Top 10 reasons the Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl

5. Tyrann Mathieu

If you wanted to argue that Tyrann Mathieu should be higher on this list, I wouldn’t blame you. In fact, I really think that numbers 3-5 on this list are almost interchangeable in terms of their value to this team. Regardless of where you would rank him, I feel like he has proven himself to be not just the leader of the Chiefs defense, but the very heart and soul of that side of the ball.

Mathieu is a Pro Bowl-caliber player when looking at his production alone. He’s all over the field. He breaks up passes. He tackles guys in the running game. He gets after the quarterback. He’s arguably the best safety in the NFL without taking into consideration his leadership and energy that permeates the defense and really the entire roster.

I don’t know if you can attribute the attitude and effort that I ranked as No. 6 on this list directly to Mathieu, but I know it wouldn’t have been ranked nearly as high on this list (if at all) if it wasn’t for the Chiefs star safety. The defense truly seems to have taken on his attitude, and I’m just not sure that this team would be here if it wasn’t for him. While the Honey Badger may have a reputation for being a premier defensive back in the league, I still think he is probably underrated by many fans outside of Kansas City.

If the Kansas City Chiefs go on to repeat as Super Bowl champions there won’t be a single defensive player more responsible than Tyrann Mathieu.