January 29, 2023, the day our great state was admitted into the Union in 1861. Kansas Day as we celebrate it today, was extra special this year for many Kansans. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in another thriller between the two enemies once again. The rematch of last year’s conference championship had much more energy surrounding it. Chiefs fans will not quickly forget the arrogance that seemed to arise from Bengals players and fans alike. The most memorable of these is the renaming of the Kansas City stadium from Arrowhead to Burrowhead. An obvious use of their star quarterback’s name to signify their ownership of the stadium they had won the last two games they played in it. However, this was all Chiefs players needed to come out with an edge, and that is exactly what they did.  

The defense especially came out on fire, they held the Bengals scoreless in the first quarter, and only allowed six in the whole half. The offense moved the ball quite easily but found it hard to reach the endzone, Travis Kelce caught a 14-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Meanwhile, they had two drives come close but had to settle for field goals. The Bengals scored first in the third quarter when Tee Higgins caught a touchdown, followed by an answer from Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Semaje Perine ran in a two-yard run early in the fourth quarter, followed by a lot of defenses in between. With two minutes and thirty seconds, the Bengals got the ball back with a chance to cement Burrowhead as their own.  

Unfortunately for them and the Entire State of Ohio, it was Kansas Day and the Chiefs defense had one more stop in them. Forcing a punt with 41 seconds left, it was indeed looking like overtime again between these two teams and a look at the new NFL playoff overtime rules. That’s when Sky Moore received the punt at his own 18-yard line and completely took off down the sideline. The 29-yard return completely changed the outlook of this chance for the Chiefs. Starting at their 47-yard line they needed roughly 25 yards to get into kicker Harrison Butker’s range on a cold night in Kansas City. On star quarterback Patrick Mahome’s last chance, he scrambles and runs out of bounds just far enough to get a first down when he is hit late. Bengals defensive lineman Joseph Ossai pushes Mahomes two steps two late and just like that, the Chiefs are in range. In this instance, all of us become one of two people; you either watch the kick or turn your back and hope for the best. It didn’t matter what you did as Harison smashed it through and just like that the Chiefs grabbed the lead, 20-23. All that was left was a squib kick to perfection as the Chiefs special teams quickly tackled the Bengal’s return man and the Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl! 

 For the third time in four years the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the Chiefs founder, will be called Kansas City Home. The Chiefs will play in Glendale Arizona on Sunday, February 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles, and champions of the NFC. Travis Kelce’s brother Jason plays for the Eagles and Coach of the Chiefs Andy Reid was coach of the Eagles in 2012 before coming to Kansas City. There are lots of storylines surrounding this Super Bowl and it should be a great ending to the 2022-2023 NFL season. The Chiefs will be looking to make it two super bowls in the last four years while the Eagles are looking for their first Superbowl since 2018. A matchup of MVP favorites Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes will be the frontline to this heavyweight showdown. Super Bowl 57 will start at 5:30 for us here and in Kansas and can be seen on Fox. It’s going to be a good one so clears your schedule and cheer on the Chiefs!