Kansas City Chiefs

As the Kansas City Chiefs gear up for their third straight Super Bowl appearance on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, they're still facing detractors who believe they reached this point because they get favorable calls from officials.

While speaking to reporters on Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed the notion entirely.

"It reminds me of the script, that I write a script for the entire season... It's a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously," Goodell said.

Goodell added that the league is constantly exploring ways to improve its officiating and may add ways to review plays, such as facemask penalties, going forward.

"I'm proud of what they do, but that doesn't mean we're not trying to get better," Goodell told reporters.

When asked if there would be a penalty for players like Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes flopping to draw penalties, Goodell said he doesn't view that as a significant issue, but he wouldn't be surprised if the competition committee discussed it in the future.

The Chiefs' 15-2 finish to the 2024 season wasn't without its hardships. Many wins came down to the last minute, as Kansas City was fortunate to have some calls go their way. Of course, that didn't help the perception that the back-to-back reigning Super Bowl champions were being gifted the opportunity to achieve the first three-peat in modern NFL history.

For example, in the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills, star quarterback Josh Allen was ruled short on a crucial fourth-down play despite appearing to have picked up the first down. The play swung the momentum in the Chiefs' favor, helping them secure a 32-29 win. Unsurprisingly, the controversial play was one of the biggest talking points after the game.

Fans will certainly be paying close attention to Sunday's Big Game, as the Eagles will be the last to try their hands at knocking the Chiefs from their perch. Any questionable plays that work in Kansas City's favor will certainly be under a microscope following the Super Bowl.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins pointed to his journey to Super Bowl LIX as a source of inspiration for younger fans.

"To all the kids out there living in small towns, in small houses, with single parents. To the kids who see violence, who see loss, who don't get the resources they deserve, but who still have big dreams," he said on X. "Know that I was a kid in your exact shoes and this week I'm playing in the Super Bowl. Don't give up, work hard, keep believing. Where you start doesn't determine where you end up."

ESPN's Mina Kimes profiled Hopkins in 2019 and detailed the adversity he and his mother, Sabrina Greenlee, faced as he was growing up. His father died in a car accident when he was five months old. When Hopkins was 10, Greenlee was left blinded when a woman threw a mixture of bleach and lye on her.

A native of Central, South Carolina, Hopkins attended nearby Clemson. Regarding his choice of schools, Kimes wrote he "told his mother it wasn't because of her, but everyone knew that was a lie."

Greenlee attended his games with the Tigers and has remained a fixture in the stands. When she's sitting in the front row, Hopkins celebrates touchdowns by giving her the game ball.

Getting to this point in his NFL career has been a winding journey for the 32-year-old. The Chiefs are his fourth team during a 12-year run.

"Words can't really describe it," he said of getting the opportunity to compete for a championship," per the Associated Press' Dave Skretta. "A dream come true. I've been in the league 12 years and I haven't gotten this far."

The Kansas City Chiefs social media team touched on a sore subject for star quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Sunday.

A day after the Dallas Mavericks administered a blockbuster trade sending star Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for Anthony Davis, the Chiefs released a Q&A video with Mahomes.

One of the questions he was asked was about his favorite basketball player and Mahomes, who grew up in Texas, answered Dončić. The video was likely filmed before the trade, and Mahomes joked about the Chiefs releasing it hours after the deal.

The Chiefs replied to Mahomes' post and said they are "never scheduling a post again," indicating that the video was set to go up before the trade happened.

The trade will likely sting for a while for Mahomes and Mavs fans, as Dončić was the face of the franchise and seemed like he would be in town for a while. Now, he'll suit up for the Lakers instead.

Mahomes expressed how much the trade hurt on social media Saturday night.

Mahomes can't let the trade impact his emotions too much as he's preparing for a big game in less than a week. The Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl next Sunday as Kansas City looks to become the first team ever to three-peat.

After the season is over, Mahomes will have plenty of time to mourn Dončić's exit.

Travis Kelce was fined $11,255 for taunting during the Kansas City Chiefs' 32-29 win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, according to ESPN's Alaina Getzenberg.

Kelce received the fine for his actions after Patrick Mahomes found the end zone for a one-yard score in the second quarter, taunting Buffalo safeties Damar Hamlin and Cole Bishop. The star tight end wasn't penalized at the time.

Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips responded by making helmet-to-helmet contact with Kelce, which also resulted in a $6,722 unnecessary roughness fine from the league (via Getzenberg).

Kelce finished the game with two catches for 19 yards, his lowest amount in any playoff game throughout his career.

Still, the Chiefs punched their ticket to a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance with a 35-yard field goal by Harrison Butker with just under four minutes remaining to go along with multiple defensive stops.

Per the NFL's fines and appeals schedule, taunting results in a $11,255 fine for a first offense. If Kelce commits another taunting violation, the next fine will rise to $16,883.

It shouldn't be too hard for the three-time Super Bowl champion to avoid another offense as he was only fined once during the 2024 season prior to his violation in the conference title game, per Spotrac.

