KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Drue Tranquill is positioned near the entrance of the Chiefs’ locker room Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, a group of reporters as his audience, when he’s asked about the team’s running game.

More specifically, someone would like to know what Tranquill, a linebacker, thinks about the Chiefs’ tone-setting offensive line in a win against the San Francisco 49ers.

“Shoot, don’t forget 87,” he says, referencing tight end Travis Kelce as an extension of that offensive line. “(The) man at the point of attack in the run game.”

It’s almost certainly not a coincidence that Kelce is walking nearby, within earshot, and, naturally, he can’t help but reply.

“Come on, baby!” he shouts back. “Come on, baby!”

Some 50 feet away, behind a closed single door, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is standing at a microphone in a press interview room. After an up-and-down day — his own — he’s talking about how the NFL’s only unbeaten team, a Chiefs team that has literally perfected winning through six outings, can win some games.

“In order for us to even take another step, it’s going to be about me taking care of the football,” he says, and then he later references defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. “And then letting our defense really eat and letting Spags be Spags.”

Wait a minute. Let’s rewind that.

Travis Kelce, the valuable run-blocker.

Patrick Mahomes, the ideal game manager.

Who is this team?

It sure as hell ain’t the 2019 Chiefs.

But welcome to 2024 — where every game is starting to return to the same theme:

The Kansas City Chiefs are not all about Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce anymore.

A lot about them, sure. But they’re no longer everything.

The Chiefs just beat the NFC’s betting favorite to reach the Super Bowl, on the road, by two possessions, on a day Mahomes had the worst statistical game of his career. That’s not an exaggeration or subjective opinion. Mahomes’ two interceptions contributed to a 44.4 passer rating, 13 points lower than any of his previous 101 career starts.

And Kelce? He had all of 17 yards, the fifth fewest of any start he’s had with Mahomes.

Those are items in the box score of a Chiefs win, and a comfortable win, at that.

There’s been a transformation of the football team in Kansas City, but perhaps it’s hard to spot because of all that hasn’t changed — like, you know, the results. But also the quarterback, his favorite weapon, the head coach and the general manager.

They represent stability at the spots in which NFL franchises seek but so rarely obtain it. But they also have obstructed our view from what actually has changed, which is that the Chiefs aren’t solely dependent on their two most recognizable superstars anymore.

It explains why they have so seamlessly made a transition that has befuddled just about every predecessor: They win while paying the quarterback at the top of the roster.

Because of the bottom of the roster.

Two weeks ago, the Chiefs used 294 yards of offense from a collection of five players who had been cut or let go by their previous team within the last 12 months.

Forget what happened 12 months earlier. On Sunday, they won with three players they had sidelined most of these last two months.

Mecole Hardman played only 22 offensive snaps in the initial five weeks. He totaled 55 yards and a touchdown in Santa Clara, and then added a 55-yard punt return in his regular duty.

And he would be one-upped by the defense.

Rookie safety Jaden Hicks erased the 49ers’ best chance to make it a contest in the second half when he intercepted quarterback Brock Purdy in the end zone. Hicks played all of 13 defensive snaps in the first five games.

And he would be one-upped by a teammate in the defensive backfield.

The game turned midway through the third quarter, San Francisco holding all of the momentum, when Chiefs cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace intercepted Purdy to halt a promising drive into Chiefs territory. Know how many snaps Roland-Wallace, an undrafted rookie, played in the initial five weeks?

One.

How about that?

There is an inevitability about the Chiefs, who have won 12 straight games since the Raiders embarrassed them on Christmas Day. They haven’t lost a game in 300 days.

That inevitability has been present for awhile now. In the 2019 postseason, we could point toward one person.

Mahomes.

He trailed by double digit three times in those playoffs. But you just knew. You’re not out of it when you have that guy. Still true, by the way. He made some plays Sunday with his legs — and his left shoulder.

It’s the same trait now, the inevitability, but it permeates through a team. Through a system.

The Chiefs are 6-0, enduring the most difficult six-game stretch of Mahomes’ career, and it’s hard not to focus on what’s going wrong with the offense.

Think about that from the 49ers’ perspective. You’ve had some mishaps early in the season, sure, but the underlying analytics are all quite good. In fact, the Vegas oddsmakers still project you as the favorite to come out of the NFC. You get your shot at the Chiefs at home. You hold Mahomes to the worst passer rating of his professional life.

And you lose.

What now?

“They know how to win in a lot of different ways,” star 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa said.

The matchup was billed as the Super Bowl rematch, but it had to feel like the 49ers’ Super Bowl this year. Same as it did for the Baltimore Ravens on opening night.

The 49ers were even favored against the Chiefs, same as they were in the Super Bowl. The conventional wisdom — not to mention the history — is not to bet against Mahomes as the underdog. He is 11-3 as an underdog. He thrives in that role.

But Sunday wasn’t strictly about Mahomes thriving in an underdog role.

It was about those who live that role every day — or at least live in the under-the-radar role.

Same as it’s been all season.

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