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Kansas City Chiefs fans endure long, heartbreaking road to Super Bowl

By Lyle Graversen

Patrick Mahomes(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Patrick Mahomes(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 19: Kansas City Chiefs owner and CEO Clark Hunt holds up the Lamar Hunt trophy after defeating the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs defeated the Titans 35-24. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 19: Kansas City Chiefs owner and CEO Clark Hunt holds up the Lamar Hunt trophy after defeating the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs defeated the Titans 35-24. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

January 11th, 2004 – The No Punt Game

The 2003 season would bring another 13-3 season, another year of being a Super Bowl favorite, and another playoff match up with the Indianapolis Colts. However, this game would be the antithesis of the Lin Elliott game eight years prior. Instead of this game being a grind-it-out, low-scoring affair, this game would be an offensive shootout.

Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil brought his “Greatest Show on Turf” offense to Kansas City and the combination of Trent Green, Priest Holmes, and Tony Gonzalez looked poised to finally get the Chiefs to the promised land. The only problem? The defense was not very good and Peyton Manning was ready to match the Chiefs score for score.

At the end of the day neither team would punt a single time in the entire game and the Chiefs ended up on the end of a 38-31 loss. I think this was the day I really started to think that maybe us Chiefs fans were just destined to suffer. Maybe we had ticked off the football gods at some point and were just destined to suffer heartbreak again and again and again. On one hand, it was nice not to be a team with a losing record every year, but the way they looked like a Super Bowl caliber team and then ripped our hearts out—in some ways that hurt more.

When would it be our turn?

Well, it took another 16 years, but the answer is now. We aren’t cursed. It’s finally happening. However, the painful road had some more stops. Things had to get much darker, and thoughts of being good but losing in the playoffs being the worst thing that could happen to the team would be tested.

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