The Chiefs will win back-to-back Super Bowls if they do these 3 things

Creating a vacuum in the middle of the field is key -- almost as much as stopping Christian McCaffrey with a weak run defense.

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t look like AFC champions on Christmas. Instead, they looked vulnerable behind an offense seemingly sputtering its way to a stop on the highway to the 2024 Super Bowl.

Their 14-20 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 16 laid the team’s flaws bare. Patrick Mahomes had run out of targets. Travis Kelce was mortal. One of the best defenses of the Andy Reid era was a brick wall but unable to create game-changing turnovers. Kansas City was 9-6 and staring down an extended run of road games in order to defend their NFL championship.

The Chiefs survived that gauntlet. They first proved the Miami Dolphins were pretenders to the throne on a frigid night in Arrowhead Stadium. Next came underdog wins in Buffalo and Baltimore, knocking off a pair of MVP caliber quarterbacks along the way. Now, the only thing standing between becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl winners since the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005 is the team Reid, Kelce and Mahomes beat in 2020: the San Francisco 49ers.

This Niners team is an upgraded version of the one Kansas City came back to beat four years ago. Brock Purdy is a more stable quarterback than Jimmy Garoppolo. Christian McCaffrey arrived to add yet another dimension to the offense. Former Chief Charvarius Ward has emerged as a shutdown corner in Santa Clara.

Even so, the 2024 Super Bowl is a game the Chiefs can win as a slight -2.5 point underdog. Here’s how.