KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The music blared, the red-clad fans screamed uncontrollably, and amid the chaos of the greatest comeback in Kansas City Chiefs history, two of the team’s most influential players repeatedly shared an interaction.

This was Jan. 12, during the course of the Chiefs’ 24-point comeback in their 51-31 divisional round win over the Houston Texans, and damn near every time quarterback Patrick Mahomes came off the field following another touchdown drive, he locked eyes with safety Tyrann Mathieu, the Chiefs’ leader on the other side of the ball, and conveyed the same message.

“Every time he came off the sideline, he looked me in my eyes and he said ‘lead ... lead …. lead,’” Mathieu told Yahoo Sports.

The fact that Mahomes, 24, would say that to a more veteran player in Mathieu, 27, is a reflection of their symbiosis.

After the game, Mathieu marveled over Mahomes’ focus. Much of the NFL world did as Mahomes’ superstardom is set to reach another level during the weeklong buildup in Miami for Super Bowl LIV. But the duo’s interaction should also be taken as a reflection of the ownership that Mathieu, who was signed to a three-year, $42 million contract last offseason, has taken over the defense, despite being a Chief for less than 11 months.

“He is really a unique person — I've enjoyed being around him this year,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid recently said. “He is everything everybody said he was, plus a little [more]."

The Chiefs' Tyrann Mathieu (32) and Patrick Mahomes soak in the glory after Kansas City won its first AFC title in 50 years. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports) More

With a “little more” being a tempo-setting force, someone who leads with his words and actions, and is commanding an increasingly larger presence, both in the Chiefs’ locker room and on the field.

“He’s kind of, like, the soul of this defense,” defensive tackle Xavier Williams told Yahoo Sports. “The intensity that he brings gets everybody else in the right state of mind.”

Williams noted that Mathieu’s post-play trash-talk also gives the defense its spine.

“Which is more impressive because stature-wise he ain’t, like, the biggest guy,” Williams said with a chuckle of his 5-foot-9, 190-pound teammate. “But you see him talking down to like, a 6-3 wide receiver or something like that, and I mean, he’ll come down there and get with the linemen, too. So I think that just kind of really gets you like, ‘Aw, man, if he’s gonna go like this, I have to, too. I have to match it.’”

Mathieu’s maturation from a troubled player at LSU into a team leader in the NFL is one of the top league feelgood stories this season. He is careful to keep the rise in perspective.

“It’s not that they didn’t have leaders here,” Mathieu told Yahoo Sports. “It’s more, I think, that he [general manager Brett Veach] was looking for a certain personality that could really kind of lead other alphas.”

Mathieu has fit the bill, and perhaps the best proof of that is how now, less than a year within his arrival in Kansas City, the man known as “Honey Badger,” a nickname bestowed upon him nine years ago during his days as a turnover-creating machine in college, has earned another moniker from his teammates: “Landlord.”

Chiefs’ Mathieu explains origin of ‘Landlord’ nickname

During Mathieu’s first six months as a Chief, he learned that the club openly refers to its multi-state fandom as “Chiefs Kingdom.” So right before the season opener, the word “landlord” popped in his head while he was firing off a tweet, which garnered over 6,000 likes.

Six weeks later — with the Chiefs fresh off a Thursday night win over the Broncos that ended a two-game losing streak — Mathieu took the “landlord” gimmick a step further on Twitter, thrusting the title upon himself.

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