If there's a team with something to prove this weekend, it's the Chiefs.
The Patriots? They've been to eight Super Bowls, winning five in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era. The Saints? Sean Payton and Drew Brees have only gotten to the Super Bowl once, but they did win it 2009. As for the Rams, Sean McVay is only 32 and is in just his second season as head coach. He's still got plenty of time left to build his legacy.
But at 60, and 20 years into his otherwise exemplary career, Kansas City's Andy Reid is missing that one thing that sets coaches apart from their peers -- a Super Bowl victory.
Reid owns 195 career wins in 320 games, a winning percentage of .611. But he's 12-13 in 25 playoff appearances with the Chiefs and Eagles, advancing to the Super Bowl just one time. That came in 2004 when the Eagles were beaten, 24-21, by the Patriots.
It's ironic that it's the Patriots once again standing between Reid and a trip back to the Super Bowl Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. But Reid isn't worried as much about who he is playing but rather winning the AFC Championship. After all, the trophy that goes to the AFC champion is named after Chiefs' founder Lamar Hunt.
And Kansas City hasn't won that trophy since 1970, when the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV, 23-7, against the Vikings. They also appeared in the inaugural Super Bowl, losing to the Packers. They've never appeared in another since those two.
"That’s a big thing. Who wouldn’t think it would be?" Reid told reporters this week. "I think it’s good for our fans and, obviously, good for the family. I think they’re not going to throw that on you as a coach or on the team or anything like that. They know that we’re all going to give our best effort to get that here.
"That’s pretty neat. It would be great to have it here at Arrowhead, but there are a lot of things that go into that from a coaches’ and players’ standpoint. There are going to be all kinds of little distractions as you go on here. But, you focus in on the job at hand - working through the process – and it’s no more important than now to be able to do that. We (will) try to eliminate some of the distractions there, but I would say yes, that’s a neat deal.”
The AFC Championship will be the first hosted by the Chiefs in their history. Last week, with their win over Indianapolis was their first since 1993, the last time they advanced to the AFC title game. Kansas City lost, 30-13, to the Bills in Buffalo.
Joe Montana was the quarterback of that team. This time, it's New England that has the legendary quarterback in Brady, who will be playing in his 13th total and eighth-straight conference championship game.
The Chiefs are hoping first-year starter Patrick Mahomes, who burst onto the scene this season with 50 touchdown passes, can outduel Brady in his first trip to the big stage.
"You always have to prepare for each and every scenario, but I feel like with this offense – and you’ve seen it all year – somebody new can step up every single week,” Mahomes said. “We have a lot of options and we have a lot of guys who can go out there and make plays. Whoever is open, I’ll throw the ball to them no matter who it is and, hopefully, that’s the formula to have success and to get a win.”
Both games are rematches of ones played during the regular season. The Chiefs traveled to New England in Week 6, losing 43-40. Meanwhile, the Saints won at Los Angeles, 45-35, in Week 9.
But even though there is familiarity, none of that will matter in this game. For the Chiefs, for example, the expectation is to see something new out of Belichick's defense the second time around. The Patriots also expect something different from Reid's offense.
"Pretty much everything the Chiefs do is tough," Belichick said. "Andy does a really good job of attacking weaknesses in every defense, creating matchups. He has a lot of good skill players. He moves them into a lot of different positions. They’re very well-coached. They can execute multiple things at a high level on a very consistent basis. I mean, that’s why they’re the top-scoring team in the league, that’s why they move the ball and score more points than anybody else, because they do it well a lot. So, he does a great job challenging the defense with that and many other things. He’s got a very good system and they execute it extremely well with a lot of really good players behind a good offensive line."
THE NFC ESSENTIALS
• What: NFC Championship
• When: 3:05 p.m. Sunday
• Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
• Satellite: SiriusXM 83 (Internet 821)
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE AFC ESSENTIALS
• What: AFC Championship
• When: 6:40 p.m. Sunday
• Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
• Satellite: SiriusXM 83 (Internet 815)
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE TEN DATA POINTS
• The Patriots allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 62.3 percent of their passes for 7.8 passing yards per attempt, averaging 286.1 passing yards per game on the road this season. At home those numbers were 57.9 percent for 6.2 yards per attempt and 244.7 passing yards per game.
