Chiefs vs. Bengals open game thread

Jan 29, 2023 - 11:15 PM

For a second straight year, fans of the Buffalo Bills are forced to watch an AFC championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals, after the Bills suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of one of the game’s participants.

In January of 2022, the red-hot Bills fell to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, 42-36 in overtime, in a game now simply referred to as “13 seconds.” Had they hung on to their late-fourth quarter lead, they’d have hosted the conference championship game in Orchard Park, NY. Instead, they watched as Joe Burrow and the Bengals did what the Bills couldn’t, and knocked off Patrick Mahomes on his home field to earn their trip to the Super Bowl.

Last weekend, in a much different (but just as demoralizing) outcome, Burrow and the Bengals knocked off the Bills at Highmark Stadium, 27-10, ending the Bills’ championship hopes and punching their ticket back to Kansas City.

Short of all of that, though, this should be a pretty good game!

The Chiefs are playing in their fifth straight AFC championship game, while the Bengals are playing in their second straight. Andy Reid’s crew will try to course-correct from last year’s home loss to head to their third Super Bowl in the last four years, but this Cincinnati squad believes they’re the top dogs in the conference, and want to head back to the championship themselves, where they lost last year.

If you can stomach watching this game, here’s an open thread to discuss it. Who are you pulling for this evening, Bills fans?