees in life.
This season, more than any point in the Chiefs’ recent dynasty, Mahomes is the catalyst and difference-maker for a Kansas City team living life even more perilously close to the edge than in years past.
Buoyed by Mahomes’ magic in the biggest moments of games, while leading seven game-winning drives this season, five of which were also fourth-quarter comebacks while converting an astonishing 52 percent of third-down opportunities, these Cardiac Chiefs seem to be tempting fate each week.
While it’s easy to point to the continuity of general manager Brett Veach, head coach Andy Reid, and Mahomes’ brilliance at quarterback as the driving force behind yet another Chiefs run at the No. 1 seed in the AFC, there have also been some unsung heroes contributing throughout the season.
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“They’re getting elite play from their center, and both guards. Patrick Mahomes isn’t having to deal with any interior pressure and their running game is dominating.”
Noah Gray, TE
Everyone knows how valuable All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce is to the Chiefs’ offense’s success, but, his understudy is stepping out of his outsized shadow while seemingly building Mahomes’ trust in him each week.
Despite Gray’s 41 targets ranking fourth among Chiefs’ pass-catchers, he’s currently Kansas City’s third-leading receiver with 399 yards and tied for the team high with four touchdown catches.
Gray boasts a 78.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, the fifth-highest mark for any tight end across the NFL, while Mahomes has an eye-popping 119.4 passer rating when targeting him.
While Kelce will likely continue to command the attention of opposing defenses, and the limelight, given the fact that no team runs 12 personnel more than the Chiefs, Gray’s role could continue to expand.
Tershawn Wharton, DL
If the Chiefs wind up awarding a ‘Breakout Star’ award on defense this season, Tershawn Wharton would run away with the honor.
Wharton is in the midst of the most stellar season of his five-year career, as a dominant presence along the interior of mastermind coordinator Steve Spaguolo’s defensive line.
Through Kansas City’s first 12 games of the season, Wharton has set a new career-high with 4.5 sacks and is on pace to obliterate his personal best for total tackles, with 22 so far this season, all while playing 138 fewer snaps than All-Pro fellow defensive lineman Chris Jones.
In a season where the Chiefs’ defense has been the driving force behind much of the franchise’s success, Wharton has been a revelation up front by providing relentless interior pressure while being a steady disruptive presence against the run, as well.
Matthew Wright, K
In a year where legitimate Super Bowl contenders such as the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles have watched their kickers go from automatic point machines to consistent agita triggers, Matthew Wright has been a steadying force for the Chiefs. Especially in some pretty clutch moments.
Signed by the Chiefs prior to Week 13 after Harrison Butker suffered a meniscus injury that landed him on injured reserve, Wright has been perfect through his first two games in a Chiefs uniform.
So far, Wright is a perfect four-for-four on field goal tries, including clanging a 31-yard game-winner off the left upright and in as time expired against the Los Angeles Chargers.
If the Chiefs are going to continue to operate as a team that wins by the slimmest of margins, Wright is going to be pivotal to Kansas City’s chances of making a run at a historic third consecutive Super Bowl championship.