The Kansas City Chiefs are returning to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.
The win felt extra special for the Chiefs because the Bengals were the team that defeated them in the AFC Championship Game last year at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
But Patrick Mahomes said five words after punching his ticket to the Super Bowl that left jaws on the floor.
There was drama all week long going into the game because superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain, and there were questions about whether or not he would play.
Mahomes gutted out the Divisional Round matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he was limping badly just to hand off the ball.
Patrick Mahomes is limping on the hand off….. pic.twitter.com/B7IcWl6wSC
— Alex đź‘‹ (@Dubs408) January 21, 2023
But Mahomes played against the Bengals, and played great.
He finished with 326 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
After the game, Mahomes said during an on-field interview, “First off, I want to thank God, man . . . He healed my body this week to battle through that. He gave me the strength to be out here.”
The fact Mahomes was on the field is quite amazing considering high-ankle sprains usually keep players out of action for anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months.
Mahomes and the Chiefs had extra motivation to win after Bengals players and the Mayor of Cincinnati referred to Arrowhead Stadium as “Burrowhead,” a play on words referring to Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow led the Bengals to victory after falling behind 21-3 in last year’s matchup against the Chiefs.
The Bengals also defeated the Chiefs in Cincinnati both last year and this season.
Mahomes did not want to lose to Burrow and the Bengals four times in a row.
He said after the game, “I was with this team, man. We played together. I said it from the beginning, when we were in the locker room, I said we gotta be together and this team stepped up. It’s a great football team and we showed this place that it’s Arrowhead, it’s not Burrowhead out here.”
The Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl after they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship Game.
If Mahomes wins, it will be his second Super Bowl victory, which will put him in elite company among NFL quarterbacks who have won multiple titles as the starter.
The recent terrifying injury to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin spurred several players to be more serious about their faith.
Bills star quarterback Josh Allen confessed, “[There was] just kind of a spiritual awakening really for me, and I know for a lot of other people that maybe didn’t have the strongest belief, or wasn’t one of the biggest, strongest Christian followers.”
The season will conclude with the Super Bowl on February 12 in Glendale, Arizona.Â
Stay tuned to Right News Wire for any updates to this ongoing story.
