Let me first preface this article by saying I haven’t always been a big fan of football. It took me forever to figure out the rules of the game and to understand what was happening. With that being said, however, I can say that now I am a huge football fan. If you’ve lived in Kansas City, you know the reputation of the Kansas City Chiefs. We are a good team, but we always seem to blow it in the playoffs. “Well, there’s always next year,” fans would say. We kept waiting for the year when it was finally our turn — and now it is.
Last year, we almost made it to the Super Bowl. Almost. We had a devastating loss to the New England Patriots in overtime. It was a good fight on both sides, but in the end, we couldn’t finish it off. The thing is though, we knew that we weren’t done. The Chiefs had one of their best seasons coming into the playoffs with our new starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. They were just getting started.
After the tough loss that ended our playoff run, you could tell there was a different energy in Kansas City. It was like a breath of fresh air. Patrick Mahomes gave us a new face of leadership that we had never seen before. He was a team player and is one of the most humble athletes I have ever seen. He became Kansas City’s newest sweetheart, breaking hearts and NFL records. Even though last season didn’t end where we wanted it to, we knew what we were capable of this season.
This season, we started off on a high note. Our team had four wins in a row, all in games that had high scores. Patrick Mahomes did get injured and we lost a few, but we didn’t let that get us down. They kept on pushing, and eventually, we found ourselves in the playoffs. With the team being the second seed, they had a week off to practice.
On January 12, everyone thought we were going to lose to the Houston Texans, especially in the first quarter. The Texans scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and everyone was scared. Mahomes got the team together and said, “One play at a time.” Before we knew it, the Chiefs were in the lead by halftime. By the end of the game, they won over the Texans by 51 to 31. While it was one of the most gut-wrenching games anyone had ever seen, it had a happy ending for us. It was one of the best comeback games. Even then, they weren’t finished.
Then, January 19 came around. This was the game that could change everything. If we won that game, we would be going to the Super Bowl — something Chiefs fans had not seen since 1969. We were going to play the Tennessee Titans, who we had lost to earlier this season. The Titans even knocked out the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens from the playoffs. The first quarter of the game was not going the way we wanted it too, but again, the Chiefs found a way to score in unbelievable ways. The Chiefs won the game over the Titans 35 to 24. We are going to the Super Bowl!
Kansas City going to the Super Bowl is definitely a cause worth celebrating for, especially for the fans who have been there in the 50 year playoff drought. Though we’ve had our ups and downs as a team, there’s one thing I’ve learned about the Chiefs: never count us out. The energy around this city is amazing and we haven’t had so much excitement about our sports team in a while. This playoff season was the moment we have been waiting for and now it’s finally here in full force. Go Chiefs! Let’s win the Super Bowl!