The Road to Super Bowl 54: The Kansas City Chiefs

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(Image via NPR)

Jacob Kolb, Sports Editor

Anyone who watched the Super Bowl from start to end, or stayed updated knows that the Chiefs won 31-20. Although this is a huge accomplishment for the Chiefs, there was more to their season that challenged them mentally and physically. The Chiefs had to deal with tough games that made it hard to get to Super Bowl 54.

Tough Games:

          The Kansas City Chiefs had a great start to the NFL season with a 4-0 record (meaning they as a team have not lost a game yet). In Week 5, the Chiefs had a home game in Arrowhead Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts. They lost the game 19-13 and attained their first loss. What made this loss a really hard loss was that this game was a home game, and they lost to a team with a 2-2 record. 

The next week, (Week 6) the Kansas City Chiefs were hosting another home game in Arrowhead Stadium against the Texans. The Chiefs were down at the half 17-23 and it didn’t help them in that they had a 17-3 lead at the end of the first quarter (meaning their defense gave up 20 points in the second quarter while the offense wasn’t getting any points). The game ended in a Houston Texans win 31-24. There is more to it than this single game with the Texans. The Chiefs ended up getting a bye week (one week off during first round playoff games) because they were the 2nd seed (Baltimore Ravens were the number 1 seed). After their bye week, they had to play the winner of the NFL Wildcard Round, which the Texans had won against the Bills 22-19 in overtime. This game between the Texans and the Chiefs determined which team got to go to the AFC Championship Round (The game before advancing to the Super Bowl). The Texans had a score quickly mentality and had the Chiefs right where they wanted them at the end of the first quarter 24-0. In the second quarter, Patrick Mahomes (The Chiefs Quarterback) pulled off a Mahomes Maricle and got the Chiefs up 28-24 at the half. After the half, the Chiefs only allowed three points on defense and won 51-31 which is arguably the best comeback playoff game in history.

During the season in Week 8, the Kansas City Chiefs were hosting another game at home in Arrowhead Stadium against the Green Bay Packers. Going into the game, the Packers were 6-1 and the Chiefs were 5-2. The game was very close, but the Packers won 31-24. The Chiefs had a lower chance of winning going into the game and this was a hard loss considering how close playoff season was getting to.

The following week, (Week 9) the Kansas City Chiefs were on the road to Nissan Stadium to face the Tennessee Titans. At halftime, the score was 13-13. When the third quarter had ended, the chiefs had pulled out ahead 22-20. The Titans needed to out score the Chiefs in the fourth quarter by at least three (assuming the Chiefs aren’t able to score in the fourth quarter). The Titans pulled off that idea as they got 15 points in the fourth and the Chiefs got 10 points. These events led to the final score of 35-32 Titans. This game not only meant that the Chiefs lost, but they lost on the road for the first time all season long. This game was not the last we would see between the Chiefs and the Titans however. The Titans somehow were able to beat the number one seeded AFC team the Baltimore Ravens with a stunning blowout of a score of 28-12 and got to advance on to meet the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium. At the half, the Chiefs were beating the Titans 21-17. After the half, the third quarter was a stalemate between the teams as neither side could attain any points. With a score 21-17 Chiefs beginning the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were able to put 14 more points on the board and only gave up 7 points to the Titans leading to a revenge victory of 35-24 Kansas City Chiefs.