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He’s a Kansas City Chief, but heading into Sunday’s game against the Ravens, this “pigskin Harry Potter� might as well be from Hogwarts’ house called Ravenclaw.

And the name of this Chief performing sorcery on scores?

Steve Spagnuolo.

Sure, yes, Patrick Mahomes can also work a little magic, but how about Spagnuolo and the Chiefs defense this year?

The defensive coordinator couldn’t cut it in ºüÀêÊÓƵ as a head coach — his Rams went 10-38 from 2009-11. But for Kansas City, he’s the reason, I think, the Chiefs will win Sunday’s AFC Championship game and return to the Super Bowl (Mahomes might play a minor role, too, I suppose).

And as I proclaimed from these pages when the playoffs began, San Francisco will win the NFC Championship. The 49ers are too talented and, after last weekend, too tested to fall at home to Detroit.

So it’ll be a Kansas City-San Francisco redux from four years ago in the Super Bowl.

As for Spagnuolo’s defense, it really is a pleasure to watch. This is a unit, previously overshadowed by the offense, that finished second in yards allowed per game and second in sacks. Not once has a team scored 30 points against these Chiefs. And entering last Sunday’s game at Buffalo — a 27-24 road win — six straight opponents had scored 20 or fewer points. That included the 27-6 playoff win against the Dolphins, as mighty Miami was extinguished by the distinguished defense.

But the coolest stat regards Spagnuolo’s halftime adjustments.

For the season, as shared during the CBS broadcast of Chiefs-Bills, Kansas City opponents averaged seven points in the second half of games. Now that’s some wizardry.

And in that Chiefs-Bills game, one might have thought by halftime that the Bills would run their way to victory. They were sure having their way with the Chiefs defense. But “Spags� and his gang strategically clamped down on the Buffalo rushers in the final two quarters. As the game got longer, the Chiefs defense got stronger. Nick Bolton, the great linebacker from the University of Missouri, finished with a team-high 13 tackles. And the pass rush, led by the venerable Chris Jones, kept Buffalo on its heels.

During one of the biggest fourth-quarter plays, Jones literally pushed the back of an offensive lineman into Josh Allen. The quarterback was essentially hurried by his own left tackle. The deep pass fell incomplete.

Regarding his defensive philosophy, Spagnuolo said at a recent media session: “You get to this part of the season, you don’t go too far away from what you are, but there always is a wrinkle. Everybody knows what you do, they study you, so you got to have something a little bit different. It’s nice to know that (we’ve) got cerebral guys that can roll with that. And they do embrace it. Like Nick? Nick doesn’t want vanilla. Drue (Tranquill) doesn’t want vanilla. Justin Reid, those guys want to be challenged mentally. They want to challenge the opponent’s offense. And not all guys are like that.�

Of course, the Chiefs are also good because Patrick Lavon Mahomes II is, quite simply, an iconic quarterback.

He’s a legend in real time. One of those players who could retire tomorrow and make it to the Hall of Fame, even though he’s in his prime (and only 28!). Six years as a starter, six AFC Championship games. Each season has been a masterpiece. But this particular season has been, um, interesting, because his receivers are lackluster. And the Chiefs lost this year to the Raiders and Broncos. And Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce had been hurt for some of the season and inconsistent. (Incidentally, Kelce sure seems like a nice young man — I wonder if he’s scooped up girlfriend?)

This all just adds to Mahomes’ storybook. We’ll look back and say, “How did he lead the 2023 Chiefs offense to the Super Bowl?� But the guy is that good. He finds ways to make others ascend. He finds ways to win — he makes ways to win.

And lately, the Chiefs offense is looking like it’s from the good ol’ days of 2022. Kelce caught two touchdowns against the Bills. The offensive line held up against home-field havoc. And running back Isiah Pacheco is quickly topping boxing’s Dr. Ferdie as sports’ greatest Pacheco. Isiah ran so hard against Buffalo. He’s a factor now — seven touchdowns in the past six games. And with the ball in the final minute, his two runs to for the final first down were assertive and definitive.

And Mahomes, this elusive maestro, has scrambled and scrapped his way to yet another conference title game. He did so with a playoff win on the road in a hostile environment (at this point, the modern Buffalo Bills are proving as snakebit as, well, the old Buffalo Bills).

The Kansas City Chiefs are, again, January giants. The defending Super Bowl champs look poised to return to the big game. One minor detail is having to defeat Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. The Ravens quarterback is similarly magical as Mahomes. But if there was ever a guy to counter that magic, it’s Spagnuolo. His guys will be ready. There might even be a wrinkle in the wizardry.