The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals for the chance to go to the Super Bowl in an AFC Championship rematch.
And then there were two. The final two competitors are now set for the AFC Championship, and NFL fans are set to watch a rematch of last year’s conference final between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Chiefs earned the right to advance beyond the Divisional Round by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars at home on Saturday by a final score of 27-20. The Bengals advanced on Sunday past the Buffalo Bills in a game that was the anticipated matchup between two contenders that had their first round postponed and then canceled during the regular season due to Damar Hamlin’s hospitalization.
Where will the AFC Championship be held?
Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. As the top seed in the AFC, the Chiefs still hold home-field advantage, which means Cincinnati will hit the road once again.
The location of the AFC Championship was contingent upon the winner of the Bengals-Bills game. If Buffalo had won, the Chiefs and Bills would have met on a neutral site—Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta—per changes instituted by the NFL after Hamlin’s injury.
When will the AFC Championship be played?
The Chiefs will host the Bengals on Sunday, January 29 at 5:30 p.m. C.T.
What happened in last year’s AFC Championship?
Last year, the Bengals beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in a 27-24 overtime thriller. It was a game in which the Chiefs were up 21-10 at halftime but Cincinnati roared back to shock the Chiefs and go on to make their first Super Bowl since 1989.
The Bengals have beaten the Chiefs three times in the last year and are 7-1 in their last eight games against Kansas City going back to the 2008 season—becoming one of the very few teams who have given Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes a real consistent hurdle in the midst of the franchise’s golden years.