[Chiefspants]

I have to thank my wife and my folks. I never in a million years thought I'd be able to see a playoff game this year. We live in Colorado, and my wife and I were moving February 3rd. Considering that we're both teachers -- the prices to fly to KC were well out of what we could manage. Last year, I had done work getting my Dad gigs for his LLC, and my parents had wanted to compensate me in some way. The night after the Texans game, my Mom texted and said that my Dad could easily spare airline miles to get me to KC if I could afford the tickets for the game.

I talked to my wife (fully expecting her to give it a no-go) and instead she said if I should absolutely take the leap if I could work it out - and encouraged me to text a buddy I grew up with in central KS to see if he could go. I texted him, he was up for it - but I then saw my Dad's airline miles could only get me a flight from Denver to Wichita. But my buddy said he had no problem picking me up from Wichita and driving me there. We had seen Game 2 of the 2015 ALCS together spur of the moment (he actually left watching Mahomes against KU football to see that one) and said he was all in on this one too. We texted CH3IEF3S with our tickets (he lived way out of state, so we were just going to see if he was interested) and 30 minutes after our text, CH3IEF3S got the seat beside us and we were all in to go. The craziest thing is that we all lived in different states, and none of us could get the Monday off after the game - but we were all in.

The game itself was wild. A bartender at Arrowhead hooked me up with a drink to calm my nerves right before kick-off, the fact that I had gone from Colorado to Arrowhead in less than 24 hours was still sinking in. That drink worked wonders, as I wasn't stressing at all despite being down in the first half. Our whole section seemed confident that entire half, 10 points just didn't feel like a deficit with Mahomes. "The Run" ended up being the wildest moment I have ever been a part of in a live venue. The complete pandaemonium of that play put Arrowhead in another level and it stayed there throughout the rest of the game. Watkins 60 yard touchdown pass was when we all knew the Chiefs were going to the Super Bowl. But the countdown to 0:00 still felt like forever. Being in that stadium as the team took the stage is something I will remember for the rest of my life. After the game we ate and said goodbye in Lawrence, I then drove to Wichita, flew out at 4 am the next morning and was back at work in rural Colorado the next day (same with my buddies). We were all running on pure adrenaline, and it was completely worth it.

The Chiefs, surprisingly, have a 6-0 record when I've attended their games. That makes it hard to pick a "worst" game.

The only game that I'd consider would be a 2013 home game I attended against the Browns. I wasn't in a good spot in my life, and though the Chiefs were undefeated, watching them struggle against a mediocre Browns team that second half made me realize that team wasn't a true contender. I still enjoyed the game. I did have an outside chance to see Patrick's first start in Denver in 2017. I couldn't find anyone to go with me - but now I wish I had just figured out the logistics anyway.