2024-01-25 06:12:01
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Isiah Pacheco spent four quarters dodging the Buffalo Bills and carving his way to nearly 100 yards and a touchdown. Then, he was finally able to celebrate that the Chiefs advanced to another AFC final..
He did it while also dodging some snowballs that the fans threw at him.
That last bit would hardly have happened inside friendly Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs had played all of their playoff games the previous five seasons, along with their wild-card round victory over Miami to open this postseason.
But they were finally forced to go on the road for the divisional round last weekend and showed they were up to the challenge with a 27-24 victory over the Bills.
“We appreciated them throwing snowballs at us. It was fun,” Pacheco said Wednesday. “It comes with the game. We love playing in that environment. You have to love that, go there with a goal and leave with the goal accomplished.”
The Chiefs will face a similar environment on Sunday, when they visit Baltimore to play the Ravens for a spot in the Super Bowl.
It will be the first time in six years that the AFC championship will be decided somewhere other than Kansas City, where Patrick Mahomes and company have been tremendously successful over the years. And it will be the first time the Chiefs have gone on the road to seek the conference title since January 1994, when Joe Montana was the quarterback and they lost 30-13 in Buffalo.
“I didn’t think too much regarding how it would be very different playing away. We do it during the season,” head coach Andy Reid said. “There was a great atmosphere to play there (in Buffalo), even though they were once morest us. That is an ideal environment and they love their team and are passionate. That’s how I see it”.
That’s how Mahomes sees it, too.
One of the most popular stories heading into last weekend was the fact that Mahomes had never played in the postseason on the road.
Now, the headlines have been changed to read: Mahomes has never lost on the road in the postseason.
“I love Arrowhead Stadium,” he said, “but it’s always fun when you come together as a team and take the ‘it’s us once morest everyone’ situation and come out with the win. It’s always great to be in a great environment and find your way.”
The Chiefs have found their way before, although you have to go to the history books to find the time they won on the road in the playoffs to reach the Super Bowl: it was January 4, 1970, when they beat the Raiders 17 -7 at Oakland in the AFC championship game; They then defeated the Vikings in what would be their only Super Bowl in 50 years, until Reid and Mahomes arrived.
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