For most of Sunday night I thought what I watched wasn’t real.
Hours later, I had a buddy, Brian, post on Facebook he was sitting in the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium waiting to leave and was still wondering if what he saw really had happened.
I had the same thought many, many times over the past 48 hours.
I mean, really, what in the world happened after that dreaded start by the Chiefs against the Texans?
I spent the first few minutes wondering what kind of alternate reality we were all watching. Wide open touchdown. Blocked punt and score. A muffed punt set up a short field for a touchdown.
Then, the Texans offense drove down and was inches away from a first down but instead kicked a field goal.
I turned to the person next to me in the press box and said ‘generally, that kind of stuff comes back to bite you in the butt.’ With the Chiefs down 24-0, I didn’t think that it would matter much in a game like this. I was wrong.
Then, all of us watched history unfold before our eyes.
It wasn’t the greatest comeback in NFL history but it was right up there. I remember watching the greatest one as a kid, Frank Reich and the Buffalo Bills against the Houston Oilers, rallying from 32 points down.
The second greatest comeback ever? That would be 28 points, when the Indianapolis Colts rallied in 2014 to beat the Chiefs. Remember that collapse? That was a pretty epic one for all of the wrong reasons.
The fourth-greatest comeback ever – 24 points, which tied with the 49ers vs. the Giants in 2003 – is one that will be remembered in Kansas City history for years to come regardless of the outcome of this Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
Parker Schmitz/Citizen photo
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, left, runs after catching the ball during a playoff game on Sunday, Jan. 12. Pursuing him is Houston cornerback Justin Reid.
I can’t help but draw a parallel in my head between this Chiefs team and the 2015 Royals. The year prior the Royals got a taste of postseason glory but came up short. The next year, they used the failure to drive them to reach the pinnacle of any league.
Now, the Chiefs have a chance for redemption a year later.
“Time to go finish it, time to go finish it,” said Chiefs defensive tackle Xavier Williams, who played high school football at Grandview. “We’ve been here before. We fell short last year and now we have an opportunity that a lot of teams don’t get ... to come back and get to the Super Bowl. Going there (AFC Championship game) twice in a row is amazing.
“I hadn’t thought (about the Royals) until now, but that is something amazing being here. The city came out and gave us everything they had. This time we will try to come back and repay them for it.
In the aftermath of the stunning rally, the Chiefs media relation staff put together a postgame packet that put in perspective what kind of game it was.
Elias noted on Monday, the Chiefs are the first team in NFL history, regular season and postseason, to trail by 24 points and then lead at halftime. The Chiefs are also the only team in NFL postseason history to win by 20 after trailing by 20 or more in one game.
The list of superlatives, records and achievements were plenty and took up seven pages.
So, here’s a quick run down on just how special that rally was.
Frank Clark’s three sacks tied a franchise record set by Aaron Brown against Oakland in 1970.
Damien Williams is now the franchise all-time leader in rushing touchdowns in a career and in game, up to 4 and 2, respectively.
The 51 points scored are the most in franchise playoff history, topping the 44 scored in the playoff loss against Indianapolis. The 51 is 10th most in franchise history overall.
The seven touchdowns scored broke the team’s postseason record set against Indianapolis in 2014.
The 28 points in the second quarter is the third most in NFL postseason history, tied with Green Bay vs. Atlanta in 2011. The record is 35 set by Washington in 1988 and then 31 in 1995 by Philadelphia.
Patrick Mahomes now has eight postseason touchdowns, one behind the franchise record held by Alex Smith. Mahomes passed Hall of Famer Len Dawson’s seven for second place.
Mahomes’ five touchdowns passes were the fourth most in NFL postseason history.
Travis Kelce is the first player in NFL Super Bowl era with three touchdowns in a single quarter in a postseason game. That also tied a NFL record for most in a game, breaking the team record of two in a single postseason game.
Kelce’s 10 catches in a game is a Chiefs postseason record and his 134 yards was third most in a game by a Chiefs player in the postseason.
Kelce now has 503 yards of receiving in the postseason, breaking Otis Taylor’s mark of 481.
Running back Damien Williams now has seven touchdowns in the postseason, a Chiefs record. He has two more than Kelce.
Kelce’s five touchdown catches in his career in the postseason is a new team record. Williams had the previous mark.
Williams has four rushing touchdowns in the postseason, breaking the mark held by Marcus Allen and Mike Garrett.
Kelce and Williams both scored 18 points, tied for the points in a postseason game in Chiefs history.
Williams’ 42 points are now the most ever in Chiefs postseason history.
Dustin Colquitt played in his 10th postseason game and will break it if he plays on Sunday. He is currently tied with 1990s standout offensive linemen John Alt, Tim Grunhard and Dave Szott and NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas.
Harrison Butker now has 14 points after attempts conversions, breaking the Chiefs postseason record held by Nick Lowery.
That is just a crazy amount of stats that will be part of media guides for years to come and some might not get broken. That game is one that will be one of the best games I have ever attended regardless of the sport. The only one that comes to my mind that had me as stunned and in disbelief was the Royals’ Wild Card victory in 2014. The A’s went from kicking their butt to seeing the Royals rally and get a franchise changing victory. A loss in the World Series in 2014 would’ve never happened. The surge to the 2015 title wouldn’t have happened.
For four years the Royals were playoff contenders and there’s a chance none of that would’ve happened without that crazy, wild win against the A’s when it seemed like a loss was destined to happen.
Quite a bit like those first few minutes on Sunday for the Chiefs and those fans in The Kingdom.