Experiencing Arrowhead: Recapping sights and sounds from Chiefs home opener

The Chiefs escaped their 2022 home opener with a narrow 27-24 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Here’s a look at what it was like to be there with a bonus new menu item food review.

At this point, you just expect crowds at Arrowhead Stadium to be raucous on any given Sunday. The volume and intensity gets cranked up when it’s a primetime Thursday or Monday night affair, and the mayhem increases exponentially when you mix in a division opponent coming to town. Last night gave us all the ingredients for an absolutely electric environment at Arrowhead Stadium with the highly touted Chargers coming in to town for the first Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football matchup, and the results did not disappoint.

The anticipation for this matchup has been percolating since it was announced during the first round of the NFL Draft back in April, and to say that the staff at Arrowhead Stadium, the fans – hell, the entire city – was ready for this would be an understatement. In fact, it could be argued that the group that appeared the least prepared for last night’s showdown was the most important group in the equation: the Kansas City Chiefs. You can read all about the takeaways from the game, who earned the game ball, and even dive into the numbers behind the game here on Arrowhead Addict today, but for the sake of this specific piece, we’re going to focus on the product around the product on the field.

So, technically, the part was supposed to start around 2:30 Arrowhead time yesterday afternoon. That’s when gates were slated to open, anyway. But as many could have predicted, the flood gates opened early. Me and my crew got there a little after 2 to find a free flowing line of cars moving through the guard shacks at Gate 6. By the time we had parked and started our tailgate setup, it was essentially 2:30 on the dot, but we were far from the first ones on site.

The parking lot already smelled like barbecue. The flags were flying. There was a buzz in the air that can only be experienced in that exact setting, at Arrowhead Stadium leading into a huge primetime showdown between the Chiefs and whatever team has come knocking on a given day. On Thursday, it was the Chargers. There is truly no place on Earth like Arrowhead. If you had forgotten the chills that this building can send down your spine, this tweet from the Chiefs official account that dropped yesterday just hours before kickoff probably rekindled the flame.

I know you probably don’t want to hear much about my tailgate, as I went pretty in-depth with how those things usually go down a couple of weeks back, so I’ll just summarize it like this: if you want to create an absolutely insane in-game atmosphere with unparalleled fan noise, letting people drink in your parking lot for 7-8 hours before kickoff is a fantastic catalyst to that.

Camaraderie was high going into the gates. Ninety percent of Chiefs fans were feeling themselves by the time 6 PM rolled around, so there were plenty of high fives, tomahawk chops, and the customary “CHIIIIEFFFS” being bellowed as both a salutation and a war cry. As a more subtle sunglass wearer, I don’t really relate to this craze personally, but it’s evident that the stylistic influence of Patrick Mahomes is solidly rubbing off on Chiefs Kingdom judging by the sheer volume of Pit Vipers and massive, colorful Oakleys sunglasses being worn as the sun still kissed the western side of the stadium as we piled in. I wasn’t sure if some of the folks were there to see Mahomes and the Chiefs take the field, or if we were at a pro wrestling con and I was surrounded by a bunch of Macho Man Randy Savage cosplayers, but I digress.

If you’ve been to a big game at Arrowhead before, you know what’s coming with the National Anthem, and we got it last night. We were taking side bets on the walk up to our seats on whether we’d get a stealth bomber flyover or the A-10 Warthogs. Those who had action on the Warthogs took home the cash. There are few things more electric than hearing “…and the home, of the CHIIIIEEEFFFS” and then seeing thousands of pounds of turf-defending titanium cruise above your head representing not just freedom but the insanity that is about to ensue inside of the walls of the loudest sporting venue in North America.

While the excitement wasn’t being contained by anyone, it definitely welcomed a sense of slight worry as the game got going and the Chiefs sputtered out of the gates. First drive not terrible, until Mecole Hardman got planted by Joey Bosa four yards into the backfield. Ok, we can deal with that. Punt, followed by a Chargers field goal. 3-0 is nothing, we’re fine. Wait, 3-and-out and another Chargers TD? Oh, well, uh, we hadn’t really planned on this. PM15 got the Chiefs and the crowd back in it with a TD drive to start the second quarter, and all was well going in to the half—time to refill the beverages and head for a snack (more on this at the end).

