KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs gave everyone else in the AFC a chance last season.
The AFC Championship Game wasn’t at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium after five straight conference crowns were awarded just east of the intersection of Interstates 70 and 435.
But the crossroads of the country will once again host the “Arrowhead Invitational,” which used to be called the AFC Championship Game, with a berth in Super Bowl LIX on the line at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26.
“We’re humbled to be in that position and we appreciate that we’re right here at Arrowhead,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
It’s unprecedented in NFL history.
No team had ever hosted four straight conference title games, much less the five that Kansas City hosted, capping the 2018 to 2022 seasons.
The Chiefs went 3-2 in those games. They won last season’s AFC title game in Baltimore en route to a Super Bowl repeat, but the club is happy to be home again for this year’s battle for conference supremacy.
“There’s nothing like it,” defensive end George Karlaftis said after racking up a franchise-record three sacks in Saturday’s Divisional win against Houston. “I just can’t wait. Let’s see who we play.”
The gravity of the moment isn’t lost on the Chiefs.
“It’s been a special run with everybody here in Kansas City — from the organization to the community, from the team and for my family,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “I just try to cherish that.”
Mahomes said he still has special memories from when he was 5 years old and his dad, Pat Mahomes Sr., played in a World Series.
“These are moments that I’ll have with my family for the rest of my life,” Mahomes said. “It’s a growing family — hopefully, we’re done growing for a while — but it’s cool that I'm able to play in these big games and the Kansas City community has brought me in to be a part of their family.”
Defensive tackle Chris Jones invoked a recent chapel message about climbing mountains when asked what reaching a seventh straight AFC Championship Game means to him.
“When you climb a mountain, you don’t want to stay up there, because you can’t really breathe,” Jones said. “So, you go back down. But the joy is that you’re climbing the mountain to get to the top. That’s just the journey that we’re on — still climbing that mountain, and appreciating it for what it is.”
He also joked about what the milestone — Kansas City’s streak of seven consecutive conference title games is second only to New England’s run of eight straight from 2011 to 2018 — means personally.
“I’m getting old,” Jones joked. “It’s fun, though — it’s a challenge. It’s taken a lot of hard work, commitment, a lot of belief, a lot of encouragement throughout the year, a lot of unselfish play amongst the team to continue to do that.”
Whether it’s Baltimore, which the Chiefs beat 27-20 in the season opener at home, or Buffalo, who handed Kansas City’s its first loss of the season on the road in November, tight end Travis Kelce relishes the chance to take another step toward a three-peat.
“I’m focused on the next task at hand,” he said. “You don’t get there and have all these championships by looking ahead. You get here by having the right mentality, not being complacent and continuing to put in the work.”
Kansas City became the first team in 19 years to repeat as Super Bowl champions last year. No NFL team has ever won three straight Super Bowls — but the Chiefs are a win away from having a chance on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
“We’ve been there a couple times, but we’re even hungrier to get there now because of what’s at stake — the three-peat, getting there and playing in front of our fans again,” Jones said. “It’s different, but the journey is still the same. We want to bring that Lombardi Trophy back home.”
Cornerback Trent McDuffie has reached the Super Bowl in each of his first two seasons and doesn’t want that streak to stop.
“It never does (get old),” he said of reaching another AFC Championship Game. “When the confetti started raining down - I know it’s not the full confetti — but it just gives you glimpses of what we can go accomplish next week.”
It’s what the team’s been building toward all season — a chance to win the trophy with the franchise founder’s name, the Lamar Hunt Trophy, on home soil.
“Man, there’s nothing better than playoff football, especially up here at Arrowhead,” Kelce said. “The crowd is always electric. But the feeling that you get from playing in these games with the guys that you work all year with, it’s the most gratifying feeling when you can come out on top and I’m going to cherish every single one of these things.”
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