Home is Where the Hurt is

For the Chiefs, Home is Where the Hurt Is

By Kurtis Seaboldt

Saturday night, millions of Chiefs fans in Kansas City gathered with friends and family and watched the clock tick down. When it hit zero, everyone cheered. There were drinks and hugs and expressions of joy.

Sunday afternoon, millions of Chiefs fans in Kansas City gathered with friends and family and watched two clocks tick down – one in San Diego, one in Denver. When they hit zero, everyone cheered. There were drinks and hugs and expressions of joy.

A year that almost everyone wanted to see end had finally ended and the New Year was already looking pretty good. The Chiefs had won. The Raiders had lost. The AFC West championship was on its way back to Kansas City and the team that brought it back gets to stay here for a little while.

After a week off to relax, the Chiefs will get back to work next Wednesday before hosting Pittsburgh, Houston or Oakland in an AFC Divisional Playoff game on Sunday, January 15. The rarity of a Chiefs playoff game at home is notable. The rarity of a Chiefs playoff win at home is almost historic.

Since moving to Kansas City in 1963, the Chiefs have hosted a total of seven playoff games:

1971 – Miami 27, Kansas City 24 (2OT)

1991 – Kansas City 10, L.A. Raiders 6

1993 – Kansas City 27, Pittsburgh 24 (OT)

1995 – Indianapolis 10, Kansas City 7

1997 – Denver 14, Kansas City 10

2003 – Indianapolis 38, Kansas City 31

2010 – Baltimore 30, Kansas City 7

In the years that they have been in Kansas City, only five teams have hosted fewer home playoff games than the Chiefs. Three of them did not even exist in 1993 much less 1963. They are the Ravens (5), Cardinals (4), Texans (3), Jaguars (3) and Lions (2). The Jaguars began in 1995, the Ravens in 1996 and the Texans in 2002.

Now. About those home playoff wins. Yes, both of them.

Only the Lions (1) have fewer home playoff wins than the Chiefs since 1963. Just how bad is it to have just two home playoff wins in that time span? Well, 63 different teams have won two home playoff games in a single season. Think about that. Sixty-three teams have won as many playoff games in a single season as the Chiefs have in fifty-four years. The Steelers and Broncos have done it six times each.

Here’s a fun stat. If you count their 1962 AFL Championship as the Dallas Texans, the Chiefs have won more post-season games in Houston than they have in Kansas City.

The Chiefs can make some history next Sunday. Arrowhead Stadium could sure use it.