Chiefs revealed this identity in 3-game gantlet. That means a new challenge awaits

Shortly after the Chiefs bristled to their third win in 11 days and second in 96 hours, Travis Kelce on Wednesday essentially said it all as he stepped awkwardly onto a platform in the postgame interview room.

“Ow!” he exclaimed before promptly resetting and saying, “Merry Christmas, guys.”

In a season largely marked by the Chiefs running the gamut of finding ways to win, often in wacky if not downright slapstick form, it’s been through this absurd recent gantlet that they’ve most distinguished themselves:

Bruised and exhausted, but at their best after a season of flux — and finally flexing an identity.

If it weren’t apparent with last week’s victory over the Houston Texans, their 29-10 romp over Pittsburgh reiterated the point.

On their way to securing the AFC postseason No. 1 seed and improving to 15-1 for the first time in franchise history (and gaining career win No. 299 for coach Andy Reid), the Chiefs are surging when they need it most.

Well, at least on the doorstep of when they’ll need it most — in a playoff run seeking to make history as the first team to win three straight Super Bowls.

Then again, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes pointed out, earning the first-round bye effectively is winning a playoff game.

More to the point, though, what we’ve seen through the crucible of the last few weeks is a group morphing into form from the exasperating team that made fans queasy for so long this season.

Were the Chiefs like a cat pawing its food, turned complacent or conserving energy … or just not that good?

Here’s the thing, though: The unsightly wins that paved the way to this luxury were enabled most by an uncanny winning mindset.

And that mentality — infused by Reid and animated by Mahomes — fueled this team to never be content, even as it kept doing enough to get by.

Hard as it was to see this coming even as Reid kept insisting the Chiefs were close to some breakthroughs, well, here it is now.

With a revived offense and a defense that’s the best in the NFL in one key statistical category.

With the awakening of Xavier Worthy and return of Hollywood Brown and the move of Joe Thuney to left tackle, the offense finally is approximating the improvement anticipated after its dud 2023 season.

Against the Steelers, that enhanced presence also led to a big day for Kelce — eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown to surpass 1,000 career receptions and break Tony Gonzalez’s team record for receiving touchdowns with 77 — and Justin Watson (a 49-yard reception and an 11-yard TD catch).

Mahomes had a season-best quarterback rating of 127.1 while throwing for 320 yards — his second-highest output of the season (331, New Orleans) — and now has gone six straight games without throwing an interception.

For that matter, according to research by The Associated Press, the Chiefs are just the third team since 1960 to go six or more games in a row without a turnover. Only the New England Patriots in 2010 went longer, with seven.

All while the defense suddenly is feasting, with 10 takeaways in the last three games, including two on Wednesday — after mustering all of 10 in their first 13 games.

Even with defensive line star Chris Jones out with a calf injury, the defense also uncorked five sacks against the Steelers.

No wonder the Chiefs’ defense now leads the NFL in points allowed (just 18 points per game). They’ve given up just 36 in their last three contests.

“It’s awesome to see this team grow throughout the year,” Kelce said.

Kelce rarely speaks after games these days, but on Wednesday he offered illuminating perspectives on the game and arc of the season.

“It’s fun building the chemistry of a team,” he said. “I could look back on a lot of the teams that we had success on, and those were the most fun teams to be on: You could feel it in the building.

“And right now, it’s such a blast coming in and going to work with the guys that we have. And it’s more unique and more different than any year I’ve ever been a part of, because of the way we’ve won and how we’ve had to keep focusing on getting better (even) knowing we were coming away with wins.”

Making for a funny twist:

Only a couple weeks after wondering when and even if this group would really find itself, now the question is how to stay sharp with their first playoff game not until the weekend of Jan. 18 — more than three weeks from Wednesday.

“It’s an honor to be the number one seed,” Kelce said. “But at the same time, we know from last year anybody can beat somebody anywhere.

“So it’s just being focused, knowing that we got to be smart with the time that we have and finish this thing off.”

Asked about handling the next few weeks, Reid said he hasn’t yet reconciled how to approach the regular-season finale at Denver.

Typically, with the Chiefs’ position secured and the chance to rest key starters, that’s what he’d do.

This kind of time in between, though, is uncharted territory.

Reid and Co. can solve that in the days to come.

For now, they can be content to have solved something else in the last few weeks: bringing the best out of a team that will have to be better yet if it’s going to do what’s never been done before.

“This isn’t the end,” Mahomes said. “This is just the beginning.”

Down to the fact that each of the three recent Super Bowl-winning Chiefs teams has peaked about now, and that the Chiefs are 15-3 in the postseason since the advent of Mahomes, there’s every reason to believe that.

Especially through some pain that made for the gain.

“It was a challenge, man; it was a challenge,” Kelce said. “And we’ve known it’s been a challenge for quite a while.

“That being said, there’s only one way you (can) beat a challenge: You just take it head on.”