The Kansas City Chiefs are hitting their groove and look like one of the teams to beat in the American Football Conference.

The Chiefs were lost the first few weeks of the season, mainly because quarterback Patrick Mahomes was missing his top two weapons: receivers Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice.

Kansas City began the season 0-2 for the first time with Mahomes as the starter (since 2014) and people were questioning if the Chiefs’ run of dominance was finally over. News flash, the Chiefs are dominating again.

The running game still isn’t where it needs to be, but running back Isiah Pacheco is starting to look good again and has seemingly taken over as the premier back in this offense.

Mahomes is playing at a Most Valuable Player level yet again, posting 1,800 passing yards (fourth in National Football League), 18 total touchdowns (first) with just two interceptions.

But a lot of Kansas City’s success in recent weeks is because of the defense. In the last four weeks, the Chiefs have held the Baltimore Ravens to 20 points, Detroit Lions to 17 points and the Las Vegas Raiders to zero points.

A lot of the attention goes to defensive tackle Chris Jones, defensive end George Karlaftis, cornerback Trent McDuffie and linebacker Nick Bolton. However, a different linebacker is quietly having a great and disruptive season that has gone under the radar: Leo Chenal.

“Chenal, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, has continued to improve throughout his career,” ESPN’s Nate Taylor wrote Tuesday. “He helped set the tone in their Week 4 win over the Ravens by intercepting quarterback Lamar Jackson late in the first quarter. He also has been a constant, reliable defender in limiting the production from various running backs, including Jahmyr Gibbs, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley and rookie Ashton Jeanty. Even in a pinch, Chenal can be effective as an additional pass rusher or as the spy defender.”

The 24-year-old has 28 total tackles (14 solo) with a half-sack and an interception in seven games this season. His interception of Ravens QB Lamar Jackson was the first of his career.

The Chiefs will host the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football in Week 8 and are highly favored to win. Commanders QB Jayden Daniels suffered a hamstring injury against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7 and his status for the game is in question.