If all goes right for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Miami, they'll claim their second Super Bowl title in franchise history and the first in the last 50 years. We've already detailed the path that got K.C. to South Beach and put them in position to potentially hoist the Lombardi Trophy, but now we're taking a bit of a deeper dive into some of the moves that helped shape this potential championship roster.

Additions like safety Tyrann Mathieu and defensive end Frank Clark this offseason are obvious key pieces to the puzzle for Kansas City, so they don't exactly fit in this topic of discussion for today. With that said, their contributions to this AFC championship squad are unquestioned.

What we're looking at here are some players who have either arrived this season for the Chiefs to have a productive start to their tenure or had a maturation into a more prominent role to the team. We're also taking a look at one philosophical change for K.C. that ultimately proved to be a key piece to this Super Bowl run.

The Chiefs and Niners took the stage in Miami for Opening Night and Will Brinson and the Pick Six Podcast Superfriends were there to break everything down. Listen below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness fired into your eardrums.

Drafting Mecole Hardman

Mecole Hardman was the Chiefs' top pick at the 2019 NFL Draft. They selected him in the second round out of Georgia and, while he didn't have a massive role in the offense (44.86% of the snaps), he was productive when called upon. Hardman finished the year with 26 receptions for 538 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged an eye-popping 20.7 yards per reception and Pro Football Focus calculates that the receiver had a passer rating when targeted of 153.9. Hardman was also stellar as a returner and was even named to the Pro Bowl.

What makes Hardman's rookie season that much more impressive was his ability to catch on rather quickly to the offense. That proved to be pretty vital at the early stages of the season when Tyreek Hill when down due to injury in the opener. He started in two of the four games that Hill was sidelined for and totaled 246 yards receiving to go along with two touchdowns. Because of his similar skill set, K.C. did not need to change its offense much after losing their top receiving weapon and that helped the Chiefs to start the year 4-1 before Hill returned to action.

Signing Matt Moore

This one is rather obvious, but still extremely important. After Chad Henne was placed on injured reserve to start the season, the Chiefs elected to bring in Matt Moore, who sat out the entire 2018 season, in late August. Moore was thrust into action later on in the season following Patrick Mahomes suffering a dislocated kneecap against the Broncos in Week 7. He was able to jump in under duress in that game and help Kansas City maintain their lead and secure the win. Moore was also serviceable in the two games he started, despite their 1-1 record over that stretch. While he wasn't Patrick Mahomes, Moore was able to throw for over 260 yards and at least one touchdown in each of his two starts. He also didn't have a single turnover in that time.

Moore playing a part in two wins in the midst of Mahomes' injury was absolutely critical in the Chiefs getting to Super Bowl LIV. Had they lost just one more game during Mahomes' absence, their Week 17 bump up to the No. 2 seed would have been nonexistent. In that scenario, the road to the Super Bowl would have been much more difficult as they would have lacked a first-round bye and been forced to play on Wild Card Weekend.

Naming Steve Spagnuolo defensive coordinator

It took a little bit for things to come together for the Chiefs on the defensive side of the ball, but this unit is much improved from the one that fell in the AFC Championship Game a season ago. The big change came with naming Steve Spagnuolo the defensive coordinator this offseason and shifting from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense. Naturally, there were some bumps along the way, but, since the Week 12 bye, the Kanas City defense as allowed just over 15 points a game and have eight turnovers over the course of this seven-game stretch.

In their previous two playoff contests, Spagnuolo's defense has been particularly stout in the second half. What gets lost in Kansas City's divisional round comeback against the Texans after trailing 24-0 is that they only allowed seven points for the rest of the game. They also gave Deshaun Watson fits in that game, sacking him four times and getting eight total licks on him.

In the AFC Championship Game, the Titans only hit the end zone once in the second half and a large reason was thanks to the Chiefs defense essentially blanking star running back Derrick Henry. After a historic run through the wild card and divisional round, the K.C. defense was able to hold Henry to just 69 yards rushing.

Part of that credit needs to be placed on Spagnuolo for changing the philosophy on the defense, a decision that has proved extremely fruitful for Kansas City over the second half of the year and into the postseason.

The emergence of Austin Reiter as the starting center

The Chiefs lost Mitch Morse to the Bills in free agency this past offseason, but Reiter was able to bump up to the starting center spot with relative ease this season. He's been particularly strong in pass protection along with the rest of the offensive line for Kansas City. Since their Week 12 bye, Patrick Mahomes has been sacked just eight times total, which has undoubtedly helped him go on this historic playoff run over these past couple games. The fact that Reiter, who has played in 99.43% of the offensive snaps this season, was able to slot in so seamlessly and have success shouldn't go unnoticed.

Charvarius Ward's rise as the Chiefs best corner

Charvarius Ward's rise throughout the league is something to behold. After being undrafted in 2018, Ward spent training camp and the preseason with the Cowboys before being traded to Kansas City. He played in 13 games over the course of his rookie season, but he was used sparingly. That changed this season after being named the starter opposite of Bashaud Breeland.

Ward turned that opportunity into a strong sophomore leap in 2019 where he totaled two interceptions, 10 passes defended and 74 tackles. Pro Football Focus notes that out of the 10 corners to reach 1,000 total snaps during the regular season in 2019, Ward allowed a 67.3 passer rating (1st), 634 yards allowed (3rd) and a 47.6 catch percentage (1st). Not too shabby for the second-year player out of Middle Tennessee State.