The best way to describe the energy in the stadium before the top came off of it was “nervous”. The crowd was loud and we were behind the defense all night, but speaking from a completely objective standpoint, the Chargers looked like the better team. They were outplaying the Chiefs in just about every tangible and intangible way. But then, a 7th round rookie corner from Washington State became everyone’s favorite rags to riches story and took the energy to a level I’ve only seen in playoff games at Arrowhead Stadium.

https://twitter.com/clutchpointsapp/status/1570606441852960769?s=42&t=bz4IrOUkwjjeJw1oAaxwXA

Here’s something that those there can relate to that those who watched on TV likely cannot: on both of those calls, you hear a slight lull before the crowd absolutely erupts as Jaylen Watson singlehandedly turns the game around. At the stadium, that lull felt like it lasted for about 15 seconds—to me, anyway. Everything went into slow motion as Jaylen Watson picked off Justin Herbert at the 1-yard line and began his sprint towards paydirt. “Is this real?” “Where are the flags?” “Holy crap he’s actually housing this? AAAAHHHHHHHYAYAYAYAYAAY!”

From there, everyone kind of knew. You don’t come into Arrowhead on a Thursday night with this type of energy and come out with a win easily, and the Chargers found that out the hard way. Chris Jones and Willie Gay showed up in big-time moments to add to Watson’s incredible game-changing pick-six. Offensively, Justin Watson made sure everyone knew what the most popular last name in Kansas City would be this weekend, and the Chiefs did just enough to win a close game at home even though they played far from their best football.

Did the Chiefs miss Trent McDuffie? Yes. Are there things to clean up along the offensive line after Mahomes was hit several times against Arizona then pressured by Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Drue Tranquill and the Chargers rush all night? 100%. But great teams win games pretty and win them ugly. This was an ugly win fueled by a crowd that was starving for football against a division opponent that gives K.C. an early leg up in a division races that’s sure to be close down to the wire.

How else would the fans file out of Arrowhead after a win like this?

This place truly is one of a kind, and there is a reason you have to travel all the way back to 2015 to find the last time the Chiefs lost in a home opener. This video looks like it was taken close to the same area where I was faux-interviewing Chargers fans asking them if, in hindsight, they thought the Chargers made the right call letting Drew Brees walk away. Not sure they liked that, but somebody has to ask the hard-hitting questions. We need answers.

Bonus In-Stadium Food Review

If you’re plugged into the local news here in K.C., you’ve probably heard about the “new and buzzworthy” food that is being introduced at select concession stands in Arrowhead Stadium this year. We’ve got some big times players in these new menu items: Buck Tui BBQ and Jousting Pigs Craft BBQ have both set up shop in Arrowhead, and Aramark themselves are offering new items including the KCDilla, Doritos empanadas, the Stockyard Burger, and vegetarian nachos.

Sadly I didn’t get to try all of the items—I had a little too much to eat at the tailgate—and in order to avoid complete morbid obesity I thought it might be a better idea not to consume 4,000 calories worth of stadium food, so I chose my battles. The Dorito Empanada it was.

While I’m not entirely sure if it was the several adult beverages that I consumed in the parking lot or just my keen taste for fast food that seems Mexican, I actually enjoyed the Dorito empanada. First of all, Doritos are king, and anyone who says with a straight face that they’re not on the Mount Rushmore of chips is delusional or a sociopath or both. This is one of those items though that you pretty much taste before you eat it. It’s like when Taco Bell dropped the Doritos locos tacos a few years back—you were excited to try it, but you knew exactly what it was going to be.

Still yet, this is a fantastic change up from the standard pretzel with nacho space cheese or regular tortilla chips with nacho space cheese that you’d typically get at a ballgame. The crunch was surprisingly defined, the beef/onion/cheddar jack combo was well balanced, and the jalapeno crema provided a nice every-other-bite-dip treat. Overall I thought it was a nice dish, but I’m still waiting to see what the fallout from actually consuming it will be today. Luckily for you, I won’t be reporting on that. I’d give them an 89.6 out of 142.2 on the Arrowhead scale.