Sports fans know life is full of disappointments.
No matter which teams you root for — high school, college, or professional – most seasons don’t end them the way you want them to.
Such was the case for Kansas City Chiefs fans.
Given the fact that no team wins a championship every year, fans need to learn to enjoy the journey and successes along the way.
Consider that the Chiefs have played in four straight AFC Championships games the past four years, winning two and losing two. They also played in two Super Bowls, winning one and losing one. No other team in the NFL has experienced that much success during those four years.
By halftime of the Bengals and Chiefs playoff game, many Chiefs fans figured KC would return to the Super Bowl. But after looking nearly unstoppable in the first half against Cincinnati, Mahomes and the Chiefs offense did little offensively in the second half, and the Chiefs lost in overtime.
Disappointing? Absolutely! Frustrating? Sure! Nevertheless, there are some interesting and noteworthy Chiefs accomplishments, along with some trivia, and a valuable lesson.
Travis Kelce is the first player in NFL history to throw a TD, catch a TD, and have 100+ receiving yards in a single playoff game. It happened against Pittsburgh.
Matt McMullen tweeted: “Coach Reid recorded his 18th career playoff victory when KC beat Pittsburgh, fourth-most in the NFL history. Only Bill Belichick (31), Tom Landry (20) and Don Shula (19) have more.” Reid recorded his 19th playoff victory a week later when the Chiefs beat the Bills in overtime.
After the Chiefs beat Pittsburgh, Vahe Gregorian tweeted that it was Reid’s 8th playoff victory with the Chiefs, or half of all postseason wins in franchise history.
McMullen also shared that Kelce now has 88 postseason grabs (after the Pittsburgh game) in his career, which is the fifth-most in NFL history. Only Jerry Rice (151), Julian Edelman (118), Rob Gronkowski (94) and Reggie Wayne (93) have more. Kelce’s seven 100-yard postseason games trail only Rice (8).
BJ Kissel also noted that Troy Aikman had 24 career TDs in 16 career playoff games, while Patrick Mahomes has 26 career TDs in 9 career postseason games, following the victory over the Steelers. How’s that for perspective?
Sam McDowell tweeted, “So in the ‘how much is too much time for Patrick Mahomes?’ conversation, we can add 13 seconds to the list,” after Mahomes led the Chiefs into field-goal range to send the Buffalo game into overtime.
John Ourand noted that from 8:45-9 p.m. CT, 90% of all TVs in the Kansas City market were tuned to the Chiefs and Bills game.
Jacob Albracht then tweeted, “What in the world was the other 10% watching?”
If you look hard enough, there is a silver lining in the midst of disappointments. Just days after Buffalo fans suffered through the devastating playoff loss, Chiefs fans did something kind.
Inspired by the fundraising spirit and tradition of Bills Mafia (diehard Buffalo fans) to give back to their opponent’s charity of choice, Chiefs fans decided to turn their team’s big overtime win into a positive for the Buffalo community, raising $312,800 for Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, according to the hospital.
Donations in increments of $13 began being sent to the hospital from Chiefs fans in honor of the 13 seconds it took for the Kansas City offense to drive down the field to tie the playoff game at the end of regulation.
What goes around, comes around. Cincinnati fans made donations to Kansas City’s largest food bank in $9.27 increments. The donation represents Joe Burrow, who wears the number 9 for the Bengals. The number 27 represents the number of points the Bengals scored against the Chiefs to win the AFC Championship in overtime.
The food bank said more than 3,000 meals had been donated one day after the game.
Some fans get it. Respect how other fans feel after a tough loss because we’ve all been there.
