Chiefs seeking fifth straight AFC title game against Jaguars

Kansas City begins its postseason run with a Divisional Round game against Jacksonville

With a victory on Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs will accomplish a rare feat: qualifying to appear in five consecutive conference championships.

Since the two-conference Super Bowl format began in 1970, only two teams have been this dominant over their conferences. From 1973 through 1977, the Oakland Raiders appeared in five straight AFC Championships — and the New England Patriots played in eight consecutive AFC title games from 2011 through 2018.

Standing in Kansas City’s way will be the Jacksonville Jaguars, who overcame a 27-point second-quarter deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 in the opening matchup of the AFC Wild Card round on Saturday night.

The two teams have already met once this season. In a Week 10 home game, the Chiefs were in full control throughout a 27-17 win. Kansas City’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards, four touchdowns and an interception — while Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence passed for 259 yards and two scores.

This will be the first time that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson — who served as an assistant coach under Reid during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles and was Kansas City’s offensive coordinator from 2013 through 2015 — will have met in the postseason. In regular-season games, Pederson is 0-2 against his former boss.