Chiefs will have an opportunity to break another lingering franchise curse this postseason
With their 27-19 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs have finished a perfect 8-0 at home in the 2024 regular season. That marks the fourth time in franchise history that Kansas City has gone undefeated in the home portion of their schedule, the previous years being 2003, 1997, and 1995. […]
With their 27-19 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs have finished a perfect 8-0 at home in the 2024 regular season.
That marks the fourth time in franchise history that Kansas City has gone undefeated in the home portion of their schedule, the previous years being 2003, 1997, and 1995. It's definitely a feat to be proud of, but as the Chiefs are concerned, it comes with an asterisk.
Our friend Ron Kopp Jr. of Arrowhead Pride took to X to point out that each time K.C. has gone undefeated at home, it has gone one-and-done in the postseason, all of which occurred at Arrowhead Stadium as the Chiefs being the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
The Chiefs haven't secured the No. 1 seed for this year's playoffs yet, but are in the driver's seat to do so. Even if they don't get it, they are guaranteed to play a home playoff game on wild-card weekend since they have won the AFC West. Could K.C. get upset in it's first playoff game on it's home turf this postseason?
Let's take a look at the history. The Chiefs' 1995 playoff loss came to the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round, in what is infamously know as the "Lin Elliott Game." Former Chiefs kicker Lin Elliott missed three field goal attempts from 35, 39 and 42 yards in the 10-7 defeat.
Just two years later, K.C. lost a 14-10 heartbreaker to their AFC West rival Denver Broncos, also coming in the divisional round. That was the year that former coach Marty Schottenheimer made the controversial decision to stick with Elvis Grbac as the starting quarterback, despite being outplayed by backup Rich Gannon while he was injured for six weeks.
Finally, the Chiefs' 2003's playoff exit came by the hands of the Colts once again. This contest was the opposite of their '95 matchup, as Indianapolis won a 38-31 shootout in what was labeled the "No Punt Game" because, you guessed it, neither team punted. The Colts scored on every single possession they had, and the two possession that K.C. didn't score on resulted in a missed field goal and a fumble.
Now that we've taken that depressing stroll down memory lane, the good news is (which Kopp also pointed out) that the Chiefs have vanquished all other team curses since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback.
K.C. exercised it's demons against the Colts, beating them in the 2018 playoffs, and have absolutely tortured the Broncos over the past decade. Mahomes has an incredible 13-2 career postseason record, pulling off remarkable feats to lead the Chiefs to win three Super Bowls in the last five years.