The Chiefs, who earned the No. 1 seed in the conference with a 15-2 regular season, took care of business on Saturday afternoon, beating the Houston Texans 23-14 in the AFC Divisional Round. Patrick Mahomes threw a touchdown to Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt ran for a score and the KC defense sacked C.J. Stroud eight times to secure a workmanlike victory.
After playing in the AFC title game on the road last season, the Chiefs will face either the Baltimore Ravens or Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday.
This afternoon, the team made a major announcement regarding next week’s pregame ceremonies, choosing United States Navy Petty Officer First Class Generald Wilson to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“KANSAS CITYYYYYYY! SO HONORED to receive the call off the bench to join you in singing OUR National Anthem during the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, January 26th. Y’all already know how much I love The @Chiefs, so you can imagine how I’m feeling right now. God is so Good! I’m Thankful! I’m Grateful! I’m Honored! Pray and Sing with me Y’all! Letzgoooooooo!!!! Love y’all to Life!” Wilson said on social media.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 18: Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans during the fourth quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 18, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Social media didn’t seem to love the national anthem performance from singer Lanell Lightfoot on Saturday afternoon, so hopefully Wilson has better luck.
No team that has won back-to-back Super Bowls has even made the big game the following year, let alone won three in a row, so just by winning next week, the Chiefs will have made some history.
“I think we’re fortunate that we’ve got a lot of great character guys in the building,” Kelce said postgame. “As the years have gone on, we only got here by focusing on the task at hand. This win was great – we’re gonna enjoy this one tonight – but the task at hand is gonna be that AFC championship. You don’t get a threepeat by looking past that.”
The AFC Championship will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET next Sunday on CBS.
