Where are Chiefs and Bengals Playing the AFC Championship Game?
For the second season in a row, the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals are squaring off in the AFC Championship Game. Last season, the Patrick Mahomes vs. Joe Burrow battle was in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, but where is Bengals-Chiefs being played this year? The buildup to this game has been a little different. Due to the Bengals’ Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills being canceled due to the Damar Hamlin situation, the Bengals and Bills ended the season with one less game with the Chiefs. If the Bills had made this game, the teams would have played at a neutral site in Atlanta, Georgia. Since Cincinnati won, though, the question is, where are the Chiefs and Bengals playing the AFC Championship Game?
Where is Bengals-Chiefs being played?
Both the Bills and the Chiefs finished the season with just three losses, which is why that AFC Championship Game was going to be played in Atlanta. However, the Bengals ended the season with four losses, so even a win in Week 17 wouldn’t have allowed them to overtake the Chiefs.
That is why the teams will play the Chiefs-Bengals AFC Championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The game will be Sunday, January 29, at 3:00 pm ET on CBS.
The answer to “where is Chiefs-Bengals being played?” wasn’t set in stone heading into Week 18.
There was a scenario where this could have ended up at a neutral site as well. If the Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 (which they did, 27-16) and the Chiefs lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, the league would also put this matchup at a neutral site.
However, Patrick Mahomes and company took care of business in the last week of the regular season, defeating the Raiders convincingly, 31-13. That meant KC finished the season a full game-and-a-half up on Cincy in the standings, putting the game at Arrowhead, or as Bengals defensive back Mike Hilton christened it, “Burrowhead.”
Joe Burrow owns Patrick Mahomes
The question, “where are the Chiefs and Bengals playing the AFC Championship Game?” may not matter anyway because since Joe Burrow came into the league in 2020, he’s beaten Patrick Mahomes in every Bengals-Chiefs game.
The Bengals quarterback is 3-0 in his career against the Chiefs signal-caller, which may be a surprise to many who believe Mahomes is already on his way to becoming the best QB in NFL history.
Burrow-Mahomes I was a Bengals-Chiefs game in Week 17 of the 2021 season. This game was a shootout where the Chiefs went up 21-7 and, later, 28-17. However, Burrow kept bringing his team back, and after throwing for 446 yards and four touchdowns, Burrow led his team to a 34-31 victory.
The next Chiefs-Bengals matchup was in last year’s AFC Championship game. The Chiefs again took a big lead here, building a 21-3 lead in the second quarter. Cincinnati came back, going up 24-21 in the fourth before Mahomes led a game-tying final drive to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, Mahomes threw an interception on his first possession, and Burrow set his team up for a 31-yard field goal to win it and go to the Super Bowl.
Finally, the teams locked horns again in Week 13 this season. This time, it was Mahomes who erased an early 14-3 deficit to go up 24-17 heading into the fourth quarter. The Bengals were the only team to score in the final quarter, though, and a late 10-point run gave Burrow’s team a 27-24 win.
So, no matter what the answer to “where is Bengals-Chiefs being played?” Joe Burrow has the edge on Patrick Mahomes so far in their careers.
