The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to the AFC Championship game this Sunday where they will face the Cincinnati Bengals. The AFC top seeds are no strangers to the title game. In fact, this will be the Chiefs’ fifth-straight season playing in the AFC Conference final.

How many times have the Chiefs reached the AFC Championship game

This year, like the last four, the Chiefs’ success can largely be attributed to their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. In last week’s Divisional Round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chiefs were given a huge scare when Mahomes’ ankle got twisted up on a tackle.However, Mahomes’ magic was somehow still on full display. He played through the pain, and hobbled his team along to a 27-20 defeat over the Jaguars.

Mahomes has now taken the Chiefs to five back-to-back AFC title games with two wins, in 2019 against the Tennessee Titans and in 2020 against the Buffalo Bills.

The fact they’ve now made it to five AFC Championship games with Mahomes says a lot about the quarterback. Before his era, the Chiefs had only ever accomplished that feat one time, in 1993, when they played and lost to the Bills. So in five of their six total AFC Championship games, Patrick Mahomes has been the quarterback and major contribution to their success.

The Chiefs are just the third team in NFL history to appear in five or more consecutive conference finals, and the only team to have ever hosted all five of them. The New England Patriots hold the record with eight straight AFC Championship games (2011-2018). It was the Chiefs who broke their streak.

AFC Championship rematch: Chiefs vs Bengals

Last season, the Chiefs faced the Bengals in the AFC Championship game in a thrilling overtime finish that saw the Bengals pull off the victory, 27-24, and make their way to Super Bowl LVI.

This season, the Chiefs will get their shot at revenge as they host the Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium in search of the Lamar Hunt Trophy.

As two of the best quarterbacks in the league in Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes face each other again, all eyes will be on Mahomes to see if he’s healthy enough not just to play, but to pull off a victory over last year’s foes.

The AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals kicks off this Sunday, January 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

HOW TO WATCH Chiefs vs Bengals live