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Two weeks removed from the 2022 AFC Championship Game defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals and a multitude of Kansas City Chiefs players are still not over the home playoff elimination.
The Chiefs seemed well on their way to a third straight Super Bowl appearance after they built up a notable 21-3 lead in the first half. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes formed stout chemistry with multiple offensive threats, as three different players on offense hauled in a receiving touchdown over the opening half. In the end, the Chiefs collapsed in the second half, as Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow wound up anchoring the game-winning drive in the overtime period.
Much has been talked about regarding just where it went wrong for the Chiefs offense following the first half of the contest. For Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, he is not pinpointing the blame on another player but is rather taking some responsibility for the defeat, which he touched on to ProFootballTalk ahead of Super Bowl 56.
“It's a mixture of things,” Kelce said. “It's not just one thing. I think that for me, personally, I started to try and do things that were a little bit uncharacteristic in the second half, trying to make sure that we made that extra play.
“I tried to elaborate a little bit too much on some things and messes with the flow of the offense. It messes with the flow of the team.”
Overall, Kelce did remain a reliable target for Mahomes in the second half of the contest. For one, the veteran tight end recorded four receptions in the Chiefs’ late game-tying drive that sent the game into overtime. However, only one of Kelce’s second half receptions went for 10-plus yards, as the Bengals secondary sure kept a close watch on him in key situations during the game.
In the big picture, Kelce aims to simply learn from the defeat.
“It's definitely something to learn from and it's another one of those heartbreaking losses that you just gotta figure out how to not put yourself in that position next time,” Kelce said.
Each Chiefs player has a unique perspective on the playoff elimination at the hands of the Bengals. For Mahomes, as he noted during the 2022 Pro Bowl, the loss may not be one that he will get over until he leads Kansas City back to another Super Bowl appearance.
“I’m still not over it,” Mahomes said. “I don’t think I’ll be over it until we’re playing in another Super Bowl. I’ll have to use that as motivation going forward.”
The Chiefs had plenty of triumphs in the campaign, which included the eight-game winning streak that propelled them to another AFC West title in the Patrick Mahomes era. Still, as has been echoed among many Chiefs players as of late, the campaign was not a success due to the failure to notch an AFC title three-peat.
As will be the case for a multitude of other teams that finished their respective campaigns with underwhelming defeats in the NFL playoffs, the Chiefs sure will head into the 2022 season with a chip on their shoulder, which will certainly end up being the case for multiple players on the roster. Plenty of expectations will be on them to repeat as AFC West champions and also to clinch a trip to the Super Bowl.