• Brees averaged 326.1 passing yards per game at home this season. In their Week 9 meeting, Brees completed 25-of-36 passes for 346 yards and four touchdowns.
• Kansas City allowed 216.3 passing yards per game at home compared to 325.4 per game on the road.
• The Rams' Todd Gurley managed just 79 total yards on 19 touches, but did score and had six receptions in the first meeting with the Saints, who had the league's No. 2 run defense this season.
• The Saints' Michael Thomas had 12 catches and a career-high 211 yards with a touchdown on 15 targets in that earlier meeting this season with the Rams.
• In his past two meetings with the Patriots, the Chiefs' Tyreek Hill has posted 14 receptions for 275 yards and four touchdowns.
• New England's Julian Edelman has at least 90 receiving yards or a touchdown in seven of his past eight games played.
• The Saints are 6-0 in home playoff games with Drew Brees at quarterback.
• The Patriots are just 3-4 in road playoff games in the Brady-Belichick era, including losing each of their past three road AFC Championship games.
• The Chiefs led the NFL in scoring at 35.3 points per game, while the Rams, Saints and Patriots were second through fourth in that statistic. The Patriots (20.3) were seventh in scoring defense, followed by the Saints (14th), Rams (20th) and Chiefs (24th).
THE STAFF PICKS
Our football coverage team offers predictions for championship weekend:
Dale Lolley: The top four seeds advanced to the conference championship games, which rarely happens. But here we are. In the first game, the Rams come into this game as the healthier team. The Saints lost run-stuffing defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins in their win over the Eagles last week and also won't have tight end Ben Watson for this game. He's hospitalized because of an appendix flare up. Watson isn't a huge loss, but Rankins certainly is. But it's tough to go against Brees at home, especially in the playoffs, where he's 6-0. As for the second game, the Patriots went 3-5 on the road this season, losing to the Steelers, Titans, Jaguars, Lions and Dolphins. Their only road wins were against the Jets, Bills and Bears. And while Kansas City's defense was atrocious overall this season, it was much better at Arrowhead, which is one of the most difficult places to play in the NFL.
Saints 34, Rams 30
Chiefs 30, Patriots 24
Matt Sunday: As happens with covering a particular team, you don't get to watch much of the rest of the league. I've seen some games in airports, others in the media room and, of course, a majority of the remaining teams when they played the Steelers. The only game I watched in its entirety was one I know our entire football staff got to watch while we were juggling a new flight path home: Chiefs vs. Rams. Man, it was nontraditional, but it was also fun. The Super Bowl might produce another college basketball-like score, but I don't like a rematch of that game. I've liked the Saints since the start of the season, and I'm sticking with it. As for the AFC? I've liked Mahomes since I first covered him in college and man have I loved seeing him carry that game to the next level.
Saints 34, Rams 31
Chiefs 42, Patriots 30
Chris Carter: I never thought Phillip Rivers would beat the Patriots, but Mahomes is a much different story. He didn't look bothered by the playoff atmosphere against the Colts, and he will be facing an opponent that beat him by three points in a road game that saw him make several uncharacteristic mistakes. I expect a good amount of scoring from the Chiefs and enough defensive pressure from Justin Houston and Dee Ford on money downs to keep Brady bothered. In the NFC, the Saints need to stop Aaron Donald with Max Unger, but the difference be Brees vs. Jared Goff. I haven't liked Goff's late-season play, and Brees is ready to put on a show in front of his home crowd.
Saints 30, Rams 20
Chiefs 34, Patriots 30
Dejan Kovacevic: The best team left in the tournament plies its trade indoors. And it plays indoors today, and it'll play indoors in the Super Bowl. So there isn't really a Road to the Super Bowl as much as there is a Tunnel. And Brees' Saints are well equipped to burrow through that, beginning with what should be a business-as-usual romp over the flawed Rams today. The AFC game theoretically should offer more suspense, but I can't conceive of a more obscene football-facet matchup in the NFL than Mahomes' Chiefs vs. the Patriots' miserable defense. If Kansas City doesn't score pretty much at will, it'll be stunning. There was a time, maybe even last season, when Brady, Gronk and company could have kept pace, but we saw at Heinz Field that time has passed.
Saints 38, Rams 17
Chiefs 52, Patriots 24