The Kansas City Chiefs have reached the AFC Championship game for the seventh consecutive season, or every year Patrick Mahomes has been the franchise’s starting quarterback. This is all part of the Chiefs’ quest to win their third straight Super Bowl, becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls and the first team to win three straight NFL titles since the 1965-1967 Green Bay Packers. .
Kansas City has once again been one of the elite teams in American football, having home field advantage in the AFC playoffs with a 15-2 record and only one loss in which the starters played: against Buffalo Bills in Week 11 (the Chiefs’ AFC Championship opponent).
History is on the line for the Chiefs in their quest for a third title. Kansas City seeks to become the first team seeking a third Super Bowl to reach the Super Bowl and the first team to make five Super Bowl appearances in a six-season span. Andy Reid is about to coach his sixth Super Bowl, while Mahomes is one win away from playing in his fifth. The Chiefs are the current NFL dynasty and show no signs of slowing down.
Reaching the conference championship is no easy task. Here’s how the Chiefs got to this point.
Notable acquisitions
Kareem Hunt (RB): Six years after the Chiefs released him when video surfaced showing Hunt kicking and shoving a woman outside his residence, Kansas City brought him back after Isiah Pacheco went down with a broken fibula. Just a week after being on the practice squad, Hunt was back on the Chiefs’ active roster and contributed significantly to their 15-2 record. Hunt started eight games and had two 100-plus yard performances, finishing with 728 rushing yards and seven touchdowns (3.6 yards per carry). Hunt has been part of a 1-2 since Pacheco returned, with eight carries for 44 yards and a touchdown in the divisional round win over the Texans.
Hollywood Brown (WR): The Chiefs signed Brown this offseason to increase the wide receiver room for Mahomes, giving the quarterback a second option with Rashee Rice. He suffered a collarbone injury on the first play of the preseason and was out until December, a much-needed presence as a pass catcher with Rice out for the season and Xavier Worthy being inconsistent as a rookie. Brown had nine receptions for 91 yards in his first two games, but has yet to have a catch in his only playoff game.
DeAndre Hopkins (WR): The Chiefs acquired Hopkins before the trade deadline because of his injuries at wide receiver to Rice and Brown. Hopkins had 41 catches for 427 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games with the Chiefs, having a significantly more impactful role with Kansas City than he did with Tennessee. He only had one goal in the playoff victory over Houston.
Xavier Worthy (WR): The Chiefs’ first-round pick has been inconsistent during his rookie season, but he has been the big threat Mahomes needed on offense. Worthy has four touchdowns of 20+ yards this season (two rushing, two receiving) as a dual-threat playmaker on offense. He finished with 742 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns (638 receiving yards).
Crucial moment
The Chiefs bounced back from their only loss of the season to the Bills in Week 11 by winning six straight games to secure home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Kansas City continued to prevail in one-score games, going 11-0 in those types of games this season.
Their quest for a third Super Bowl title was headed in the right direction in the three subsequent wins over the Bills. Mahomes led a winning drive to beat the Panthers 30-27 in overtime following the Bills’ loss, putting wins back on track. Five days later, on “Black Friday,” the Raiders botched a final offensive play to give the Chiefs a 19-17 victory, keeping Kansas City in control of home-field advantage in the conference. The following week, Matthew Wright (the third kicker) kicked a 31-yard field goal from the left upright to give the Chiefs a 19-17 victory over the Chargers and the AFC West title.
The Chiefs posted a 15-win season, but their victories were far from pretty. Without those three close wins, their season might have ended differently.
Key victory
The “Black Friday” victory over the Raiders was the biggest win of the season, considering it was a win Las Vegas should have had. The Raiders got within a field goal with 15 seconds left and the Chiefs clung to a 19-17 lead, this after the Raiders began the drive at their own 8-yard line with just under two minutes left. Instead of attempting a 50+ yard kick to win, the Raiders wanted to get a closer kick in with time to spare.
Center Jackson Powers-Johnson threw the ball high and it bounced off Aidan O’Connell’s shoulder, and Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton pounced on the ball and sealed the improbable victory. The Chiefs did not lose another game with their starters for the remainder of the regular season, sealing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
2024 season results
1 |
against crows |
W, 27-20 (1-0) |
2 |
against bengalis |
W, 26-25 (2-0) |
3 |
in hawks |
W, 22-17 (3-0) |
4 |
in chargers |
W, 17-10 (4-0) |
5 |
against saints |
W, 26-13 (5-0) |
6 |
Bye |
|
7 |
in the 49ers |
W, 28-18 (6-0) |
8 |
in raiders |
W, 27-20 (7-0) |
9 |
against buccaneers |
W, 30-24 (8-0) |
10 |
against Broncos |
W, 16-14 (9-0) |
11 |
on invoices |
L, 30-21 (9-1) |
12 |
in panthers |
G, 20-37 (10-1) |
13 |
against assailants |
G, 19-17 (11-1) |
14 |
vs chargers |
G, 19-17 (12-1) |
15 |
in browns |
W, 21-7 (13-1) |
16 |
against texans |
W, 27-19 (14-1) |
17 |
in the Steelers |
W, 29-10 (15-1) |
18 |
in Broncos |
L, 38-0 (15-2) |
AFC divisional |
against texans |
Wednesday, 23-14 |
AFC Championship |
against invoices |
? |
Will the Chiefs play for their third straight Super Bowl title? Kansas City will have to beat Buffalo to advance and reach Super Bowl LIX, as the Bills were the only team to beat the Chiefs when their starters played in their final 22 games.
Rivalry between Bills and Chiefs: This could be the secret weapon that helps Buffalo defeat Kansas City and advance to the Super Bowl
Chris Trapasso
