With a close score of 23-20, the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl LVI.
The Sunday Night Football game pitting our Kansas City Chiefs against the Cincinnati Bengals was widely talked about, watched, and betted on across the Barstow community.
The Bengals team was led by quarterback Joe Burrow, who beat the Chiefs three times in various games across his career, the most divisive of which was last year’s AFC Championship. The game, held at Arrowhead Stadium, drew thousands of Chiefs fans, all to end in a disappointing 27-24 loss in overtime. Even though the Bengals would go on to lose the Super Bowl, the Chiefs had something to prove.
This attitude was only intensified by trash-talking by many on the Bengals team. For example, on the sidelines of the Buffalo Bills vs. Bengals game last week, Bengals slot corner, Mike Hilton, pointed at the camera and emphatically said, “We’ll see y’all at Burrowhead,” referencing the unavoidable matchup between the top AFC teams.
The term quickly spread through social media (even though earlier versions of the term have been used since the fateful 2022 AFC Championship loss).
After, the mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval, made a satirical video of him signing a proclamation that reads, “Joseph Lee Burrow, who’s 3-0 against Mahomes, has been asked by officials to take a paternity test confirming whether or not he’s his father,” and other pejorative statements about our city.
Basically, they had it coming.
Don’t worry, though, as Kansas City Mayor (and Barstow Alum) Quinton Lucas clapped back with another tweet, saying, “No need to respond. KC’s got class. Cincinnati has Jerry Springer and no rings.”
Junior Michael Yagan ‘24 also had some harsh words for the Cincinnati mayor saying, “You’re just not funny. You’re not that guy. He really thought he ate with that.”
As for the game itself, viewers had the chance to tune into four quarters of pure “exhilaration,” as junior Connor Lucido ‘24 put it.
Lucido continued, explaining that, “I’m a football fan. Nothing makes me happier than a good football game, and that was one. It was two elite teams on a special day that were evenly matched.”
The Chiefs took an early lead, scoring two field goals and putting the score at 6-0 during the first quarter. After a few forced turnovers by the Chiefs defense (i.e. Chris Jones’s three sacks), fans were hopeful that this game would be open and shut, saving some from the almost inevitable anxiety attack that comes from this matchup.
The Bengals, however, answered quickly, with a field goal. Hayden Hurst, Bengals tight end, made a crazy catch to put the team in field goal range.
The game continued, with a classic Mahomes-Kelce touchdown and an interception from Chiefs’ rookie Jaylen Watson, to end the half.
Following the half, though, the Bengals’ shaky start seemed to have ended, illustrated in Tee Higgins’ soaring touchdown reception, where he jumped over two Chiefs defensemen.
After a Mahomes pass to Myles Valdes-Scantling for a touchdown, the Chiefs were back out in front, but Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase answered quickly. On 4th and 6, Burrow threw a long pass to his #1 wide receiver, which resulted in a tied 20-20 score.
“There was a point in the third quarter where I was not enjoying the game. It was just third down after third down for the Chiefs, and I was ripping my hair out. It was just really stressful,” says Yagan about the close nature of the game.
Finally, the Chiefs gained possession of the ball and received a 10-yd advantage before Harrison Butker’s winning field goal due to an “unnecessary roughness” call on Bengals defensive end, Joseph Ossai.
With four seconds on the clock, Butker nailed the kick right into the middle of the field goal, resulting in celebration across the metro. Junior Izzy Parr ‘24 says that, “I was absolutely joyous. There were fireworks outside. It was a great celebration.”
There was quite a bit of controversy on referee bias on social media following the game, but Lucido says that the discussion is just the nature of the game. “There is an argument to be made after every game about ref bias. I’d say that for the most part, no, they weren’t biased,” he argued.
The game garnered overwhelming viewership, even from those who don’t normally watch football. For example, junior Skyler Vince ‘24, a self-proclaimed “person who does not watch football,” says that she tuned into the game for quite a few reasons, but one topped her list: “I like Joe Burrow.”
This sentiment is shared by quite a few across the school. For example, junior Cyrus Shaikh ‘24 rates Burrow in his top five of the most attractive NFL quarterbacks.
Don’t get it twisted though, Vince was still overjoyed by the Chiefs win. “I may like Joe Burrow, but I like the Chiefs more,” she explained. Junior Isabell Kuti ‘24 echoed this, saying “My love for Joe Burrow was deep, but my love for the Chiefs goes deeper.”
Now that the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl, Barstow students are excited for the upcoming matchup against the Eagles. Not only is Jalen Hurts “the hottest quarterback in the NFL” according to Lucido, but the teams were both rated number one in their respective divisions.
To Yagan, though, the Chiefs will still come out on top. He argues that, “The Eagles haven’t played anybody good this season. They have a good offensive line and are good all around, but the Chiefs are just better.”
The Super Bowl, however, also opens questions about the health of our star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has played through a high ankle sprain, first injured in the playoffs game against the Jaguars. With two weeks, though, many fans are hopeful that he will be able to make a full recovery, especially since he was still relatively mobile during the Bengals game.
With the Super Bowl coming up on February 11th, everyone is anxiously awaiting the Chiefs final matchup of the season. Hope for a Chiefs win (and the next day of school off!).