Kelce was fined $14,069 for unsportsmanlike conduct during Kansas City's 29-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17, via NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. After breaking the franchise touchdown record with a score in the fourth quarter, he paid tribute to Chiefs legend Tony Gonzalez by dunking the football over the crossbar.

While Kelce finished below the 1,000-yard threshold for the second consecutive season in 2024, he remained a key part of Kansas City's passing attack. In 16 starts, he hauled in 97 receptions for 823 yards and three touchdowns.

As the Chiefs attempt to become the first team in NFL history to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in three straight years, Kelce faces a hefty fine for his actions against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game.

Taylor Swift may have been in Kansas City to see the Chiefs win the AFC Championship Game, but Travis Kelce might not be in Los Angeles for Sunday's Grammy Awards.

TMZ Sports reported Friday that Kelce will be staying with the Chiefs and preparing for Super Bowl LIX rather than attending the event with Swift.

The Recording Academy announced Thursday that Swift is joining the awards show as a presenter. She will be up for six Grammys, including Album of the Year.

Kelce also missed the 2024 Grammys, during which Swift won the Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album awards.

"I wish I could go support Taylor at the Grammys and watch her win every single award that she's nominated for," Kelce said in January 2024 appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. "Unfortunately, I gotta get ready for this big old Super Bowl that we got in a week."

Kelce then said after Swift's 2024 Grammy wins that he would "have to hold up my end of the bargain and come home with some hardware, too."

The defending champion Chiefs went on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers for a second straight Lombardi Trophy, and Swift was present to celebrate with Kelce at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium.

Kelce will now hope to achieve a similar result when the Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in hopes of a three-peat at New Orleans' Caesars Superdome. Super Bowl kickoff is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

While it appeared that Patrick Mahomes Sr. trolled the Buffalo Bills after watching his son lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl appearance, he's now denying that he had anything to do with it.

Per TMZ, the elder Mahomes claimed that when he tweeted, "Today is a great day to not be from Buffalo," his social media account was actually hacked.

"Patrick Mahomes Sr.'s X account has been compromised," a statement posted to his Instagram read. "The Mahomes family holds the utmost respect for the @BuffaloBills organization and the #BillsMafia fan base."

Unsurprisingly, the original post drew a wave of backlash from Bills fans who endured their fourth heartbreaking postseason loss to the Chiefs in the last five years.

Mahomes Sr. will surely be watching on as his son tries to capture the NFL's first-ever Super Bowl three-peat when the Chiefs square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

As the Kansas City Chiefs try to pull off the first three-peat in modern NFL history when they meet the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, they know that success breeds contempt, and they're not shying away from it.

During this week's episode of the New Heights podcast, Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce told his brother Jason that he and his teammates have embraced the "villain" role as they go after their third straight Super Bowl title.

"I love it. Yeah. I love it," Kelce said. "... I'm just, I'm enjoying doing this with the guys together, the guys that we have in there, because it's like it just makes us even more of a family."

The Chiefs went 15-2 this season to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC and defeated the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills on their way to reaching the Big Game. Many had expected this to finally be the year that star quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills finally got over the hump, but Kansas City sent them home from the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years.

Kelce added that he feels the outside noise has helped galvanize the team amid its quest for a three-peat.

"You just circle the wagons," he said. "When s--t, you know, people are saying whatever they want and you just band it together and it just makes you more appreciate more of what you have because people want what you have."

Travis Kelce says the Kansas City Chiefs haven't discussed a three-peat even once amid the team's third straight AFC Championship Game victory.

"It hasn't been mentioned one time, outside of being asked about it in the media," Kelce told his brother Jason Kelce on Wednesday's episode of the New Heights podcast (9:50 mark.) "Everybody in the building is just focused on doing their job. That's how we got here. That's how we got the first one. That's how we got the second one.

"It's the only way you win football games and get to the Super Bowl is if you focus on the task at hand."

The two-time defending Super Bowl chances earned a third consecutive shot at the title with a 32-29 victory over the Bills at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.

Patrick Mahomes, who found Kelce for two receptions, recorded a passing touchdown and two more scores on the ground to lead the Chiefs to the win.

Similarly to Kelce, Mahomes said after the win guaranteed his fifth trip to the Super Bowl he tries to "put every single season as its own season."

"I think it will be something that I look back at the end of my career if we're able to go out there and get that three-peat, but at the same time, you just treat it as one season and one Super Bowl run, which is always hard to do," Mahomes said in Sunday's post-game press conference, per NBC Sports' Josh Alper.

A victory at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9 would make the Chiefs the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

It will be hard to avoid thinking of history given how many of the players are returning from Super Bowl LVII, where Mahomes, Kelce and head coach Andy Reid defeated Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and head coach Nick Sirianni for the title. In total, there are 27 starters returning from the championship game that took place after the 2022 season, per NFL.com's Nick Shook.

Whatever the history at stake, all the Chiefs need is one more win. It sounds like that's what Kelce and Mahomes will be focusing on as they prepare for their upcoming trip to New Orleans.